Letter to God

Dear God:


It's me.  Only me...again.
I 've been thinking about you.  You are never far from my mind.  I think about you a lot.  I pray a lot.  I was wondering...can a person think about you or pray too much?


It seems as if I get up in the morning, go to bed at night and think about you throughout the day.  I wonder if that makes me a fanatic.


I don't go around quoting the Bible, spouting euphemisms or wear sack cloths and ashes.  I would like to say that I evangelize for you, but you know me, Lord.  I am not very vocal.  I don't have the talent for speeches or preaching.  Instead, I have a poor blog in which I try to express my love and dedication to you,  Lord.


I know that you are well aware of my efforts to make your name known and how often I fail to "come across."  You know every hair on my head, don't you, including the gray ones that I have acquired over the years?  You know that I am not a theologian or a person of great scholastic achievements.  I have faith in you, Lord, as simple as it is, and I trust in you to carry me through.


I think there are family and friends around me that see me as a nerd.  So be it.  I try to live my life around "nerd-ism," follow the Ten Commandments to the best of my present ability, and practices the four Cardinal Virtues.   I know Lord, I know.  I need a lot of practice.


I often fail for I am weak, Lord.  But you already know that about me, don't you?  You know how often I put my foot in my mouth and say the wrong or stupid things.  Yet, you are beside me, and pick me up so that I can start again. Thank you Lord, for being patient with me and letting me lean on  you so often.  I couldn't possibly do it on my own.
 
I often wonder this, Lord.  Why did you create me...us...as we are?  We...and I...are so weak, vulnerable and given to sin.  We are inclined to violence, selfishness, pride and vanity.  But, then who am I to question why you would create beings such as we?  You know us...and me...as we are. We are  for all intents and purposes, pitiful tributes to you name, holiness and love.  We just don't measure up, do we?


I guess that is why you gave me free will when you created me, Lord.  You gave me a way  out and a way in.  The door swings both ways.  We do have a choice to the direction we want to follow.  I can walk the path you set before me or stumble along a rough and rocky road to perdition.  I chose to follow you, Lord, my God and creator.  You know well how often I stub my toes on sometimes the smallest of pebbles that trip me up.  Thank you, Lord, for the obstacles, great and small, that you have provided for me along the way, from which I learn. 


Nothing stays in stasis, does it, Lord?  Even the biggest boulders wear away until they become small pebbles, and then grains of sand of time.  I like to think, Lord, each and every time I fall or stumble I become similar to a grain of sand with all the rough edges and imperfection wearing away.


Well, Lord, it has been nice being in communion with you, Lord, and I really do thank you for hearing my little voice.  You are like Flo's TV insurance commercial in that I "am never alone."  You are always with me.


So, Lord, I guess it is time to finish this letter, sign off, stamp it, and send it off into cyberspace where I know you will find it in your personal mailbox.  Maybe I will write you again...sometime soon.  You already know what is in my heart, Lord.  It is YOU, LORD, it is you.

from me to you, Lord

just me

  

POPE FRANCIS: A MAN OFGRACE

Generally we think of "grace" as pertaining to women as you would be inclined to associate with the program "WOMEN OF GRACE" which is televised on EWTN,  a Catholic venue, but a step for and to the virtues.  It just does not go far enough because men can be, and often are instruments of grace.  Thus, I think of Pope Francis as a MAN OF GRACE.

There are actually seven virtues which we seldom hear of let alone think of because we usually are introduced to the three theological Cardinal Virtues as taught by Saint Paul of Tarsus.  They are Faith, Hope and Charity.  These three virtues were adapted and unified with the Seven Cardinal Virtues which were taught  by the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle.  We owe the Greeks a lot.

  The seven Cardinal Virtues are:

Prudence

 Charity

Temperance

 Diligence,

 Patience

 Kindness

 Humility

As I look and ponder on these virtues I think of our new Pope as he clearly is a man of grace.  He seems to have all the elements of a person of grace.  I am sure he has some foibles as do the rest of us, but most of all God's children probably do not really live by all the virtues bestowed and are available to us.  We are weak, sometimes Popes are weak, but Pope Francis is an exceptional man in exceptional times.  He is a  Pope of the People in a time when the church is being minimized or out-rightly attacked.  His umbrella is the Grace of Virtues.  His shield is Grace as he tries to steer the Church back to the basics that Christ came, taught and died for.  And the basic-truth-virtue-grace, is that we love one another.


