I found this hanging out in my Bible in the book of Ezekiel.
Thou shalt:
I Have Reached a New Level of FAIL!
Yes, you *can* burn Ramen! Smoke was pouring out of the microwave. If I had left it in any longer, I might have started a fire! 🙂
Bliss, Though Fleeting…
This morning was one of those rare mornings where I wake up feeling great. I had fallen asleep wearing my shoes, so I didn’t have much to do except change my clothes, fix my hair a bit and grab my phone. Then, I was out the door for a morning “run.”
I have to say these things in quotation marks because actual runners would laugh me out of the internet. 🙂 Basically, I can sprint for a yardfront or so. What is that? 100 feet? That’s about it. Then my body makes me quit. Neuromuscular disorders are no joke. But I tell my body to shut up, ignore it’s desperate cries for energy (and oxygen, as if that’s the problem), and my heart’s loud complaints that it’s too tired to take this kind of abuse. I end up walking for a bit, then trying the sprinting again. Over and over until I am dizzy, nauseated, exhausted, or I’ve reached the park. 🙂 Because at the park, I like to stop and swing on the swingset. 🙂
[I didn’t take this picture today, but this is the park I go to. It doesn’t look like I have a photo of the swing set.]
It was a beautiful morning. The sun was out although it was closer to 6:30 am than 7 am. After swinging for a couple songs, I headed back home and sat at the desk in the kitchen, catching up on the e-mails and Facebook posts from last night. I opened the kitchen windows and enjoyed the breeze while I considered what to do for the day.
I decided to go to the 8 am Mass, since I was feeling good at the moment. I was ready early and even brought my Bible and materials to take notes with. Even though most of my friends were not at that Mass, I enjoyed my time there — it was very peaceful and I was attentive enough to hear several things that the Lord was trying to tell me.
As a funny aside, during Mass I wrote the name of my new blog that I’m running for my friend, John: Letters from John. He’s taking 9 months to leave home and work with NET ministries in the evangelization of Catholic youth around the country. I thought that our priest would like to read about his adventures, and copied the information down onto a sticky note for him. After Mass, I waited to greet him. As he came up to me, the first thing he asked about was John and the blog. I interrupted his question by shoving the sticky note at him. He looked at me questioningly for a bit, and asked if John had told me to give him this information. I guess he had heard about the blog from a letter John had written him. Haha! NO! Apparently, the Holy Spirit was just at work! 🙂
I popped in to see what was being offered at the parish Used Book Sale and picked up a couple titles:
“Catholicism” by Richard McBrien
“Mother Teresa’s Secret Fire” by Joseph Langford
“Called to Holiness” by Ralph Martin
“Gift and Mystery” by Pope John Paul II
All of this for $9! I gave my last dollar to the donut fund and left the church. I did a little light shopping on the way home. By the time I had left the grocery store, it was about 10:30 am and I was starting to not feel very well. My time of feeling okay was coming to a close. I got home, managed to get all the fridge/freezer items put away (although right now, the rest of the groceries are still in bags on the kitchen floor), and had something quick for breakfast/lunch.
Oh yeah, and I picked up this waxing kit at the store, because I was curious. So, without ever having done this before, I waxed my eyebrows. And not too gracefully, either, I just dived in headfirst, so to say! LOL! It was okay, I guess, although I’m sure a professional would have done better. 🙂 Plus, it could have turned out horrible! I’m reckless and impulsive sometimes, what can I say. 🙂 You can’t take yourself that seriously….
I tried just laying on the couch watching TV, but ended up falling asleep. I had already reached my limit for being able to do things today. I didn’t wake up until about 6 pm.
Since then, I haven’t done too much. I made a phone call, checked the interwebs for interesting/important things, and managed to drag the lawnmower out of the garage to at least get the front yard mowed. After all, the grass had grown to about a foot long again and I’m sure the neighbors are not so thrilled about that. Now, I am exhausted again, although I have to get up the energy to run at least one load of laundry tonight or I won’t have anything to wear for work tomorrow morning. 🙂
So much going on this week:
Monday: Evening meeting
Tuesday: Hopefully a study day (originally scheduled for Monday)
Wednesday: Meeting at church at 5 pm, then play date at 6:30 pm
Thursday: Bible study
This is also the last week with the MiChart project. 😦 So, there’s a LOT of loose ends to tie up before we go.
