A Note To My Favorite Teenager

Dear name deleted,

Here are some words of wisdom to add to your lexicon.   

That highway called “selfishness” is a dead-end road…not to mention a very lonely road to travel.  I know this only because I have traveled it…all the way to the end…just to discover that it goes nowhere.  Save yourself the wasted miles and disappointment.  Take the road less traveled…the road to real peace, joy and happiness. 

I am sure being a teenager today must be very difficult.  It was much easier years ago when I was a kid…my stern, merciless parents told me exactly what to do and when to do it.  (Thanks, Mom and Dad, for pointing the way)

You are one of the smartest, most gifted, talented teenagers I know…don’t let it go to waste.  May God Bless you in your travels.

For you I write this essay

Remember well upon this day

It’s time that selfishness be put away

For it, my friend, will make you gray.

I for you will always pray

That in God’s grace you may stay

It is more than just a cliché

May all good things come your way.

Amen

Far Away Horizons

The thrill of morning on the open road, the wind in my hair, the sound of horsepower taking me to far away places…I can only wonder what’s beyond the next mountain, what’s around the next curve?  I love the adventure of road trips that take me to mysterious and magical places that I’ve never seen before.

Nothing says freedom like a long motorcycle trip. 

Ring, Ring, Ring…….“Yes Dear, I’ll be home in 15 minutes.” 

Why Me?

Why did I end up with a crazy God…a God who does crazy things…a God who turns water into wine, wine into blood, and bread into his own body?  It all seems so crazy to my simple mind.  Too complex…too complicated…too mind boggling for me to understand.  But why should I question any of this craziness when I am the beneficiary of all the blessings…all the gifts…all the benefits.

Why me…Lord?

I do not know but I am glad

So there's no reason to be sad.

My salvation You have won

Thanks for all You have done.

Amen.

Going Under The Knife

Digging though my note book I find this dated Oct 26, 2012

     I sit in the waiting room, waiting to go under the knife.   Subdued by anxiety but excited by the thought of waking up and being able to see clearly...not visually impaired with cataracts.

     And such is life...anxious about dying but excited about the possibilities of waking up and being able to see clearly, getting all the answers to life's nagging questions and being welcomed home with the words "my good an faithful servant".

Thank you my Lord

Life 's not so hard

For this I know

You’ve blessed me so

Amen.

OMG

Oh, My God

A Poem by Billy Collins

“Not only in churches

And nightly by their bedsides

Do young girls pray, these days

Where ever they go 

Prayer is woven into their talk

Like a bright thread of awe

Even in the pedestrian mall

Outbursts of prayer spring

Unbidden from their glossy lips”

I like Billy’s poem, the subtle sarcasm, the tongue in cheek, it appeals to me.  But this poem made me think.  Taking the Lords name in vain is #3 on the top 10 list of don’ts.

#3)   “Thou shalt not take the Lords name in vain.”

Oh, My God!   How easy is that to correct?  It’s not like quitting smoking.  It’s not like giving up those sins of selfishness or coveting.  All that I have to do is stop saying the Lord’s name in vain.  That's easy enough.

I‘ll just take one step at a time.  Work on one commandment at a time.  After all, I am not going to become a saint over night.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being so patient with me.
Please give me the strength and courage to become the saint You want me to be.

In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Hooray, Rainy Day

I grinned as I ran through the downpour and up the steps thinking...how nice to be blessed by rain after such a long dry spell.  The church was almost empty for early morning Mass but that was to be expected with the inclement weather.  I shook off my raincoat and settled into my pew. The first reading caught my attention. 

 “Beloved, if God so loved us,

we also must love one another.

No one has ever seen God.

Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,

and his love is brought to perfection in us.

This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,

that he has given us of his Spirit.

Moreover, we have seen and testify

that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.

Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,

God remains in him and he in God.

We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.

In this is love brought to perfection among us,

that we have confidence on the day of judgment

because as he is, so are we in this world.

There is no fear in love,

but perfect love drives out fear

because fear has to do with punishment,

and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.” 1 John 4:11-18

Well…there you have it.  That explains why I’m still a bit fearful.  For me it is the “not so perfect love” that makes it a little scary, a little frightening and intimidating. 

Dear Lord Jesus,

Hold me near,

Drive out my fear.

Give me the correction,

That brings my love to perfection.

So on judgment day,

My fears are swept away.

Amen

2nd Amendment Rights

After days of ruminating on all the misinformation and the lame arguments our idiot congressmen put forth concerning second amendment rights and gun control…I decided to purchase a gun as my form of protest. 

After squandering my time standing in line at the crowded gun shop…waiting for a sales person to sell me a gun and fill out all the paper work…I got disgusted and left.  It was an awakening to see all the people trying to buy guns from a gun shops with virtually empty shelves. 

All this just intensifies my feeling that I’m the only "crazy" person without a gun.  Out of frustration and disgust I went to the hardware store and bought a chain saw…the biggest one they had. 

Perhaps this will be a lot safer…Well...I could possibly cut off an arm or leg…but at lest I won’t shoot myself in the foot. 

Shopping always makes me feel better.  Tomorrow I’ll take my aggravation out on those overgrown trees.

Married To Miss Mary

     There have been times I thought that I had made a mistake…especially during my selfish moments.  But…after 45 years...time has proven me wrong.

     It was not a mistake... it was Divine Providence.  Being married to Miss Mary has been the best medicine for me.  At times it has been a bitter/sweet journey, an adventure into the unknown, a roller coaster ride both scary and exciting.

     But no…not a mistake indeed…because it has been much more sweet than bitter, much more exciting than scary much more healing than not. 

Thank you, Miss Mary for showing me the meaning of real love.

Thank you, Lord Jesus for blessing me with such a wonderful spouse.

Amen.

P.S.  Happy 45^th Anniversary