You may think or say that it seems impossible to live by the virtues of grace, but keep in mind that many known and unknown saints and holy people lived and died for these precepts. You will say that they were very exceptional individuals or maybe "born" into such graces.  As far as I know only Mary was  "chosen" to the virtues of the graces, and only Jesus was the recipient of ALL graces and virtues, as He was also the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Correct me if I am wrong because I am often wrong about a great many things and I certainly am not a theologian.


There is nothing to keep us or anyone from practicing or attempting to live under the umbrella of grace.  Graces and virtues are not owned by anyone and are not just words on a page or thrown into cyberspace.  In a sense you can lay "claim" to the virtues of grace just as Pope Francis seems to have done.  These are not just concepts of humanitarianism, but voluntary actions according to the Bible, ancient customs and cultures and sound faith in Jesus Christ.  Are you a person of grace?

 

 

END







A NEW YEAR

O.K.  It is that time of the year when we all make resolutions that most of us will not keep; well not for long, anyway.  I have bee thinking of what I might "give up or do."  Well, I can't give up drinking, smoking, running around as I don't do that to start with.  What is left?  Nothing?  No, there is plenty that I can attempt to achieve in this year of 2014.  I say "attempt" because I know most of us...including me will stumble or fail at times, along the way as the new year progresses.  The operative word here might be "persist."  When I fail or become weak in my resolutions...then I need not quit, but to recognize that I am a frail individual and need to lean on the ONE who made us all.  You know, the BIG ONE that does not live high in the sky, but is in the soul and spirit of everyone of us.

I am making a list and checking it twice for the year of 2014.  You can decide if I have been naughty or nice...just don't be too hard on me!

1. Become a more spiritual person.
2. Become less judgmental, more humble.
3. Become a more person of grace.
4. Become a more "giving person."
5. Become less lazy(oh, yes, that's me).
6. Watch my diet.
7. Stop eating out so often.
8. Spend less time on the computer.
9. Get rid of all unneeded items..
10. Do the things that need to be done in a timely manner.

Today I have been going through old junk mail that has needed to be sorted through and gotten rid of.  It is a lot.  I have been putting it off.  Also, I am in the process of picking up things and putting the items in their proper places.  See, I told you I am lazy, but I have started my new year off right. 

I am staying in near the furnace.  I don't like cold, wind or snow.  Whatever happened to Global Warming?  Send me some.

END



Life is full of surpriises

Just in case you haven't noticed...I haven't written much in the past few weeks.  There is a reason for that.  There just isn't a lot to write about.  The cold, ice and snow keeps me in and that means that life goes on, but is uneventful...well almost.  Five years ago in December I fell and fractured my arm rather badly ...so I am very leery about ice and snow...now that was eventful and I didn't want to repeat it.  Now I am nursing a badly bruised left knee resulting from a slide on the ice on my front steps.  I also have a bruise on my backside.  It is a good thing that I didn't break anything back there as I already have a large crack apparent there.  I am well padded.

While not getting out and about, I am well stocked up with plenty of food, coffee, and of course TP, also known as toilet paper.  It pays to be a wee bit paranoid.

All the churches here, where I live, canceled religious services a week ago Sunday.  That tells you a lot; that it is not safe or prudent to be driving or exposed to the cold.  They didn't need to convince me 'though I do regret not being able to go to Mass that Sunday.

Some of this post is dated, but we still have some snow on the ground here and there, but most of it is gone and will be gone by tomorrow.  I need to get out and so some things...if I can hobble around a little better.  Anyway, now you know why I am a bit late on posting.  Life is full of slippery surprises.

