The Day Before Christmas Eve

Over the last forty-eight years Dec 23^rd has become one of my favorite days.  It is a day to recall an event in history that changed my life.  I was not sure what I was getting into when I said “I do”…but I had my suspicions.   Fortunately my suspicions were correct.  It has been an adventure and with all adventures come difficulties…difficulties that you over come. 

Thank you, Miss Mary for the adventure of a lifetime.  Please accept my apologies for being so difficult.  Thanks for showing me what real love is.

Always yours

Happy Anniversary

Gene

All I Want For Christmas

There is no need for a plastic card

All those payments, much too hard.

Do not listen to advertising lures

Their empty promise never cures.

There's something else so much better

Better than a love letter.

While it couldn’t be any stranger

The gift was found in a manger.

All the treasures do not equal

What will follow in the sequel.

That baby boy, the son of man

Had the answer, the salvation plan.

For you and me he showed the way

How we escape this melee.

Peace and joy for you and yours

This I know Christ assures.

For this I pray on Christmas day

All good things come your way.

Amen

Once Upon A Time

As I dried the white dinner plate and stacked it away with the assortment of mismatched place settings…it sparked a flash back to my childhood.  Those were the days of family dinners…the days of no fast foods…the days of having to do the dishes by hand.  Oh!  How I hated that chore.

I did not understand why I had to do such a grueling unpleasant task when I could have been outside riding my bike, throwing a stick or skipping rocks across the water. 

Still even worse was the family’s saying of the Holy Rosary.  How I dreaded that before bed activity.  I wasted that time daydreaming of shooting squirrels with my Red Rider BB gun.  Yes…with that “shoot your eye out” BB gun that never appeared under my Christmas tree.

Now, almost three quarters of a century later, I enjoy washing dishes.  I like the feel of hot soapy water...cleaning the greasy pots and pans, drying and putting away the dishes.  I find it to be a most satisfying experience…perhaps therapeutic, possibly prayerful.  

Even stranger…the Rosary…is now, my go-to prayer.  The Rosary transports me to a better place with no need to skip rocks, ride bikes or shoot squirrels.  It’s kinda like a warm fuzzy daydream that fills me with hope.  The prayer calms my fears, wipes my tears and speaks to my soul.  It speaks to my soul about who is in charge, who will take care of me and who invites me to be like him.

I am not who I used to be.  Life…God’s grace…has changed me…Hopefully I am a better version of myself. 

Dear Lord:

Although I'm scared,
Thru life I've fared.
You did not care,

I’ve been elsewhere.

You spare no cost,

When I was lost.

You call me home,

When I roam.

You’re always there,

For my welfare.

You’ve done it all,

You took the fall.

I can’t repay,

In any way,

The things You’ve done,

That were not fun.

For nothing can replace
Your amazing grace.  

And all I can do 

Is say "Thank You"

Amen

Judgmental

At Sunday Mass…from the corner of my eye I caught an adolescent returning to his pew just as the Host was being raised at the Consecration. 

I thought how could anyone be so oblivious to the fact that this is the most important part of the Mass.  When I was a kid.  First…to my knowledge…there were no restrooms to which one could escape. And second…no one would ever attempt such an escape for fear of the “Look”…that "wait till we get home" look.

I just couldn’t believe that anyone would have the audacity to leave during the middle of Mass.  As I mentally shook my Pharisee finger…it occurred to me that I had just returned to my pew from a far-away daydream.  

Wow!  That was a splinter in the eye moment…actually a log in the eye.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you, Lord, for this conviction

Please accept my contrition

Help me so I never falter

And never leave You at the altar.

Amen