Lubbock Texas In My Rear View Mirrow

South by southeast I drove…into the darkness and watched the glimmering lights of Lubbock disappeared in my rear view mirror.  By the time I descended the Cap Rock the black sky was beginning to show ever-changing shades of pink, lavender, and indigo.  The morning sun peeked over the horizon and morphed from a huge orange orb into a brilliant blond spotlight that illuminated the cotton candy clouds and then rendered them a bright white. 

It was an awesome sight and it gave me cause to ponder the events of the past week…a week spent on the High Plains.

An unexpected funeral of a friend and an anticipated 50^th birthday of my college fraternity both fell in the same week and were both cause for celebration and reflection.  My friend was an extraordinary person who lived her life in the background…never wanting to be recognized.  Part prankster, part instigator and part Mother Teresa…she made an incredible difference to the underprivileged and the poor.  I was astonished by the number testimonies given by the once “street children” who went on to make something of them self…just because of her.  I can’t help but chuckle when I recall all the stunts she pulled especially the one when she and my “not yet wife” painted poke-a-dots on my old pick-up truck.

I am confident she received a warm “Welcome home, my good and faithful servant.”  So rest in peace Susie Howard.

Then there was the gathering of all the old college friends…some I had not seen in almost 50 years.  Some looked and acted exactly the same as they did in school…some had gotten old and gray…some had passed away.  It was a joyful time and a sobering time.  I think many shared the same thought, even though it went unspoken…our bus is quickly reaching its destination and we will not be at the next 50-year reunion.

So here is looking forward to a warm “Welcome home, my good and faithful servant.”

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for the gift of life.

Thank you for a wonderful wife.

Even with the stress and strife.

I’ll play for you my drum and fife.

Until I reach the afterlife.

Amen.

Not Listening

An interesting and provocative reading today about not listening. Especially because, for so many years, I was the one that didn't want to listen.

GOSPEL
Lk 16:19-31
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“There was a rich man .....
at his door was a poor man named Lazarus,...
the poor man died,...
The rich man also died...
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side....
... between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing
who might wish to go from our side to yours
or from your side to ours.’
He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him
to my father’s house,
for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.’
But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.’
He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
Then Abraham said,
‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Wow

If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if someone should rise from the dead.

It is almost humorous that Jesus would say that...because who really listens to him?

In this world filled with fears
Hate, pain, death and tears
I pray your words reach those ears
And let their lips sing your cheers
Amen.

First Friday Of Lent

After meticulously calculating the maximum number of calories that I could cram into the two small meals that didn't equal the large meal I dressed myself in my best sackcloth and went to church where I listened to the first reading, Isaiah 58:1-9a.

“….

Do you call this a fast,

a day acceptable to the LORD?

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:

releasing those bound unjustly,

untying the thongs of the yoke;

Setting free the oppressed,

breaking every yoke;

Sharing your bread with the hungry,

sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;

Clothing the naked when you see them,

and not turning your back on your own.

…”

Then came the Responsorial Psalm. PS 51 :3-4, 5-6AB, 18-19

“…

For you are not pleased with sacrifices;

should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.

My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;

a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.”

Ok! OK!  I think I got it.

Dear Lord Jesus,

From the mouth of preacher

Come the words of the teacher.

All Your lexis has this feature

They direct and guide this lost creature.

So, I thank you, if I might,

For these lessons with insight.

Amen.

Real Rain

Real rain…the kind of rain that fills up puddles and runs off into barrow ditches.  As the rainwater splattered the roof of my truck and the wipers slapped back and forth with a hypnotic rhythm…a calm came over me. It was the perfect excuse to cancel all outside jobs and retreat to a warm cozy house, drink hot chocolate and curl up under a blanket.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for the peaceful rain

Welcomed without the hurricane

The dry can challenge and strain the brain

And easily turn into a major pain.

Let not this prayer be in vain

While Your showers bless the terrain

I’m the one that stands to gain

Because in my life YOU must reign.

AMEN

Investment Strategy

Today’s changing markets call for a new strategy. 

It is a new economy of debt postponement and turning a blind eye to reality…complicated by market manipulators and white collar crooks.

Besides, my tactic of buying high and selling low has not worked out for me.  I have switch to a long-range investment program for the future…the very long-range future.

Now, I religiously put ten percent of my earnings into a plan that is totally safe, it hedges against inflation and it has a high yield.

It has an unbelievable return on investment with complete peace of mind and pays off now with even bigger dividends later.

There is no need for the FSLIC or FDIC’s stamp of approval...because God guarantees it.

I’m bullish on tithing.

If you wish the market to play,

Now is the time to sock it away.

I guarantee that it will pay.

For long term benefits tithe today.

Amen

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.