END

Mush Brain

I do my best work at night...on the edge of sleep and fuzzy awareness.  My best ideas and intuitive creativity seem to invade the gray mass between my ears just as I am drifting off.  I say to myself, " these are good thoughts and inspirations for my next blog," and then I go dancing off on a cloud.  Yes, really good stuff presents itself...Pulitzer Prize literary greatness of words and wisdom bathed in the slurry mush of my brain.  I could write the next "Best Seller!!" Well, maybe not.  When I wake up in the morning I just can't remember much of what I thought would be wonderful, inspiring verbosity.  What is left is...you guessed it...slurry, gray mush, the water on my brain.

Anyway...what I was thinking of  was the book SEVEN STORY MOUNTAIN by Tomas Merton which I read sometime ago.  I was never really impressed with the book even 'though it was hailed as a great autobiography, a revered "mystic" of modern times.  Because his book just didn't reach me on a "deeper level...I didn't read his other books.  I am not known for profound perceptions of all thing great and beautiful, but for me to read and finish the book...well, I found it laborious.

To my little, mushy intellect..it was a "me" book and not about "God" book.  I know that what I am expressing will rile some, if not many, but I did not find it as a "God Centered" book, but as a "me" centered autobiography.  While it was a good book and highly lauded by intellectual and spiritual leaders far and wide, and read by the "common man," somehow I didn't really care for the book.  I may have missed many things of great importance within the pages...I plan on reading it again.  As I said my brain power is limited and is fueled by Little Debbie Cakes and the equivalent of Ding Dongs and Ho Hos...and all frosted cakes.

I have been trying to deepen my own spiritual life and acquire a more substantial union with Jesus, "the anointed one."  This has been an ongoing quest for me because my head has a sponge in it and it is full of empty holes.  You would think that a sponge-like brain would just soak up everything that it is exposed to, but like the sponge in my kitchen sink...it will only hold so much and then everything "kind of" drips out and down the drain.  I am a stumbling block to myself and keep tripping over my own inadequacies.  Got that?  Me neither.  That is perhaps why my quest continues and there are so many bumps in the road.  My need...desire...struggle for a closer communion with Our Lord...is a field full of landmines and I keep stepping on them.  I do wish to love the Lord with all my heart, but it is difficult when you love all things frosted and yummy, too.

If you give me a hammer and nails with a little saw I can build a book case.  If I were to be asked to build a house I couldn't do it.  If you ask me to expand my spiritual horizons or shore up the walls of a well of communion with our Savior...I would try.  I am human with faults and limitations...but I would...am trying.  I will never be a great writer, a mystic or a saint, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't aim for it and make it my goal, as everyone should.  I will continues with my baby steps and wobble along for that is how I learn to walk, for anyone must walk before trying to do a powerwalk and then run.  Yes, I know.  I am a slow learner with a porous  heart and brain.  My baby steps will hopefully take me to the end of my quest...and that may be how it is meant to be.  Pray always...always.

END

If it isn't broke, don't fix it.

I have had some problems with my computer for a couple of days after an automatic "update" from Microsoft.  I think I have it whipped now.  Microsoft will "update" your computer for you whether you want it or not.  My computer was just fine before that.  So...I guess that I will be able to post next week.  Sorry about the delay.

End 

A NEW BROOM

I am sort of liberal....sort of traditional...sort of modern...sort of anti-establishment; all of these complexities in a complex society.  At the same time I try to be moderate in my thinking and actions.  This is why I like Pope Francis.  He knows about the boat we are all trying to keep afloat.  In a way you could say that he is a Pope that has been field tested and found to be strong, yet flexible, a Pope that can bend in the wind without breaking and then stand tall in the sun.  He seems to be just the kind of Pope we need in these times of troubles and world-wide unsettled unrest, wars, and political, upsets.  Yes, Pope Francis is the right man for the right times.

Pope John was a Pope for the right times, too.  He came along and breathed new life light into the church, sweeping away cobwebs and dust from the church.  Pope Paul came along as the church needed to be reminded that dignity and freedom needed to re-introduced as human rights and the worth struggling for.

And now there is Francis who is trying to clean house and bring the Vatican back to the foundation that Jesus died for; that we love one another and live as we were taught by the teachings, sufferings and even the martyrdom of great saints and Christians.  I believe that Francis will also, in time, be known as a great Pope.

What do you think?  Would you buy a broom and help clean house by sweeping out your own house?  Hmm, I wonder.

END