Brewery…Skin Technology…what’s up with this Brother? This is the immediate dialogue flogging my wits, as the thoughts swirl…“what will people think”?

I come from a modest family lifestyle. When our means were meager, it was common practice in our household to give—out of our need—not our excess. Somehow, in the development of awareness and perception, at an early age I recognized economy—the difference between wants and needs. In time, economic patterns and trends slowly wandered into my philosophizing and theorizing. (Due to health issues as a child, I was alone much of the time.) I am referring to my life between the ages of 6 and 16. As a child and adolescent, I was occupied with the movement of my heart and spirit in relation to the world around me. I was extremely sensitive to war veterans, POW’s, the homeless and the starving—praying and wondering how ‘they’ survive the emotional, physical and spiritual trauma. Perhaps my sensitivities developed through my father’s love for war movies and seeing Sally Struthers’ TV commercials requesting donations.

Eventually, through personal and historical circumstances, I recognized the only commerce that was barely affected by economic crisis were alcohol, cosmetics and energy, i.e., oil, gas, electricity, etc.

Attempting to follow my heart, spirit and God, I pursued the brewery idea (and we know what happened there), but stumbled upon the “Wind Project” and the “Adenosine Skin Technology”. Through my eyes, these projects were gifts from God and a means to serve others.

Our Carmelite community of consecrated men, women and lay members was founded in 1971. Like every family, we had our ups, downs and financial challenges, which at times were frightening and overwhelming. Sometimes, faith enabled me to see them as challenges. Along the journey, donations were not paying the bills; we needed to develop an income, while experiencing a compelling desire to develop a vehicle to serve the needs of the poor and marginalized—outside of our five hours of prayer. In the process, we stumbled upon an awe-inspiring piece of property, which we ‘knew’ was to be the home of our monastery. After much due diligence and a Purchase & Sale agreement in hand, we discovered that the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative sited our desired property as the “best location in Massachusetts for wind energy”. With faith and a substantial deficit, we unwittingly embarked upon a wind project for the poor (75% of the revenue will go to the poor—details of which I will elaborate in the future).

As I further attempted to develop a cottage industry for my monastery, in 2005 I pursued the establishment of a brewery in conjunction with one of the European Trappist monasteries. After a year of research, development, branding and negotiations with the Trappists, four days before the signing of contracts—the endeavor dissolved. (No tears in our beer!)

During this time, Dr. Dobson, a lay member of my Carmelite community in Worcester, MA encouraged me to obtain the Exclusive License for his Patented Adenosine Skin Technology from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. (You should see the youthful healthiness of the Dr.’s wife—Susan. She is 60 and has the complexion of a 35-year-old woman.) Within two weeks of the evaporation of our brewery effort, we began negotiations with the University of Massachusetts Medical School for the Exclusive Licensing of the patented Adenosine Skin Technology. After six months of negotiations, we secured the exclusive license and began the business development of Easeamine®.

This is my first blog and I liken the initial angst to giving birth to a baby (according to my mother’s stories). My baby girl has not entered the birth canal and I am already concerned about her first day of school, first date (I dust for finger prints!), college, and the fiancé who may not be good enough.

Daunting and exhilarating seem to capture a part of the equation. The story spans years of dreams, aspirations and obstacles—culminating to the tangible, extraordinary and more obstacles. In hindsight, the obstacles end up being stepping-stones to spiritual, emotional and physical maturity (getting older has its perks).

What does a consecrated Brother living a monastic Carmelite tradition (monk) have in common with a wrinkle cream: Easeamine? The answer: the marriage of spirituality and a deep-seated desire to serve the needs of the poor and marginalized, particularly through education.

Due to one of life’s gifts disguised as an obstacle, I can imagine the critics jabbing at the inconvenient dichotomy: monk—wrinkle cream, who is he kidding! However, in the back of my mind is the old adage: truth is stranger than fiction. Anyone attempting to live an honest, sincere and personally generous way of life, will recognize the viability of such a phrase.

In order to jumpstart the past into the present, I will use an outline of key events that brought me to the keyboard, and elaborate as I my fingers continue to do the talking.