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Pale Blue Dot

Posted by eph21920 on October 20, 2026 in Connected, Creation, Eternity, Home, Life, Love, Relationship

Tonight as I was flipping through channels, I stopped on a program about our relationship with the stars. As in the stars in the sky. A couple of college filmmaking students travelled to Big Bend’s dark sky area. Their guide taught them how to look for the different constellations in the sky and prepared them for the view of the Milky Way that they were about to witness. Out of the 4 students, only 1 had seen the Milky Way before. The light pollution has become so prevalent in our world, that most of the children born in this year will never see the stars. I think that’s pretty sad. We are connected to the universe, the stars, planets, and one another. The show mentioned the Voyager satellites that went out into space and photographed the planets in our solar system. After it had traveled 3.7 billion miles, it looked back at earth which was just a pale blue dot in a stream of sunlight. It is barely visible. Seeing the place that we all call home from that perspective was pretty humbling to me. It is not just where I live, but it has been home for billions of people for thousands of years. The things that I worry about or struggle with seem pretty small in this scope. And I wonder why it is so hard for humanity to get along with itself. Why is it so difficult to work together for our common good. My pondering took me to God and the vast expanse that He is. While it is hard for me to fathom the universe, it is even more difficult to comprehend God who was and is a part of it all. And even though my life is tiny and seemingly insignificant, the God who created all of it loves ME and he loves YOU too. It was a lot to think about and somewhat overwhelming.

The Pale Blue Dot taken by NASA’s Voyager 1 on February 14, 1990

I Found God today in the vast universe and my tiny part in it.

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Posted by eph21920 on October 19, 2026 in Faith, Friends, Grateful, Healing, Prayer

It was such good news to hear that my friend’s mom was discharged from the hospital today. In one of the messages, my friend mentioned that she needed to get a new toilet seat for her mom. I remembered that I had kept the bedside commode that we purchased for my mom. It was all clean and disinfected and sitting in the closet. I figured it would come in handy for someone at some point. I stopped by this afternoon to deliver it. My friend’s mom looked great. If I hadn’t know it, I would never have guessed that she just spent almost a week in the hospital and had surgery. We all visited and laughed as she recounted her ordeal. She said most of the time she had no idea what they were doing to her, but she was feeling so much better than she had been. She was grateful for all the prayers and said she could feel their power.

I Found God today seeing an amazing recovery.

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Perfect Timing

Posted by eph21920 on October 18, 2026 in Baby, Family, Grateful, Joy, Love, Opportunity

After Mass this morning, I stopped by my son’s house. I thought I would visit for just a bit, then go about my day. However, when I arrived, my granddaughter was awake and aware. She is 2 months old now. My son was holding her and every now and then she would smile, which is a new thing. I started talking to her and she looked in my direction. Then my son handed her to me. I held her on my lap for a while and talked to her and sang to her. I was elated when she responded with sweet little smiles. She was very wiggly and busy exercising her legs and arms. When she got a little cranky, I would change her position until I found one that calmed her. After a little while, I managed to find such a good spot that she fell asleep. Really asleep. Well, then I couldn’t just put her down, so I had to stay. I caught up with my son and his wife and enjoyed just being together. About an hour later, when my granddaughter woke up, it was time for her to eat. I passed her along to her parents and said goodbye. I felt so blessed that I got there at the perfect moment to spend wonderful time with my granddaughter, my son and his wife.

I Found God today in perfect timing to have a wonderful family visit.

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Happy Trees

Posted by eph21920 on October 17, 2026 in Connected, Creation, Friends, Happiness, Healing, Struggles

I was busy cleaning today and when evening came, I was happy to sit and rest. I turned on the TV and came across PBS. Bob Ross was just about to come on, so I left it on the channel. I haven’t actually ever watched one of his painting episodes and was curious to see what it was all about. Bob Ross held his large pallet and described how he prepared his canvas. The necessary colors that would be needed for today’s artwork were scrolling on the screen. Then he started painting. He did indeed describe “happy trees” and little bushes that lived “here and there and there and here”. He had such a calm, peaceful demeanor. At one point, he mentioned that he used to travel and teach, but not any more since he was getting old and slowing down. He didn’t looked that old to me. I did a little research and found out that he was only 55 years old when he died. I thought about how different his view of age was from my friend’s mom. She is 91 and remains in the hospital after a pacemaker was implanted. The medical team is working hard to get her well and she is determined to recover and go home. Bob Ross talked about perspective. I think aging well has a lot to do with how you see yourself and your future.

I Found God today thinking about the perspective of aging.

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Involved in Care

Posted by eph21920 on October 16, 2026 in Children, Friends, Happiness, Joy, Life, Struggles

I spent some time with elderly friends today who have caregivers coming and going in their house now. They seem to have taken to it alright, and I think it’s incentive for them to be more functional. I still go to help them a couple days. Yesterday while I was there, the wife showed me the new lights they got for their bedroom. They are motion detectors and when one turns on, all 3 of them do. They were pretty cool little things. Their son got them as she fell a couple of nights ago on her way to the bathroom because she had a hard time seeing where she was going. He also put together medication lists for caregivers to follow and has been doing their grocery shopping for them. This weekend, he will be taking both his parents to a track meet that one of their granddaughters is running in. He came over while I was there today and they made plans for the day. The couple was so excited as it will be their first outing since the husband had knee surgery. The son is taking a very active part in their care and well-being and I feel everyone is reaping the benefits. It brought me joy to see how happy it made my friends.

