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Non-violence

Posted by eph21920 on October 3, 2017 in Answer, Faith, Hope, Life, Opportunity, Peace

I read the scripture readings for Mass today and thought it was interesting and timely that the Gospel was about the apostles asking for vengeance. Then I read the reflection by Bishop Robert Barron, which I always find insightful. These are the words that struck me most:

“James and John (the sons of thunder) cry out: “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Can you hear echoes of this cry up and down the ages? . . . But Jesus turns only to rebuke them. Why? Because following him and his way of non-violence is more important . . . Our feelings for him have to go beyond even our justified feelings . . .”

I, like most others, have the horrific Las Vegas shooting in my mind. I hold the countless victims and their families in my prayers. I think we all cry out for vengeance and want an answer to curb the escalating violence we see around us. If we were to all come together and vow non-violence, it would be a perfect situation – heavenly. But, the fact is, we live in a fallen world. The only one we have control over is ourselves. And we can choose every day to be non-violent, to be kind. That is what I will strive for.

I Found God today in a reflection about non-violence.

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Key to Heaven

Posted by eph21920 on October 2, 2017 in Children, Faith, Prayer

A friend of mine who teaches in a Catholic school shared a beautiful story today that I would like to share as well. It shows how children really “get it”.

At Mass, I sit next to a 1st grader who, let’s say, has a busy demeanor.
I asked for him to hold my decade rosary during Mass to keep it safe.
He was wonderful, and he was listening and paying attention. At one point he began to fidgit a bit. I whispered ”please don’t play with it.. that is not a toy..”
He began to motion with it like a key and I said “ please don’t play, it is not a key.”
He looked at me and whispered “Yes it is a key!… The key to heaven!”

I Found God today in a child’s insight.

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A Little R&R

Posted by eph21920 on October 1, 2017 in Creation, Family, Friends, Fun, Grateful, Joy, Life

My sister came to spend the weekend with my parents, so I made plans to visit a friend and headed to the mountains. On the way, I stopped at an apple orchard that was somewhat disappointing – especially compared to those I explored on the east coast. But I did buy some apples from their store and a small pumpkin. From there, the drive was beautiful, following a river. I wanted to have some alone private time, so my friend made a reservation for me at a hotel that was owned by a friend of his. It was a quaint cross between a bed & breakfast and a large hotel. It was decorated in western style and even had murals painted on the walls in the rooms. The view from my window was just gorgeous. I did some walking around on my own, and my friend and I did some things together too. It was a good mix of solitude, privacy, and visiting. I spied some bighorn sheep, several deer, antelope, and a 3-legged dog. I played and sang to loud music in the car, ate great food, slept late, watched tv, met interesting people, and saw beautiful scenery. I was so grateful for a weekend of rest and relaxation.

I Found God today in a time of rest and relaxation.

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The Big Mailing

Posted by eph21920 on September 29, 2017 in Family

One of the ladies in my small church group works for the parish as a ministry leader. Recently I offered to help her with some tasks that I might be able to do at home. So, I have been helping her with some mailings. My mom and dad have been helping to stuff envelopes as well. Today I went to the church and picked up a very large mailing that needed to be put into envelopes with a letter, church bulletin, and a flyer. The woman from the office and I counted out approximately how many bulletins I would need and I headed home where my mom and I got to stuffing. The amount of bulletins I brought home was the exact amount we needed – perfect. But, I did run out of the flyers. I headed back to the church and scoured the places where there were more. I did find just enough to finish putting the mailing together. Maybe this doesn’t sound miraculous, but I have done enough mailings to realize how frustrating it can be to run out of things. It just pushes the project back further. I was happy to get it all done and to have my mom’s help.

I Found God today being able to complete a large task and having my mom’s help.

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Meeting People

Posted by eph21920 on September 28, 2017 in Connected, Family, Friends, Joy, Life, New

It is difficult to meet people and make friends when you move to a new place. Since my son moved here a few months ago, he has gotten to know a couple of people he works with, and met a couple people at the gym. A friend of mine’s granddaughter is part of a young professionals group that she really enjoys, so I passed along the information to my son. He attended one of the events tonight and had a great time meeting new people. He told me all about it. He even met someone else that works in his company that he didn’t know before. Most of all, he was excited that he now had a foundation of people to do things with. I knew it would take some time to get a group of friends together and glad that the evening worked out so well for him.

I Found God today in my son’s joy.

