Trusting God. What a concept. Trusting an invisible God with every bit and breath of my life. I am terrible at it. He wants all of me, yet so often I do not give Him much of me at all.
How do we trust in someone we have never physically seen? Yet we can’t fully trust the humans we are able to see but they are not perfect like God.
Fear, pride, spiritual blindness, laziness, old wounds, perceived lack of time are some things that can block our ability to trust in God.
We “take stuff back”. We trust God for a while but then when things aren’t working out so well or moving fast enough, we stop trusting and return to worry, fretting and trying to fix it ourselves.
I would love to know the future. I can’t stand not knowing. I need to plan ahead and know what I should or shouldn’t do, which is basically impossible, therefore I am often paralyzed when making decisions.
Maybe that’s playing God. Precisely what Lucifer’s fall was and sin entering the world. Wanting to be God or even above God, is a big part of the mess we are in.
It seemed easier for me to trust God when I was younger and perhaps more naïve, like when I was pregnant with triplets.
The whole experience was a wild ride and God stretched me to the limits of trusting Him. There were many, many scary and difficult moments. And, I had no choice, three new lives were at stake and it was mostly out of my control.
Somehow by the grace of God I survived and so did the triplets.
But that experience was a positive life force, so maybe that made it easier. Trusting through sickness, grief, and hardship seems much more difficult if not seemingly impossible. There is not always new life at the end of it.
I am finding the last phase of life completely stressful, unnerving and challenging. There seems to be so much more I have to trust God about.
I thought I got good at trusting 30 years ago, so I was finished.
Lesson learned.
Not quite.
Like a young child trusts their father to take care of them, we need to trust God, our Father, to take care of us. Why is it so hard for us grown-ups? I’m a mother, I should know. But I am more used to mothering than being “mothered”.
We need to surrender to the God who loves us and made us. Who among us wants to willingly surrender? It is against human nature. Would you want to be in a fierce battle and be on the side that surrenders or loses??
We are wired to win.
Surrendering is not easy. It was not easy for Jesus to surrender to his Father in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Surrendering means sometimes things are going to be very, very difficult. That is why it can be so hard to do.
…For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. (2 Chronicles 20:12)
I feel like lately I have trouble with trust because I have more years of life experience and am aware of so many more crazy things that can happen to people. There are a lot more stories to tell.
Over time I have also learned that when God wants me to trust and go deeper with Him, there is usually a reason and often one I don’t like. So I know I’m in the fire being refined and OUCH! nobody likes the heat of that.
My life is not my own anyway, as a Christian it is to be lived for Christ. We need to keep the focus on Him rather than ourselves.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)
And yet, while looking back, God has come through for me many times in my life already so why don’t I trust Him? How foolish can I be? He has proven His faithfulness many times over. I need to recall these times when I am feeling defeated and doubtful.
This is a lot to swallow in my wretched humanness. It takes me years to learn things, and then I find myself re-learning the same things, over and over and over again. I think all of us have certain issues in our lives that we constantly battle and it takes our whole lives to work on them.
I am a quick learner, but perhaps not when it comes to some spiritual matters. Those go to the very depths of existence. That’s different than knowing the answers on exams or quickly picking up a new hobby or concept.
I will need to surrender and be tested like gold in fire and be beaten and struggle over and over again until I can say, like St. Ignatius of Loyola: YOUR LOVE AND YOUR GRACE ARE ENOUGH FOR ME.
Take O Lord, and receive my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess You have given me. I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will. Give me only Your love and Your grace; with these I will be rich enough, and will desire nothing more.
And here’s another great song I used to play a lot at bedtime when I was first saved as a teenager. (Also a song we would play on guitar at Mass.) You can tell I really like this St. Ignatius prayer!
There is a song I used to sing at Prayer Meetings as a teen. These are the words:
They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength
They shall mount up on wings as eagles
They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint
Teach me Lord, teach me Lord, to wait.
(Isaiah 40:31)
Waiting. Sometimes I think that’s all we do in life. You’d think I’d be good at it by now, but I’m not. I may even be worse at it the longer I live from having to put up with more.
Lately I do a lot of waiting, mostly for dental appointments.
I doubt there is any human on earth who likes to wait, unless the waiting is getting us out of something.
Waiting is a daily part of life. Waiting in grocery store lines. Waiting in traffic jams, waiting for a bus, a plane, an Uber.
