St. Damien and the Bureaucrats

I spent eight out of 12 days of my Hawaii Christmas vacation on the island of Molokai and decided it made sense to read a biography of St. Damien, the Belgian priest who volunteered to care for lepers banned to that island.

I had vowed that I would not even think about the federal government while on vacation, but the Damien biography had an all too familiar ring.

It tells the tale of a dedicated soul frustrated in trying to accomplish a dangerous mission (Damien died of leprosy in 1889, 16 years after he arrived in Molokai) beset by petty bureaucrats who, it seemed, wanted him to do everything but care for the spiritual and physical needs of the sick.

The French church bureaucracy wanted Damien to build churches on the island (he was an accomplished carpenter) rather than focus on the lepers, and the Republic of Hawaii bureaucracy wanted him to make nice to other agencies, specifically other denominations, even though they were far removed from the scene.

Damien -- and this sounded real familiar -- also was forced to do more with the same amount of assets such as feed a population that had doubled with half the amount of food.

High ranking officials -- the Hawaiian royalty -- made a show of support for Damien, awarding him ribbons and certificates, but no real help.

After reading Molokai: The Story of Father Damien, I decided that anyone in the federal government beset by petty policies or managers would do well to invoke Damien as their saint.