Although I don’t feel great now, and I have a lot of work ahead of me this week, I am so completely grateful to God that He gave me this wonderful morning. Something that I can cling to with hope for the week ahead. 🙂 He gives me strength, and Thank God He does!
The Wings of the Wind
The passage today reminds us that the Holy Spirit can take us places we’ve never expected. And, like the wind, we can’t predict the direction that we will be going.
While the imagery and language of “the wings of the wind” is a little … sappy … for my taste, I understand the meaning of it. Now that it is September, change is impending for a lot of people. For kids, it means a new school year. For me, it means the end of one of the best jobs I’ve had.
I’ve been working on the MiChart project since Halloween last year. Almost a year. And the group of people with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working have been like family to me. I’ve loved the job, too. It’s been challenging in the best ways and exciting. Besides my team, I’ve gotten to work with a lot of different people throughout the Health System and in the Epic/consulting world. I’ve made new friends and learned new things.
But my time with the project is almost at an end. In two weeks from today, in fact, I will be embarking on a new chapter of my life at work. I don’t know what the Lord has in store for me, but I trust in His plan. May I be obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as He seeks to guide me along the way.
The Spiritual Journey
Lately, I’ve been feeling far from God. There’s been good days, definitely some blessed days (aren’t they all?), but on average, I’ve felt as if I were floundering a bit and surely not where I’d like to be. But it wasn’t until I saw this picture that I really could put a finger on *exactly* what I was experiencing.
Yeah, her. The Woman with a Hemorrhage.
Not because of the chronic illness factor, although that is certainly appropriate. But more of her posture in this picture. Here, she is not merely reaching out to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment.
She looks like she is wrapping herself around his calf.
That’s kind of how I feel.
I wish I could be strong and follow Him. But I’m kind of weak in that at the moment. So, I’m going to crawl until I reach Him, wrap myself around His leg, and let Him drag me along the way. Hopefully, at some point, I’ll be able to walk again. But until then, I will bump along the way, getting a little scraped and dirty, but clinging on.
A Blessed Day
I’ve been wanting to go to confession for several weeks now, but at every turn it seems that something would come up. The longer I went, the more I wanted to go. I used to go about every 2 weeks to my pastor for confession, but lately have been going to confession Friday evenings after work at Christ the King. However, after being frustrated in my attempts for so long, I wanted to go to confession to a special place.
Don’t get me wrong, God’s grace is God’s grace no matter the location or the priest who channels his grace.
But.
I’m not the kind of person who *feels good* after confession. I don’t feel “light as a feather,” or anything like that. I just feel like me. Although, when I go to St. Bonaventure’s for some reason, I feel God’s love and mercy more than usual. It’s not uncommon for me to exit confession crying. For some reason, there I have a better sense of my sin, and therefore an increased humility and gratitude for what the Lord is willing to forgive me.
After confession today, the day just seemed to … slow down, in a way. I lingered over sights and appreciated everything that I encountered.
First, I spent some time in prayer before the tabernacle.
Then, as I was exiting, I noticed a garden space. At first, the door to go in was locked, but one of the priests saw that I was trying to go in and opened the door for me. The flowers inside (outside? The garden was an interior courtyard with no roof) were beautiful.
When I first arrived, there was no one in line for confession and no priest in the room, so I had about 30 minutes to kill before the next scheduled confession time. I wandered through the exhibit on Fr. Solanus and then wandered through the gift shop. I ended up getting a rosary bracelet and a couple of postcards.
On the way out, after my confession, I took a couple pictures of the door.
The building stone:
And Sister Death, which is a sculpture of this twisted black piece of a tree.
The sense of peace, quiet joy and reflection stayed with me throughout the day. It was wonderful. I felt His love surround me wherever I went. And I kept receiving signs of love throughout the day. I wish I could hold on to that feeling forever. 🙂
Sammy Qs
I’m reading from 1 Samuel today and I’ve come up with a few questions.
1. In 1 Sam 3:3 it says, “The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord where the Ark of God was.”
First, what did they mean by “the lamp of God”? And was it something that was allowed to go out at night and be re-lit in the morning?
Second, if he was sleeping where the Ark of God was… Does this mean he was sleeping in the Holy of Holies? Or is it just saying that he was somewhere in the tent? Not that I personally have anything against sleeping snuggled up next to the tabernacle myself… 🙂 In fact, I often wish that Adoration chapels have little cots and that sleeping in the presence of God was not some frowned-upon event.
2. 1 Sam 3:14, “…the iniquity of the house of Eli will never be expiated by sacrifice or offering.”