Waiting for the chicken to cook. Waiting for the microwave to finish. How many of us stand there getting zapped? (not a good idea btw)
Waiting for vacations. Waiting for holidays, either to begin….or to end! Waiting for……….you get the idea.
Then there’s waiting for the big things like a pregnancy, a baby to arrive (or in my case, babies), waiting for healing of mind, body and soul.
Waiting for things that may or may not happen. Waiting for our eternal reward (no hurry there).
But the kind of waiting that bothers me the most is waiting on other people. Waiting for them to do what they said they were going to do. (pet peeve of mine when they don’t!)
Waiting for the right person to marry, for your little kids to get ready quickly when going out; waiting to graduate, to marry, to retire. Waiting for people to change (not necessarily going to happen).
So with all this exhausting waiting, how do we deal with it? Fret? Worry? Try to force change? Yeah I am guilty of all of those.
But the Bible says trust in God. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)
There is so much more God sees that we don’t.
But wait as we might it’s all in God’s good timing not ours.
Our timing is almost never God’s timing. But God’s timing is perfect. In hindsight I see many times where it truly was! I need to remember this when I am experiencing long-suffering.
The Greek word for patience or long-suffering is Makrothumia (out of 2 Greek words meaning “long” and “temper”) which in other words is remaining patient without being provoked to anger. Having a “long fuse” rather than a “short fuse”. Our old nature is short-fused unless we have the fruit of the Holy Spirit, one of which is Patience.
Fortunately, God is long-suffering with us sinners.
St. Monica was patient, never giving up praying years and years for her son to turn his life around. He turned out to be St. Augustine, one of the greats.
Sometimes we have to be patient because God is working on the other person(s) in the scenario. It’s something we often don’t think of. We figure we are ready for something now, but we have to wait until everything falls into place and this frequently involves other people and situations.
I have spent far too much time in my life waiting on other people rather than God.
Is this a sin? Then I am convicting myself. We need to wait on God alone, the author and finisher.
When I woke up and started writing these words that were flowing out of my head, the Donna Reed show from the 1950’s/60’s was on TV. Ironically that episode was about an elderly doctor who was scheduled to retire but really didn’t want to. His wife divulged he was feeling so useless that, “He sits there like a fireman waiting for the telephone to ring.”
Who are we waiting for? Man or God? Do we trust our future to God? Or do we keep waiting in front of a phone or a computer screen for something to happen. For that visit, that call, that text, that next “like” on social media.
Most likely nothing will happen if we do nothing. If I want to write a Substack article but never get around to doing it, it isn’t going to write itself.
Sometimes we sit there waiting when we should be moving on, or taking action. God will take care of us while we wait.
And keep in mind, sometimes waiting is not necessarily passivity either. Sometimes it’s an important part of the process.
A good prayer to start each day:
In the morning let me hear of your mercy, for in you I trust. Show me the path I should walk, for I entrust my life to you.” (Psalm 143:8)
So stop waiting and get on with life. God is in control. Trust in Him and put everything in His hands. He will answer your prayers in His timing.
And so the song continues:
“Help me not to rely on what others do, but to wait dear Lord for the answer from you.”
A popular thing many people do is home restoration and I enjoy watching those home reno shows. I, however, do mouth restoration, which I do NOT enjoy.
Good teeth do not run in my family. Ever since I was a child, I was frequently at the dentist.
My mother would lug me onto the city bus to my first dentist when I was around age 7. Most women didn’t drive back then and most people certainly didn’t have two cars. The office was above a well-known ice cream parlor, so I would get a delicious treat there afterwards–the only good thing about the excursion.
But the office itself was creepy and dingy—very old-fashioned. I remember a hard non-reclining black chair produced without any type of comfort in mind. There was no novocaine! Ouch! Not to mention the spittoon. A horrible germ infested swirl of water for spitting out the crud in your mouth. I had to use those spittoons most of my life. And miraculously, I have survived!
Before too long my first dentist was killed in a car accident. After that we tried about every other dentist within walking distance from our home, many of questionable skill. The stories I could tell!!
My mother would complain they drilled too deep for the fillings (which they probably did as now I have very few natural teeth left.) I got my first crown in college, which sadly, that tooth is now long gone along with a few others.
I recently heard dentists are taught, “DRILL, FILL AND BILL”. Seemed about right to me.