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Their New Ramp

Posted by eph21920 on September 27, 2017 in Answer, Generosity

When my mom is at her Parkinson’s exercise class, I chat with some caregivers of the other participants. Today, one of the ladies whose husband has Parkinson’s showed us a picture of the new ramp in her garage. Her nephew came to visit for a few days with the purpose of constructing a ramp for them. She said he has spent a lot of time on mission trips where he built many ramps and other structures for people who needed them. He also accompanied youth on some of the trips. She said she was grateful for that, as she did her best to help him and he was very patient with her. They were going to see some sites while he was here, but the rainy weather made that less appealing. Instead, he did some work on the landscaping in between raindrops. He sounded like such a caring, giving individual, and the ramp he built was truly a work of art. I thought the woman and her husband are very blessed to have such a nephew.

I Found God today in a loving, talented individual who brought much joy to his family.

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More Than You Think

Posted by eph21920 on September 26, 2017 in Family, Life

Last week, my dad and brother worked hard at replacing some siding on the cabin. Today, a friend was over and my dad was telling her about the labor intensive task. He said he was pleasantly surprised as to how much physical work he was able to do for several days in a row. The friend replied that we are really able to do a lot more than we think we can. So true. Yesterday, my mom went to her Parkinson’s exercise class and had a very difficult workout. When she was done, her back was hurting and she groaned just getting into the car. She said she didn’t think she was even going to be able to move by the afternoon. However, today she didn’t have any more pain than usual and was zipping around the house. She and my dad went for a walk and she went all the way around the circle of the complex – 1/2 mile. She hasn’t done that in a very long time.

I Found God today in both my parents being able to do more than they thought they could.

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Not Just Lip Service

Posted by eph21920 on September 25, 2017 in Answer, Connected, Faith, Life

I met with a group of people from my church tonight. We do a bible study of sorts, reading over scripture for the upcoming week and discussing it. Then when I hear the Gospel at church and listen to the homily, it is more meaningful. Tonight we talked about the Parable of the Two Sons – Matthew 21:28-32. We got stuck on the fact that when the father asked the first son to go work in his vineyard, the son said he would – but he did not. We just kept coming up with so many examples in our own lives of promising to do things and then not doing them. It made me want to try to be more intentional of what I do and why – not just going through the motions and paying lip service.

I Found God today in a reminder to think about what I am doing – to be more intentional.

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What is Fair

Posted by eph21920 on September 24, 2017 in Answer, Faith, Grateful, Life, Love, Mercy

In our society, we seem to have the need to put a value on everything and everyone. At the same time we want to make sure that everyone is treated fair and equal. Those two notions can – and do – clash. I think it depends on your view of what is “fair” and “equal”. Today’s scripture readings at church included the story of the owner of a vineyard who paid each worker the same amount of money – regardless if they worked for 1 hour or for all day. This didn’t seem fair to the workers who were there all day long. Of course, the story has a deeper meaning that was explained by the priest. God is like the vineyard owner and He will keep His promise of eternal life in Heaven to those who turn to him – whether that be early in life, or later. That may not seem fair to people who have lived long lives doing their best to follow God, when others live a life doing whatever they please and turn to God much later. In reality, doing whatever we want in life doesn’t necessarily mean being peaceful, happy, content, or joyful. One of the other readings pointed out that God’s ways are not our ways. His love and mercy extends far beyond what we are even capable of understanding. That is what I am most grateful for.

I Found God today holding fast to His promise of love and mercy.

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Perfect Timing

Posted by eph21920 on September 23, 2017 in Answer, Friends, Fun, Home, Uncategorized

At the beginning of summer, my dad and brother worked on a plan to replace some of the siding on the cabin. It took a while to decide exactly what to do and get all the needed materials. Since then, it has been a waiting game. They needed a few days of dry weather in a row to get the project underway. That finally happened last week and the work was completed yesterday. Just in time, as there was a lot of rain today. Today, my sister came to spend the day with my parents. I took advantage of the situation and a friend, my son, and I went to the local chile festival. When we arrived, we were going to park and take the free shuttle in, but the line was so long we decided to try to find a parking place. As we made our way around the area, we came to the entry gate and turned down a packed street. Just then, a car was pulling out of a spot and we were able to park only about 1 block away. Perfect timing. We had a great time at the festival and the rain held out for us. As we left, a car followed us and asked if we were leaving and if they could have our parking spot. Perfect timing for them too. When we got home, it was pouring, so we hung out for a while. My sister lives an hour away, so she kept an eye on the weather radar. When there was a lull in activity outside, she saw an opening in the storms passing through and made her way back. When she arrived home, she said the rain had just started about 15 minutes from her house, but she was glad she made it before dark.

I Found God today in perfect timing.

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