This seems quite harsh. What does this mean for the hope of salvation for the sons of Eli? Is it possible to still hope that they had a last-minute conversion of heart at the point of death?
Also, this both makes me think seriously about the sins that I commit — I would never want God to say that of me — and be ever grateful that we have recourse to the sacrament of Reconciliation.
Later in the text, Samuel relays to Eli what God had said, and he replies, “He is the Lord; He will do what He deems right.”
What an amazing response! To give your fate over to God like that without whining or pleading? I think this is overlooked by so many people. I know I have read it many times without really understanding what it must have taken for Eli to respond in this way. For me, my priest has instructed me to pray for holy indifference, so that I can pray as Mary did, “Let it be done to me according to Your will.” In this, I can only hope and pray that I will one day be able to put my fate in the Lord’s hands so completely, with holy indifference and complete trust that His plan is the best for me. I know this intellectually, but emotionally, I still have my preferences.
This Was Their Finest Hour
“This Was Their Finest Hour,” by Winston Churchill.
After witnessing the fall of other European countries to the forces of Hitler and Mussolini, Britain feels the threat advancing toward them.
He reminds us that we cannot undo the past. In a moment of crisis, we cannot waste time reflecting and bewailing past mistakes and actions, but must assess our current situation, take stock of the things in our capacity to do, and then do them. It is not a time to break down and cry, but to show what you are made of – to rise to the occasion.
He tells the people that even against the odds, there is no reason for despair or panic; and reminds them of the last war, where for the first four years they were subject to defeat, yet managed to emerge from this with hope.
He shows the battle for Britain as the turning point for the fate of the world. If Britain is victorious, the whole world is victorious. Yet, if Britain is defeated, the whole world will follow her fate. Britain, then, not only has a duty to herself, but to the whole world.
This speaks an awful lot about the role and importance of community, doesn’t it? Especially of global community. And how we are our brother’s keeper. We stand as one, or we fall as one. Our actions do affect those around us. There is such a thing as a higher purpose, a moral imperative, an objective truth. If we persevere in our struggles, if we fight the good fight, if we live with integrity and honor, then regardless the outcome, it will be our finest hour as well.
Do we live this way?
Add a Little Hop to Your Morning… I Did
I walked out into the kitchen this morning and gave a curious look to something on the floor which shouldn’t be, not recognizing what it was. When I took a step closer and it moved suddenly… AAAAAH! I went running the other way! 🙂 It was a HUGE FROG!
How did he get in my house?
When I went back towards him to try and encourage him to hop out the back door, he saw me coming, SQUEAKED! (Awww…) and hopped away from me in fear. Poor guy. Who knows how long he’s been trapped in the house? I wonder if he’s the one I deliberately avoided killing a couple weeks in a row as I mowed the lawn? If so, he’s gotten pretty big, fast!
I got him outside, then found a little plastic dish, and put it out there, just in case he needed a drink. 🙂
Concord Hymn
“Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson was written as a tribute to the soldiers of the Revolutionary War.
Not only does it evoke poignant images of the soldiers, but it brings to mind the import of what these men – these common men – did. Perhaps most importantly, they took action. They saw an injustice and they fought to right it. They gave their lives so that their children and their children’s children could know freedom. In the midst of a slumbering world, blind to injustice and tyranny, these men woke us all up and taught us that complacency has no place in the life of men. And that we the beneficiaries of their struggles, have an enduring obligation to honor their memory and keep up the fight in whatever new form it may take in our lives today.
What are those things today against which we must stand? Where is the tyranny and injustice in the world today? In what ways are we ignorant and complacent to wrongdoing and evil, when we should be fighting? When *we* should be fighting — every common man and woman and not some vague and nebulous “they”? What was this country founded upon? Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? How can we then take a blind eye when life is being redefined such that the right to life becomes a subjective; where one person can arbitrarily declare that another doesn’t have such a right? Is this not an innate right endowed by our Creator? No? Then what country is this? And are we willing to fight to get that country back? What about liberty? Specifically religious liberty? I believe we are all slumbering. Society in general and our governing officials — be it our executive, legislative or judicial branches — are herding us to a forced, homogenized relativism as regards our religious views. Laws are being enacted which curtail our right to religious liberty, yet no one is paying attention.
Who is going to stand up and fire that shot which will again be heard around the world? Who is going to again remind everyone that there are objective truths, and that those truths are worth losing your life over?
Paroxysm of Giggles / Critical Mass 