Thankfully, modern dentistry is a far cry from years gone by. There is pain relief, more comfortable reclining chairs, computer-driven modern technology and X-rays. Some places have TVs and toys and books for children. I can listen to my music while the work is being done. You might even get a microwave-warmed neck pillow.
To my dismay, I am finding myself in need of a LOT more future dental work, therefore I have been musing a lot about restoration.
My recent surgical extraction, was psychologically traumatizing because I didn’t see it coming and I now have a gaping hole in my mouth forced to figure out what to do about it, if anything.
Essentially, a part of my body, even though small, is now GONE. Forever. Yanked out. I couldn’t control the tears rolling down my face while I was being stitched up. I thought of the Bible verse: And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. (Matt. 18:9) I think it really should refer to teeth.
Just as in my mouth, God plucks out and removes the bad and rotten things in our lives. He removes what is broken and heals and cleanses us restoring us through our life situations. Unlike at the dentist, we don’t always get pain relief during this process. Often we must suffer through God’s restoration process.
Besides repairing what is broken, the point of restoration is typically to improve something. God is the Great Restorer. The Master Builder. The ultimate fixer-upper handyman, of bodies and souls.
The restoration process is not fun. It’s not pretty. It’s sometimes downright bloody. Things are taken out, destroyed and changed to make room for the new, and hopefully improved, version of ourselves.
We become a new person in Christ, like gold tested in fire. (1 Peter 1:7) We are a work in progress and being purified to become ever more beautiful than before.
I don’t know what level of function my ongoing mouth restoration will provide but hopefully at some point it will be better than it was before. This is where patience comes in, of which I have none.
I also care more about functionality than looks. That my teeth work, I’m out of pain, and that I can eat normally. And maybe, after the restoration, I will still have some teeth left to smile with!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder anyway. Someone could spend mega-dollars remodeling their house while another person could think it is the ugliest thing they ever saw.
Maybe that is how God is with us, we don’t have to look pretty, he sees beyond outward appearances to our heart and who we really are, who He made us to be. He sees our purpose and functionality for His Kingdom. He restores our soul for His honor and glory.
Restoration of any kind also involveshigh cost.
That is why many of us do not remodel our homes, or at least not all at once. My mouth is going to cost FAR too much with unknown return on my investment. My finances will probably limit how much restoration I can actually accomplish.
Likewise, when God restores us, there is also a cost. We must die to ourselves and our plans and seek His will. We must suffer. But unlike us, God is not limited in what He can accomplish.
The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. (1 Peter 5:10)
As with any restoration project, you need the right people for the right jobs. Jesus is the right one for the task of our restoration—physically, mentally and most importantly, spiritually.
We need to be restored to a right relationship with Christ by turning from our sin and darkness, seeking forgiveness and trusting in him for our restoration.
So as my mouth is being restored (hopefully) I can be assured that I am also simultaneously being spiritually restored by the Great Restorer.
We can look forward to one day being fully restored for all eternity. And it will be even better than anything we could ever have imagined.
The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I lack. In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; herestores my soul.(Psalm 23:1-3)
I usually don’t write off-the-cuff without a lot of editing nor do I usually finish an article in one day for whatever reason–too busy, things come up, lack of motivation, etc.
But my stress level is through the roof today so here goes. This will be more raw.
I had things on my to-do list today I had to put off because the sky this morning literally turned from day to night! A storm was looming but it looked more like the end of the world, it was that scary out there.
For hours.
And I was alone.
I was trying everything to remain calm. Praying like crazy. Repeating “Jesus I trust in you” over and over! Even splashing Holy Water around the house. Calm just isn’t in my personality or vocabulary.
I was imagining all sorts of potential crises.
Why am I like this?
The TV was on which made things worse! Continuous storm and tornado warnings no matter what channel I had on. It used to be that not every station would air these warnings. I finally had to turn the TV off and put on worship music! They want to make you crazy!!! Then the town tornado alarm went off! (Thankfully there is a way to turn off those ear-piercing weather warnings on cell phones.)
I vacuumed, washed dishes, whatever I could think of to distract myself, better than nothing, but didn’t help much.
I used every spiritual warfare tool that came to mind to try and relieve my out of control worry and stress.
“Satan flee from me in the name of the precious blood of Jesus!!”
