WHO ARE WE? AND WHO DO OTHERS THINK WE ARE?

1993 THE TOURIST -IN FLORENCE
IN PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA

In some ways, I suppose we are most ourselves in the eyes of others when we are little children. We are just little ..........   whoever. It is that simple. But within our own being, we are then not yet fully ourselves, because we are not free to say whatever we wish, and in fact, we do not yet have ideas or opinions on many, even most subjects.

Later as teenagers, we have strongly felt opinions or prejudices, sometimes ill-informed, but not at all times freely expressed. Our identity is gradually unfolding to the world like a  flower. Our sense of our own identity is powerful at this time. Others' sense of our identity will then depend on how successfully or completely we have negotiated the shoals of puberty. Most of our peers, being in just the same stage of confusion as we are at some stages, will think we are great or a "drag". Older folk will see the forming personality more readily and begin to react accordingly.

As we reach the stage of being a young man or woman, our identity, just completed, begins to be moulded by strong external influences, our equally mature peers, our studies, our vocation and or, employment. This effect works on how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others. To take exceptional cases, the young Sailor sees himself as just that and is likewise perceived as a Sailor. In the employment sphere, the young man or woman can come to identify themselves with the corporation which employs them. The Sailor is a NAVY man and affects to have no time for Soldiers/ the Army or Airmen/the Air Force. The Commonwealth Banker will affect to look down on The Westpac man. Others will come to identify the individual with that employment. ""Here comes the NAVY!" as he enters a social gathering. Or, "What has the Commonwealth Bank got to say for himself??"This phenomenon has even been publicly acknowledged in St.George Bank's TV Commercials, distinguishing its man as socially acceptable, whereas a mere "banker" was not.

With my beautiful Bride in 1970.

The Paterfamilias in 1976

More important than all of these for a man is his identity as a husband, father and grandfather, this is an enduring underpinning of the superstructure. .And it is itself ideally resting on the foundation of his relationship with God.



So, where am I going with this?


Well, in my time I have been:
the Catholic Schoolboy
the aspiring Seminarian
the Seminarian
the ex-Seminarian
the young Commonwealth Public Servant
the Solicitor for Railways young man
Mr Commonwealth Bank
the Man from United Dominions
The Man from the Banque Nationale de Paris
The Man from the Archdiocese of Brisbane
The Man from Ignatius Press
The Publisher of Foundation
The Queenslander
and always, through it all The Catholic

But all the employment identities are long since gone, and the question arises
then, what is my identity? At 71 years I am still The Catholic, The Husband, Father, Grandfather,

A few words from Grandad about Stephen Dixon's new gift Telescope.

Consoling Grandson Daniel Whiting at Christmas time 2010 after a fall off a ride-on vehicle.

the Publisher of FOUNDATION .the Queenslander,the Blogger of "VEXILLA REGIS"http://vexilla-regis.blogspot.com/, of" EDWARD BECKMANN "http://edwardbeckmann.blogspot.com/of "CONRADBECKMANNhttp://conradbeckmann.blogspot.com/
 of "CARL DOPMEYER"http://carldopmeyer.blogspot.com/ and, of course of this  Blog, "BUT NOUGHT".

But many things change as time rolls on. I shall be the Catholic, the Husband, the Father and the Grandfather until God calls me away. And I hope to be able to continue FOUNDATION for years yet and the same with the Blogging.I shall remain the Queenslander always in spirit, though in the coming months my wife and I shall be moving back to Sydney to draw "the wagons into a circle" around the majority of our relatives and our oldest friends as the "enemy" 9advancing years begins to close in.

There, little identity analysis is complete. I am reduced to the core elements now.The time for adding features may be past. But then again one of my favourite quotes is:

"Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die."

"Ulysses"  Alfred Lord Tennyson

Who knows what God has in store for any of us? His Will be done !

2011 IDENTITY : HOW OTHERS SEE US AND HOW WE SEE OURSELVES

This post first appeared on 27th October,2011. 

It seems timely as my 77th Birthday is only 14 days distant.

First Holy Communion - Front Row Second on Left 1947

In some ways, I suppose, we are most ourselves in the eyes of others when we are little children.We are just little  - whoever. It is that simple. 