I Found God today in a son who is actively involved in his parents’ care.

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Supportive Group

Posted by eph21920 on October 15, 2026 in Answer, Doctor, Faith, Friends, Grateful, Prayer, Sick

My friend spent the day in the hospital with her mother as they waited for her to have a pacemaker implanted. It was a long day with a long wait and my friend kept me and our friend’s group updated. There were a lot of prayers by everyone all during the day. Her mom had surgery this evening and did amazingly well. At the end of the day, my friend felt at peace. I was so grateful for the successful surgery, for all the prayers and support from the friend group, and that my friend felt at peace.

I Found God today in a successful surgery for my friend’s mom.

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Spiritual Encounters

Posted by eph21920 on October 14, 2026 in Angel, Answer, Connected, Doctor, Friends, Grateful, Jesus, Sick

Yesterday I heard from a friend who took her mom to the hospital. She had been feeling bad for a few weeks, but refused to get medical help. Finally she agreed. They found that her 91 year old heart was beating very erratically and the surgeons will be implanting a pacemaker tomorrow. When she is in tense situations, my friend always seems to have encounters with spiritual people, or perhaps angels unaware. She told me about 2 such incidents she had just yesterday. The first was her mother’s nurse in the ER. He was tattooed and his hair was perfect. As he was working on her, he said something like, “through Christ all things are possible”. She didn’t remember the exact words but did remember the way he looked at her in a powerful way that she couldn’t describe. It brought tears to her eyes as she felt he had a knowledge from another source. Then when she got her car at the valet, the man started talking about Jesus and how life is good and people are good. She said her meetings were very strange, but they gave her hope. Many people and I are praying for my friend and her mother.

I Found God today in my friend’s spiritual encounters.

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Draining the Sprinkler System

Posted by eph21920 on October 13, 2026 in Answer, Friends, Grateful, Weather

It has been a pretty warm Fall so far, but the weather is changing the next couple of days. When I was at my friend’s house today, the gentleman who had knee surgery was concerned about the water in the sprinkler system. He said it should be turned off and drained. He really wanted to go down the stairs and take care of it. I have never had to do anything like that, but assured him that he could walk me through it. I went down to their basement and took a photo of the pipes and levers so he could show me which one was the correct one and which way to turn it. Then we went outside. He used his walker and basically 4-wheeled over the rough terrain to get to the outdoor pipes. He stopped short of navigating through the bushes. I made my way in and he talked me through what to do. On the way back in the house, he wanted to try going up the couple stairs in the garage, still determined to go down into the basement. However, after giving his best effort, he decided the basement stairs would not be a good idea. That made me very happy. He told me exactly what to do to get the water to drain. I went downstairs, found the screw he was talking about, and soon the water started to flow. It took a while, and at one point I wondered if I had done something wrong. Eventually the flow slowed to a drip, then stopped. I reported that the pipe was drained and complimented him on being a good teacher. He was so grateful that it was taken care of. I was grateful to be able to help him and that he didn’t try to go down those stairs.

I Found God today helping a friend so he didn’t try to do more than he should.

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That is Enough

Posted by eph21920 on October 12, 2026 in Faith, Prayer, Saint

During the past couple of days, a prayer from St. Ignatius of Loyola keeps coming up. I have learned that when these kinds of things happen that I had better pay attention. The prayer goes like this:

Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.

St. Ignatius is also famous for his “Spiritual Exercises”. In the past year or so, I have seen these exercises being offered as part of a 30 day silent retreat. A silent retreat has always intrigued me. Perhaps that is what I should do when I next come across the opportunity. In the mean time, I have this written prayer as it was given to me by a priest. I will make a point to pray it more often.

I Found God today reminded of the prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

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God Took Care of It

Posted by eph21920 on October 11, 2026 in Faith, Friends, Grateful, Healing, Home, Life

A couple of months ago, a friend of mine told me that her teenaged grandson had moved in with her. It was very unexpected. She was happy he was there and that he felt comfortable and safe with her. It has been quite some time since she had a teenager living in her home and she was trying to figure out what all that meant. The same friend had hip surgery about 6 weeks ago. The first couple of weeks after the surgery, she stayed with her daughter. Then she went back home, even though she was still unable to go up and down the stairs to her bedroom. I took her to Mass today since she can’t drive yet. We enjoyed worshipping together and visiting. She said she wondered how she was going to make it to Mass today and happy that God took care of it. When I asked her about her home life, she said she was so grateful that her grandson was there. He was being so helpful and she truly wouldn’t be able to be recovering in her house if he wasn’t there. Again – God was taking care of her. I was inspired by her optimism and faith, as there have been several deaths in her family recently which has been very difficult for her.

I Found God today in a faithful friend.

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