I prayed to be cleansed of my sins in case I die.
Which leads me to the real issue….fear of death. Even as a believer I am afraid of death. It’s the great unknown. Nobody wants to die. Faith is one thing, but actually knowing what the afterlife is like from personal experience is another.
I thought a lot about my favorite Bible passage where Jesus calmed the sea and Peter walked on water. I prayed for Jesus to calm the storm raging outside. Which thankfully my area was not in the worst of it! (Matt. 14:22-33) Plus I did have an upcoming dental appointment looming while all this was going on and wondering what to do about that.
But! Jesus did calm the storm RIGHT AT THE TIME I NEEDED TO LEAVE and I was able to get there!
It’s hard for me to trust, easier said than done. God seems to be giving me a LOT of practice lately. I am weary of it. How much can I take? I feel like I’m at the end of what I can bear. I guess I haven’t learned my lessons yet.
Just as things were a bit calmer, (and well after my dental appointment) another storm blew through and it was even worse!! Super high winds, tons of rain literally falling in sheets. My husband was his way home from work and I was praying he would make it without incident (he did).
More worry! More anxiety! More praying! Where’s the flashlights? I hope they have batteries……just in case.
Phew! Finally made it through another round. The threat of storms is still not over for today, it remains dark and gloomy outside, nor is the threat ever over for the storms of life. Maybe I have to get used to it. Sometimes there just seems to be no end in sight when it comes to life’s situations. I could really use a break from all the storms of life hammering me lately, even for a day!
Then oddly at dinnertime, out of nowhere, the sun came out while it was still pouring sheets of rain. God gave me some light in the darkness! And! A double rainbow appeared! I couldn’t believe it! Sometimes storms can be over in an instant! They don’t last forever!
I threw on my raincoat and ran outside. I was so relieved and in tears seeing that rainbow. God blessed me with His visible sign that He was indeed taking care of me through the storm and all my stupidity and worry. I didn’t expect that at all. It was a beautiful gift I didn’t deserve. Thank you Jesus!
Thinking back on this scary, stressful day, I hope I will be better prepared for the next storm in life whatever it may be. Until then I prefer to have the night turn into day instead of the other way around. Jesus be with us through all the storms of life!
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.(Matt. 11-28-30)
Cast all you anxiety on Him because He cares for you.(1 Peter 5:7)
Trust in Him at all times you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.(Psalm 62:8)
I was listening to the song “Sparrows” by Cory Asbury while I was plugged in to my music during a root canal at the endodontist. The following words jumped out at me, “the tree that’s planted by the water isn’t fazed by the fire so why should I be?” Cuz you take good care of me…”
I thought about how it applied to what I have been going through, especially lately. Jesus is the living water, if we are rooted and planted in Him we do not have to worry about the fire in our lives when it comes.
I’ve had many months of stressful dental situations and looks like I will be going through many more.
The night before the root canal procedure, which is not new to me, I was getting a sense of peace that everything was going to be ok, instead of my usual hysteria over dental work. This type of peace does not happen often for me so when it does, I take notice!
This is the peace only God can give. It has happened numerous times in my life. It is one way in which God shows up and speaks to me.
This is not to say I feel peaceful all the time since this occurrence, far from it, but at least I had momentary peace that passes all understanding to help me get through what will be an ongoing ordeal. So maybe it’s a sign I am going in the right direction and things will work out, even though so much is still up in the air.
Another time I felt this great sense of peace that can only come from God is when I was pregnant with triplets. What a time that was! One of the ultrasound measurements pointed to a possible issue with my son. As we were on the way to the doctor I got such a sense of peace that no matter what happens, it will be okay. Well thankfully everything did turn out okay! But it was a scary time I will never forget.
I think there are so many times in life where we all can look back and see how God took care of us in various ways and situations. “God-incidences” some people call them.
I suppose some might attribute it to fate or the stars being aligned or other such nonsense but God is more powerful than all that. Who made the stars? Who aligns them? He is the maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them – he remains faithful forever. (Psalm 146:6)
At least in writing this I may try to convince myself that an invisible God really is taking care of me at all times. It is me who doesn’t always believe it because sometimes doubts creep in.
If God can take care of me, He can take care of you too, if you are willing to put your trust in Him.
Those were the words that hit me like a ton of bricks at Mass in the prayer right after the Lord Have Mercy. I was spacing out from lack of sleep–that woke me up!