But within our own being we are then not yet fully ourselves, because we are not free to say whatever we wish , and in fact we do not yet have ideas or opinions on many, even most subjects. Later as teenagers we have strongly felt opinions or prejudices , sometimes ill-informed, but not at all times freely expressed. Our identity is gradually unfolding to the world like a  flower.Our sense of our own identity is powerful at this time. Others' sense of our identity, will then depend on how successfully or completely we have negotiated the shoals of puberty. Most of our peers , being in just the same stage of confusion as we are at some stages, will think we are great or a drag. Older folk will see the forming personality more readily and begin to react accordingly, but often they will react to the projected personality which at this stage may be somewhat at odds with the authentic personality now formed.

                                                      1958 On ferry leaving Circular Quay

As we reach the stage of being a young man or woman,our identity just completed, begins to be moulded by strong external influences,our equally mature peers, our studies, our vocation and or, employment.This effect works on how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others.To take exceptional cases, the young Sailor sees himself as just that and is likewise perceived as a sailor. In the employment sphere  the young man or woman can come to identify themselves with the corporation which employs them. The Sailor is a NAVY man and affects to have no time for Soldiers/ the Army or Airmen/the Air Force. The Commonwealth Banker will affect to look down on The Westpac man.Others will come to identify the individual with that employment. "Here comes the NAVY!"as he enters a social gathering. Or, "What has the Commonwealth Bank got to say for himself??"This phenomenon has even been publicly acknowledged in St.George Bank's TV Commercials, distinguishing its man as socially acceptable whereas a mere "banker"was not.

THE FRENCH BANKER 1986

More important than all of these for the average man is his identity as a husband, father and grandfather, this is an enduring underpinning of the superstructure.And it is itself ideally resting on the foundation of his relationship with God.

Magnetic Island with my beautiful family 
- that is me behind the camera -the Paterfamilias.1986

So, where am I going with this?

Well, in my time I have been:
the Catholic Schoolboy
the Steam Locomotive Buff
the aspiring Seminarian
the Seminarian
the ex-Seminarian
the young Commonwealth Public Servant
the Solicitor for Railways young man
Mr Commonwealth Bank
the Naval Reservist
the Man from United Dominions
The Man from the Banque Nationale de Paris
The Man from the Archdiocese of Brisbane
The Man from Ignatius Press
The Publisher of Foundation
The Queenslander
and always, through it all The Catholic

But all the employment identities are long since gone,and the question arises
then, what is my identity now?

                                                                       FLORENCE, 2009

 At 71 years I am still The Catholic, The Husband, Father, Grandfather, the Publisher of FOUNDATION .the Queenslander at heart, the Blogger of "VEXILLA REGIS"http://vexilla-regis.blogspot.com/, of" EDWARD BECKMANN "  http://edwardbeckmann.blogspot.com/                                                                                  of  "CONRAD BECKMANN "http://conradbeckmann.blogspot.com/ of "CARL DOPMEYER "http://carldopmeyer.blogspot.com/ and most recently of " PORTA FIDEI - DOOR OF FAITH "http://portafidei.blogspot.com/ , not to mention this Blog.

I once heard a mature man address another in the middle of a formal meeting saying : "Stripped to the core M...... I am a PATRIOT"to the considerable embarrassment of everyone else in the room. Not that we didn't all consider ourselves PATRIOTS, but in Australia we don't go about saying such things to colleagues - it seems absurdly pretentious. Happily, though there were suppressed smirks ,no-one actually laughed .But it was a close-run thing. Due allowance was made for the fact that he was in the Advertising business. But, at the heart of it , it was a pretty sad statement : stripped to the core of our being, patriotism though admirable in every way, comes nowhere near the fundamental importance of our relationship with God. 

So, when it all falls away, "stripped to the core"I am a Catholic.

 I have been through all my life, and with God's Grace I shall be, through all my life and beyond. That is what Jesus Christ wanted for everyone.All else that really matters in my life is my wife , children and grandchildren all my family and friends and yes,I am also a Patriot.

TONY DIXON

IDENTITY : HOW WE SEE OURSELVES AND HOW OTHERS SEE US

               IDENTITY  : HOW WE SEE OURSELVES AND HOW OTHERS SEE US

First Holy Communion - Front Row Second on Left 1947

In some ways, I suppose we are most ourselves in the eyes of others when we are little children.We are just little  - whoever. It is that simple. But within our own being we are then not yet fully ourselves, because we are not free to say whatever we wish , and in fact we do not yet have ideas or opinions on many, even most subjects. Later as teenagers we have strongly felt opinions or prejudices , sometimes ill-informed, but not at all times freely expressed. Our identity is gradually unfolding to the world like a  flower.Our sense of our own identity is powerful at this time. Others sénse of our identity will then depend on how successfully or completely we have negotiated the shoals of puberty. Most of our peers , being in just the same stage of confusion as we are at some stages, will think we are great or a drag. Older folk will see the forming personality more readily and begin to react accordingly, but often they will react to the projected personality which at this stage may be somewhat at odds with the authentic personality now formed.

