Thinking A Thought

I stepped out into the crisp cold morning air under the umbrella of stars that stretched from horizon to horizon.  The big dipper hung overhead poring out directions to it’s little brother’s stationary handle which the entire sky spun around…while to the east…a Pac Man moon chased a brilliant Venus across the heavens.  I couldn’t help but think how this could all exist without a maker…without a creator to put it all together.  Perhaps I’m just not smart enough to figure these things out…after all I can’t even operate my stupid smart phone.  So, I chose to believe that there is a God; a God that wants us to join him is his unbelievable, amazing and eternal creation. 

That thought is what gives me hope…hope that this tiny, crazy planet is not my ultimate destination.

The Great Escape

In the early morning dark I sneak from my bedroom with shoes in hand and slip out of the house to escape from the monotonous mundane minutiae of life.  I visit a place where I feel accepted and welcomed…a place where I am received and loved in spite of my shortcomings and failures.  The time there, when I’m not daydreaming or worrying about the day-to-day trivia, is blissful euphoria, tearful gratitude and an amazing awareness of a mystery that is totally beyond my grasp.

Thank you Lord, Jesus, for daily Mass

You are the One who saved my ass

Saved me from my twisted past

My heart can rest with You at last

Amen.

Pot Of Gold

Have you ever been trapped in a totally hopeless situation?  And you knew there was no way out…you knew you were domed…as you sank lower and lower you notice “Titanic” written on your ticket.     

Yes!  I’ve been there and done that.  What started out to be a nice walk in the park turned into a disaster.  I was looking for that proverbial pot of gold but I was sinking in a material world of secular quicksand…the harder I struggle the deeper I sunk.  The fun had turned into a fight…a fight I was loosing.  In a moment of desperation I called on the God that I had been hiding from for most of my life.  I made a conscious decision to try it his way.   After all I had tried everything else…after all what did I have to loose?   Basically it got down to giving up and giving in…giving in to the fact that I could not handle the problems that life threw at me…not by myself.   

In hindsight it all seems very clear…but at the time...not so much.  At the time there was no joy in my life. At the time all I knew I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Nothing changed yet everything changed.  All I did was change my attitude about God.  I discover that I could not change anything else or anybody else but I could change myself.

Slowly everything got better.  Slowly peace and joy trickled back into my life.

I now know there is a pot of gold waiting for me at the end of the rainbow.  I just need to stay on the right path and keep following that rainbow. 

This God stuff is a mystery, a paradox, an unbelievable, unexplainable concept…but it is the only thing that makes sense in this out of control, crazy world.

You don’t have to be a bad person to need God…even good people need God.

So I’m going to keep following Jesus, my rainbow, to my pot of gold, God.

Now that I am gray and old,

Thanks for getting me out of the cold.

Thanks for all that you have told.

Thanks for being my pot of gold.

Amen

Crown Molding

Last night I started another project.  It seemed like a simple matter to installing a decorative molding around the top of the living room…a living room with a vaulted ceiling.  After all, how hard could that be?  Besides it would give me a chance to justify that expensive miter saw that just sits idle in my garage. 

Well, after going through a couple of thousand board feet of ornate crown molding I discovered the endless ways you could cut the wrong angle with amazing accuracy. 

It’s funny how simple thing can be so complicated and…complicated things be so simple, but such is life.  

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for simplifying life with a few simple rules. 

Thank you, YOU-Tube, for simplifying crown-molding installations with a few short videos.

When you’re down and you have no clue.

Do not frown, there’s always hope for you.

Don’t clown around, for it’s time you must review.

The rules profound, they’ll tell you what to do.

All life’s answers are in “The Book”.

But when putting molding in your nook,

To “YouTube” you must look.

Thank you, Lord, I’m so glad I took your hook.

Amen.

Chased Down

Many a year was spent,

Pursuing the wrong event.

Now I must lament,

It was to my detriment.

The change I underwent,

‘Twas never my intent.

Myself, I was hell-bent,

For a life of pleasurement.

But, wherever I left my scent,

That “Hound of Heaven” went.

For He just would not relent,
Chasing down this misguided gent.

All my time misspent,

Was nothing but torment.

I could not circumvent,

A sea of discontent.

With hell my consequent,

I knew I must repent.

So I gave Him my consent.
There was no argument.

Both my knees I bent,

And prayed a prayer I meant.

Thank you, God, for who you sent.

Dear Jesus, I'm in a predicament.

So I write this document,

In the hopes it will prevent,

The troubles I underwent,

For you, the many years I spent.

Amen.