Those words were God’s confirmation to me that I did the right thing in a recent situation that was tormenting me.
The world around us screams sin is ok! You can be whatever sex you want rather than respecting you are made in the image and likeness of God and He doesn’t make mistakes. “Nice” people go to heaven. It’s ok to murder babies. It’s women’s rights after all! (What about the baby’s or the father’s rights? Or what does God who creates the life say?)
There are crazy TV ads about saving elephants. Why do people think it is more virtuous to save an elephant than a human life? You really have to start to wonder unless your eyes are so closed you can no longer see.
You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. (Matthew 13:14)
But! As Christians, we must continually reject everything that is contrary to the Word of God. Yet how often do we actually do it?
There is too much evil being thrown at us each and every day. Do we just go along with the culture and what everyone else says is ok? Or do we FIRST check it against what God says?
Sadly even many churches are steering people in the wrong direction — hanging rainbow flags, not preaching about sin, tolerating immorality, on and on.
Do we always take a stand for Christ and the truth of the Gospel? Or do we wimp out?
There is an evil world out there. The devil is alive and well. He is the prince of this world and is the great deceiver, tempter, accuser. In John 12:31 Jesus says, “Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out.”
Christ has overcome. We do not have to fear. We can go forward boldly. To live and preach the truth.
The problem is that evil starts insidiously at first. We may barely notice it. Or we let it go, turning a blind eye, thinking it will take care of itself or just go away.
But just like a weed, if we don’t chop it out right away when we first see it AND at it’s root, it grows and grows, unwanted! Choking out life and truth.
I have seen garden weeds at least 5 feet tall! The weeds will choke out the other beautiful plants. In time, we may not be able to distinguish a weed from other plants if they mingle in amongst them too far and wide.
Unfortunately my flowers never seem to grow well but the unwanted weeds ALWAYS do! This mirrors the sinful human condition if you ask me.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” (Matt. 13:27-28)
We need to know our enemy and how it behaves in order to conquer it.
But we can just as well spread good seed like the farmer but we have to make the effort. We need to keep the weeds at bay or they will continue growing if no one stops them. They will choke the very life out of us. We must conquer evil with good, but we cannot sit back complacently. Or wait for someone else to do it.
When we are faced with a decision about what to do morally or spiritually, we can ask ourselves: Is it contrary to the Word of God?
If it is, don’t take part in it. Stand firm. Work against the evil however you can. Do not let it run rampant.
A phrase that drives me crazy is “What would Jesus do?” (WWJD) Don’t be deceived. People have a lot of wrong ideas about what Jesus would do. Often it more accurately describes what THEY would like to do
So be careful because the devil is always on the prowl looking for someone to destroy. Many things can look good on the surface but at their core they may be rotten.
Find other Christians for strength. There is power in numbers. That is why they want to silence us.
Ask forgiveness for when we screw up and do better next time.
And Always Stay On Guard. Ask for God’s help to always:
REJECT ALL THAT IS CONTRARY TO THE WORD OF GOD.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes looks straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. (Proverbs 4:23-27)
There is an Old Testament story about The Old Prophet and the Man of God. The Man of God had heard from the Lord not to return to a place he had just come from to eat bread or drink water. However, an older prophet heard of this man and lied to him and claimed that an angel of God told him the man should return. The Man of God listened to the Old Prophet and returned back to the forbidden place. (1 Kings 13:11-34)
Since the Man of God did not obey what God had first told him, this angered God and on the man’s return back, a lion mangled and killed him.
What a story! We should take God’s instructions to us very seriously.
Have you ever felt like you have clearly heard something from God, yet rather than accepting it or obeying, you keep re-visiting it?
Or looking to others to confirm what God has already told you?
Perhaps even letting someone sway you away from what you know God wants you to do, much like the Old Prophet in Kings?
After having a similar experience lately, my advice is to believe and do what God has told you and move on. Leave it in His hands.
When God wants us to know something that is important and in His will, He will make it known to us in some way.
If we disobey, we will suffer the consequences like the Man of God in Kings that returned to the forbidden place against what God had instructed. At the very least, we will have no peace.
What is needed is fear of the Lord, which the Old Prophet in Kings did not have enough of. He listened to man, (& himself) not God, and it did not turn out well for him.