                                                      1958 On ferry leaving Circular Quay

As we reach the stage of being a young man or woman,our identity just completed, begins to be moulded by strong external influences,our equally mature peers, our studies, our vocation and or, employment.This effect works on how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others.To take exceptional cases, the young Sailor sees himself as just that and is likewise perceived as a sailor. In the employment sphere  the young man or woman can come to identify themselves with the corporation which employs them. The Sailor is a NAVY man and affects to have no time for Soldiers/ the Army or Airmen/the Air Force. The Commonwealth Banker will affect to look down on The Westpac man.Others will come to identify the individual with that employment. "Here comes the NAVY!"as he enters a social gathering. Or, "What has the Commonwealth Bank got to say for himself??"This phenomenon has even been publicly acknowledged in St.George Bank's TV Commercials, distinguishing its man as socially acceptable whereas a mere "banker"was not.

THE FRENCH BANKER 1986

More important than all of these for a man is his identity as a husband, father and grandfather, this is an enduring underpinning of the superstructure.And it is itself ideally resting on the foundation of his relationship with God.

Magnetic Island with my beautiful family - that is me behind the camera -the Paterfamilias.1986

So, where am I going with this?

Well, in my time I have been:
the Catholic Schoolboy
the Steam Locomotive Buff
the aspiring Seminarian
the Seminarian
the ex-Seminarian
the young Commonwealth Public Servant
the Solicitor for Railways young man
Mr Commonwealth Bank
the Naval Reservist
the Man from United Dominions
The Man from the Banque Nationale de Paris
The Man from the Archdiocese of Brisbane
The Man from Ignatius Press
The Publisher of Foundation
The Queenslander
and always, through it all -  The Catholic

But all the employment identities are long since gone,and the question arises
then, what is my identity now?

                                                                       FLORENCE, 2009

 At 76 years I am still The Catholic, The Husband, Father, Grandfather, 
the formerPublisher of FOUNDATION .
the Queenslander at heart, 
the Blogger of "VEXILLA REGIS"http://vexilla-regis.blogspot.com/, 
of" EDWARD BECKMANN "  http://edwardbeckmann.blogspot.com/                                                                                 
of  "CONRAD BECKMANN "http://conradbeckmann.blogspot.com/ 
of "CARL DOPMEYER "http://carldopmeyer.blogspot.com/ 
and most recently of " PORTA FIDEI - DOOR OF FAITH "http://portafidei.blogspot.com/ ,
 not to mention this Blog.

I once heard a mature man address another in the middle of a formal meeting saying : "Stripped to the core M...... I am a PATRIOT"to the considerable embarrassment of everyone else in the room. Not that we didn't all consider ourselves PATRIOTS, but in Australia we don't go about saying such things to colleagues - it seems absurdly pretentious. Happily, though there were suppressed smirks ,no-one actually laughed .But it was a close-run thing. Due allowance was made for the fact that he was in the Advertising business. But, at the heart of it , it was a pretty sad statement : stripped to the core of our being, patriotism though admirable in every way, comes nowhere near the fundamental importance of our relationship with God. 

So, when it all falls away, "stripped to the core"I am a Catholic.

 I have been through all my life, and with God's Grace I shall be, through all my life and beyond. That is what Jesus Christ wanted for everyone.All else that really matters in my life is my wife , children and grandchildren all my family and friends and yes,I am also a Patriot.

TONY DIXON

PULL UP YOUR SOCK DAD!

JOHN JOSEPH DIXON (L of Photo) around 1911
WITH HIS MOTHER        & ALBERT (R)
AND BABY BROTHER BILL WHOM DAD GREATLY ADMIRED

To-day ,Wednesday 11th May, 2016 is the Twenty Fourth Anniversary of my Father's death just three weeks short of his 85th Birthday. He survived the death of my Mother by almost 21 years .

Sent to work at age 11 years in a metal foundry, he had a pretty tough life.

HERE, IN 1927 DAD LOOKS LIKE THE TYPICAL YOUNG BANKER OR CIVIL SERVANT
WHICH HE WAS NOT, HE ALWAYS WORKED IN BLUE COLLAR OCCUPATIONS

His life experience together with his local social network, made him a lifelong Labor Party voter. He persevered in this even after he said he was convinced that the Labor Party was riddled with Communists whom he despised - he just could not bring himself to desert the "working class party". And in fact he did see the world and the nation in those Victorian era Class terms.

My Dad was born a Catholic and educated in a Convent School, but for long periods did not practise his religion. Yet when his "kind eyes"won the heart of Miss Elsie Georgina Beckmann a petite and beautiful,modest girl from a devout Evangelical Protestant family , he required that they be properly married in the Catholic Church. Miss Beckmann was instructed in the Faith and duly became a Catholic, and they were married in 1927.

To-day's cynicism might suggest that he was being hypocritical. But in those days people were honest about doing wrong  - he knew it was wrong not to practise his religion, but he also knew that there are absolutes of such importance that you don't abuse them : he would not betray his Religion, even if he did not practise it - that Truth was bound to him for life.

When I was born, Dad was 32 years old ,he was never unkind to me, but not outgoing or physically demonstrative of his love. ( The Poet James Macauley writes powerfully of his own Father's inability to physically express any affection.) He worked on the construction of the great Garden Island Graving Dock, for the Navy. This was a protected employment category, which stopped him being sent on labour battalions to Darwin when he received the call-up. He could not be in the regular forces because of faulty eyesight resulting from an accident at the Foundry when he was about 13 yrs old.

As I grew up, all my interests were largely alien to my Dad except Politics, and even then we were on opposite sides of the fence!Only after many years did  I hear that Dad was very proud of my progress in Banking  and in other areas and used to regale his regular drinking mates at the hotel in Lidcombe with my latest efforts. We almost never got to talk at any length on  any subject , conversation being limited to brief exchanges of statements never pressed too far lest the heavy crunch of disagreement should wreck things.

Dad worked hard all through his life, and for most of my life after the War, he worked in the hot dirty atmosphere of Potts Hill Water Pumping Station , which he rode to and from on a bicycle in light and dark ( for he was a shift worker) and in summer heat and driving rain.It was about a twenty minutes bike ride each way.

In my twenties and thirties , I could of course, perceive all my Father's faults with clinical efficiency, whilst making every allowance for any tendency  to deficiency on my own part. As the years went by my Dad evolved, particularly after he came to see the devastating effect on my Mum's fragile mental health following a Hysterectomy. He came to see in time how cruel was the effect of stubborn,sullen silences - sometimes lasting 3 days - over some exaggerated "offence", on someone so vulnerable. He was transformed.

He also returned to the practise of the Faith which was very pleasing to see and took great delight in his three grandchildren, Marianne, Justine and Matthew and never ceased urging me to look after my wife!

But still he could not freely and easily communicate either emotions or ideas.Whether or not this disability stemmed from the treatment he received from his brutish and drunkard Father, I cannot say for sure, but if I were a betting man......

Dad's later years were plagued by troubles with his heart - suffering from an "enlarged heart"which caused recurring build-ups of fluid around the heart, these required repeated hospitalisation to relieve them but there could be no cure.

In fact he had just successfully completed one such routine and was about to be released when he suffered a heart attack and died. The Catholic Chaplain to the Auburn Hospital where Dad died was quickly on the spot to minister to  his poor body and pray for his soul. His name was Father Stephen Swift and I was most impressed by the card he left endorsed with all that needed to be done to ensure a proper Catholic burial - for he knew nothing of the family.

We were living in Brisbane at the time and I received a call from my Brother Pat telling me of Dad's death and saying that the Hospital  wanted to perform an autopsy. I was on the first plane down next morning and went straight to see the Doctor in Charge -  a young Asian gent. He was prompt to offer condolences and almost as prompt to proffer a form authorising an autopsy for signature. When I objected that they clearly knew the cause of death, and that  this was unnecessary, the form quickly disappeared into the pocket of his white coat. I informed him that after the long periods of my Dad's health problems, I did not want his body used for training purposes. This is a matter which I believe the Hospital handled very badly to say the least.

1947 WITH MY DAD IN PITT STREET SYDNEY

So John Joseph "Jack"Dixon I love you dearly and hope we have the opportunity to understand each other far better in Paradise.My prayers for the repose of your soul and of Mum's are daily made, because time is irrelevant in eternity.