It will not come to a good end when we obey man instead of God. The devil is the author of confusion. He does not want us to obey God’s will. He will do everything in his power to thwart it.
If someone tells you God gave them a word for YOU, as the older prophet claimed, don’t necessarily believe it. Rarely this may happen, but be HIGHLY SUSPECT. And you must always first test it against scripture and the Ten Commandments.
Others, even if they be a parent, teacher, priest, or spouse, are not God. They do not ultimately direct our lives. Especially if it is against the Bible or what God has already told you.
This is like the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3) The sly serpent tempted Eve by causing her to second-guess what God had told them: do not eat from the Tree of Knowledge, yet she did.
Adam and Eve doubted and disobeyed God and listened to the serpent just as the Man of God listened to the Old Prophet instead of God. As a result, we are all stuck on this earth in the mess of sin, suffering and death. They were swayed by the sly serpent and look where that got all of us! Consequences can be far-reaching. Don’t believe lies!!!!
If you know in your heart what God wants you to do in a certain situation, obey. Don’t continually second guess it, don’t run to others to take an opinion poll, OBEY GOD! He knows what is best for you and your eternal life. Others often have an underlying selfish motive for whatever they tell you, whether conscious or not.
Let this story be a lesson to us. I had a decision to make lately where this was very applicable. I basically knew what the answer was. One day I wanted to take an “opinion poll” from others at church, oddly, no one was available that day. I got in the car to drive home and God told me: you don’t need to ask anyone about this, you already know the answer.
It was a closed situation, but I was trying to re-open it.
Was I allowing myself to be tempted by Satan like in the Garden of Eden? I suppose so. Some time later, I did by circumstance end up with an “older prophet’s” opinion as to what I should do and by then I clearly knew his answer was WRONG.
And not only that, the “older prophet’s” advice was against the First Commandment. I hate to think what would happen to me if I did not obey God. A lion wouldn’t get me, but something else equally horrifying could.
“I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the one who called you by [the] grace [of Christ] for a different gospel (not that there is another). But there are some who are disturbing you and wish to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach [to you] a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accused! As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accused! Am I now currying favor with human beings or God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.” (Galations 1:6-10)
Thankfully God does not want us to fall and if we heed His voice He guides us to the truth but we do not remain passive in this. We have to be open to hearing and following His voice.
Yes, at times we can make mistakes or misjudge what God has said or even willfully sin. He is merciful and will forgive us and sometimes may provide a Plan B, but we should not get into the habit of disobeying God, especially if we know better. It is your peace on the line and your eternal life at stake.
You don’t want to end up being “mangled by a lion.” Literally or figuratively.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.(Matt. 7:8-11)
Sometimes I think we don’t ask God for things often enough.
The little, mundane things we may need help with throughout an ordinary day.
Maybe we don’t want to bother anyone to ask for help, much less God. Maybe we think we can handle things ourselves. Perhaps we view our need as a sign of weakness. Or maybe we feel we will owe something in return.
Often we can feel like our prayers are a Honey-Do list for God and we are asking for far too much, far too often rather than spending time listening. Being quiet with God is, of course, important. And perseverance in prayer is necessary.
But what about the everyday, ordinary stuff as we go about our days? Do we ask God for help right then and there?
I was driving to the store and I saw a freight train up ahead. I found myself praying to God that I wouldn’t have to wait at that train and also not be stopped by one on the way back home. I was already feeling fragile and the feeling of being trapped indefinitely can do me in with anxiety.
Lo and behold, the train ended before I got to the tracks and I drove right through! I was so relieved, “Thank you Jesus!” I seriously felt as if He had just parted the Red Sea just just for me! I was so grateful. And! I did not catch a train on the return trek.
It reminded me to ask for simple, specific things like this more often. I’m sure I won’t be able to avoid every train for the rest of my life, but it made my day and increased my faith.
I wonder how much help and favor I could have been getting in the past if only I had asked! God wants us to come to Him and depend on Him for EVERYTHING, each day, not just the big stuff or only when we’re desperate.
Notice in the above scripture from Matthew, Jesus says: “your heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask.” He knows what we need ahead of time but He instructs us to ask. Because asking requires faith and trust.
Would you be inclined to help someone if they didn’t appear to need it or didn’t ask?
A mother can’t always help her child if the child doesn’t make their needs known. We can’t read minds. As it says in the scripture, we won’t give our child a snake if he asks for a fish. But the key is to ask because it never hurts to ask. We have free will. If we don’t ask, it can be our loss.
God is the Mighty One who made the entire universe and all that is in it. Imagine if our feeble human minds realized just how much power He has that we could tap into! It is mind-boggling. I think most of us are tapping into only a minuscule portion.
So don’t be afraid to ask God for exactly what you need, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. He desires for us to call upon Him in all things.
He is the God that cares for you! You never know how He may want to bless you! Even with something as simple as parting the “Red Sea” for a train!
Recently at Mass I was feeling more anxious than usual. While I was freaking out from my anxiety symptoms an image starkly came to me of Jesus dying on the cross. My anxiety paled in comparison.
Anxiety, as bad as it can get, could never be as bad as dying on a cross.
I saw images, with my spiritual eyes, flashing through my mind. The nails being driven into His hands. The excruciating pain. My anxiety, my anxiety, my anxiety……it was spinning all around. Pound, Pound, Pound, pound the nails. Blood gushing forth. It is difficult to describe in words, but it is etched in my memory.
I saw my anxiety being nailed to the cross. If only I could leave it there.
The problem with anxiety is that a person focuses inward, on themselves and the physical symptoms. Which, once you have them, are hard to ignore.
I must fix my eyes on HIM instead of myself.
I must surrender my entire life to Jesus. Moving from fear to surrender.
Until I get to the point where God alone is enough. This is not easy to do in our modern world with all our responsibilities and distractions.
One of my favorite prayers (also put to music) is by St. Ignatius of Loyola:
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, My memory, my understanding and my entire will. All I have and possess. You have given all to me, now I return it. Everything is yours, do with it what you will Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.
St. Ignatius knew the mind is the battlefield. It concocts all kinds of schemes and scenarios.
One of my favorite lines of a beautiful song, called These Alone Are Enough by Jesuit, Dan Schutte, is: “Take my mind with all its plans and schemes”, which is based on the above prayer.
A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
I also find the last verse of that song particularly moving: “When the darkness falls on my final days, take the very breath that sang your praise.” This makes me weep and touches every bone in my body.
Another song using this beautiful prayer that I have loved since my teen years and played on guitar many times at Catholic Mass, is Take Lord, Receive also by a Jesuit, John Foley.
Funny how our lives come full circle and we don’t know it at the time, but I spent two years of college on a campus with Jesuits and now I find myself becoming more interested in Ignatian Spirituality many years later.
I have an extremely active mind and always say, “my mind is like a freeway.” I even have nightmares with city highways and all the layers and circles on top of each other, representing my racing thoughts.
Often when someone is talking I am already on the next 5 topics in my mind. THUS it makes sense that BEING ON A FREEWAY IS EXTREMELY UPSETTING FOR ME likened to DEATH.
My grandmother and mother had Alzheimer’s and it was torment to watch their minds leaving, turning into an empty “freeway”. Our mind and memories make us who we are. (On the other hand, an empty mind might end the freeway nightmare.)
But the mind is difficult to control, it grabs us and runs away with us. It pulls us into all kinds of places we don’t want to go, filling our minds with thoughts we don’t want to have.
This is when we must surrender our minds to Christ so we can take on His mind, not our imaginations.
And it’s not a one-time deal. It’s a constant struggle. We must keep praying, keep focusing on Jesus, keep surrendering because we are imperfect humans. We need God’s grace to help us.
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinth. 10:5)
So here I go, eyes fixed on Jesus. I surrender all. One second—one day—at a time.
And hopefully in the writing, will come the healing. Putting the thoughts into concrete form and sharing them to possibly help someone else with an anxious mind. And so I pray, Take Lord, receive, all I have and possess. Your grace is enough for me.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinth. 12:9)
“Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving but believe. Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” (John 20:26-29)
This took place after the Resurrection of Jesus. The disciples were locked in a room cowering in fear of the Jews, when Jesus appeared out of nowhere. He was wounded for our sake and had the scars to prove it.
But Thomas, or “doubting Thomas” as he is known, was not there the first time and had yet to believe it was truly Jesus the others had seen. He required evidence of the scars.
We are all scarred. Life is a difficult battle. We all have the battle scars to prove it. Yet we grow through our wounds and scars. It cannot be any other way.