IDENTITY : HOW OTHERS SEE US AND HOW WE SEE OURSELVES

First Holy Communion - Front Row Second on Left 1947

In some ways, I suppose we are most ourselves in the eyes of others when we are little children.We are just little  - whoever. It is that simple. But within our own being we are then not yet fully ourselves, because we are not free to say whatever we wish , and in fact we do not yet have ideas or opinions on many, even most subjects. Later as teenagers we have strongly felt opinions or prejudices , sometimes ill-informed, but not at all times freely expressed. Our identity is gradually unfolding to the world like a  flower.Our sense of our own identity is powerful at this time. Others sénse of our identity will then depend on how successfully or completely we have negotiated the shoals of puberty. Most of our peers , being in just the same stage of confusion as we are at some stages, will think we are great or a drag. Older folk will see the forming personality more readily and begin to react accordingly, but often they will react to the projected personality which at this stage may be somewhat at odds with the authentic personality now formed.

                                                      1958 On ferry leaving Circular Quay

As we reach the stage of being a young man or woman,our identity just completed, begins to be moulded by strong external influences,our equally mature peers, our studies, our vocation and or, employment.This effect works on how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others.To take exceptional cases, the young Sailor sees himself as just that and is likewise perceived as a sailor. In the employment sphere  the young man or woman can come to identify themselves with the corporation which employs them. The Sailor is a NAVY man and affects to have no time for Soldiers/ the Army or Airmen/the Air Force. The Commonwealth Banker will affect to look down on The Westpac man.Others will come to identify the individual with that employment. "Here comes the NAVY!"as he enters a social gathering. Or, "What has the Commonwealth Bank got to say for himself??"This phenomenon has even been publicly acknowledged in St.George Bank's TV Commercials, distinguishing its man as socially acceptable whereas a mere "banker"was not.

THE FRENCH BANKER 1986

More important than all of these for a man is his identity as a husband, father and grandfather, this is an enduring underpinning of the superstructure.And it is itself ideally resting on the foundation of his relationship with God.

Magnetic Island with my beautiful family - that is me behind the camera -the Paterfamilias.1986

So, where am I going with this?

Well, in my time I have been:
the Catholic Schoolboy
the Steam Locomotive Buff
the aspiring Seminarian
the Seminarian
the ex-Seminarian
the young Commonwealth Public Servant
the Solicitor for Railways young man
Mr Commonwealth Bank
the Naval Reservist
the Man from United Dominions
The Man from the Banque Nationale de Paris
The Man from the Archdiocese of Brisbane
The Man from Ignatius Press
The Publisher of Foundation
The Queenslander
and always, through it all The Catholic

But all the employment identities are long since gone,and the question arises
then, what is my identity now?

                                                                       FLORENCE, 2009

 At 71 years I am still The Catholic, The Husband, Father, Grandfather, the Publisher of FOUNDATION .the Queenslander at heart, the Blogger of "VEXILLA REGIS"http://vexilla-regis.blogspot.com/, of" EDWARD BECKMANN "  http://edwardbeckmann.blogspot.com/                                                                                  of  "CONRAD BECKMANN "http://conradbeckmann.blogspot.com/ of "CARL DOPMEYER "http://carldopmeyer.blogspot.com/ and most recently of " PORTA FIDEI - DOOR OF FAITH "http://portafidei.blogspot.com/ , not to mention this Blog.

I once heard a mature man address another in the middle of a formal meeting saying : "Stripped to the core M...... I am a PATRIOT"to the considerable embarrassment of everyone else in the room. Not that we didn't all consider ourselves PATRIOTS, but in Australia we don't go about saying such things to colleagues - it seems absurdly pretentious. Happily, though there were suppressed smirks ,no-one actually laughed .But it was a close-run thing. Due allowance was made for the fact that he was in the Advertising business. But, at the heart of it , it was a pretty sad statement : stripped to the core of our being, patriotism though admirable in every way, comes nowhere near the fundamental importance of our relationship with God. 

So, when it all falls away, "stripped to the core"I am a Catholic.

 I have been through all my life, and with God's Grace I shall be, through all my life and beyond. That is what Jesus Christ wanted for everyone.All else that really matters in my life is my wife , children and grandchildren all my family and friends and yes,I am also a Patriot.

TONY DIXON