At an event, I ran into someone I hadn’t seen in very many years. She admitted, “I never would have recognized you if I had seen you on the street.” I didn’t really take that as a compliment since I was MUCH older since she had last seen me. I guess I have changed quite a bit.
Just like the disciples did not recognize Jesus when he first entered the room, because He also had changed. Then by His scars, the disciples were finally able to recognize Him.
We have been changed by our scars and the people we know don’t always realize it. Or they can’t see it. Or don’t want to see it because they are used to the way we were before. Sometimes they need us to be our old selves because our change threatens them in some way.
Our scars are unique to each of us and make us who we are. Often we wouldn’t trade our scars because they bring us closer to God. “I am thankful for the scars” is a line in a beautiful song by the group I Am They entitled “Scars”.
Another line in the song is as follows: “And I’m not who I was before. No, I don’t have to fear anymore.”
We need to grow from fear to surrender to Jesus, as the disciples did. By His wounds we are healed.
A scar represents that something wounded was healed. Our scars are important reminders for us. Don’t try to minimize or cover them up. Or be ashamed or make excuses for them.
Paradoxically, our wounds make us more beautiful and perfect than before. They represent healing and growth.
It is even possible for us to find joy in suffering if we unite our sorrows to Christ. He is with us through it all even when it doesn’t seem like it.
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12-10)
Our scars do not make us any less beautiful. In fact, we are more beautiful because of our flaws whether obvious to the human eye or not. Sometimes what the world considers ugly or imperfect is really beauty. Sometimes it is only obvious to the heart or to the heart of God.
Look past the scars to the inner beauty and strength gained from the battle.
Love heals all wounds and Jesus has given us the ultimate gift of love by dying on a cross. We share in His suffering and we too shall rise again and be made whole in the next life.
Our battle scars are a reminder of who we are and how far we have come. Just as we look to Jesus and his wounds on the cross for us. Unlike Thomas, through the eyes of faith, we believe without having seen.
Let us joyfully proclaim with Thomas, “My Lord and My God.”
My most frequent prayer throughout each day is, “Lord Jesus, help me.” Only four short words, it sounds almost too simple or like it doesn’t “count” as praying, but it can be powerful!
Such a humble, basic prayer is perfect for when you are at the end of the rope, too scared or too sick to pray, or too anything for that matter.
It’s good for emergency situations as well as when things are just fine.
It never hurts to ask God for help as you go about your day or even before you need it!
Any time you call upon the Creator of the universe, you are tapping into the most immense power possible. How can you go wrong? Worst case, nothing will happen and you’ll be talking to yourself.
Pascal’s Wager surmises: if there is no God, you haven’t lost anything by believing. If there is a God, you’ve lost everything, including eternal happiness. Odds say it’s worth believing for anyone who has doubts.
Normally, prayer doesn’t cause God to swoop down like a Magic Genie and immediately answer all our requests or solve all our problems. I wish that were the case, but much of the time it’s hard to tell if He is helping at all. And some things just take time. Lots of time.
So we must trust and have faith and in the meantime it gives us the strength and courage to go on.
And it gives us hope. There is a lot to be said for hope. Hope is the fuel that keeps us going.
I am reminded of the 1960’s TV show I Dream of Jeannie. Even Jeannie wasn’t always able to get her Master, Major Anthony Nelson, out of trouble immediately, every time. She would sometimes be tied up in a situation or get locked in her bottle and other times she chose to ignore Major Nelson to teach him a lesson. Sometimes God needs to teach us a lesson.
But every now and then there are occasions where God does swoop down pretty quickly. One such time was when I was in the hospital popping out my youngest. I was in a drug-induced stupor but I did have a spiritual moment when things became too much to bear and I screamed aloud, “Oh Jesus help me!” A few moments later my daughter was born and the doc answered, “He did.” God spoke to me through the doctor and what a miraculous relief it was!
Plenty of people in the Bible are found calling out to Jesus for help, (not just women in childbirth). One of my favorite passages is when Peter was walking on the water and he started sinking and cried, “Lord, save me!” (Matt. 14:30) It was a short “prayer” out of desperation. Often we feel desperate.
Jesus Himself cried out to the Father in desperation for help before His crucifixion. We can take consolation that even Jesus, the Son of God, didn’t get the magic genie answer He was hoping for. He still had to suffer and die before there was a resurrection. (Luke 22:42-44)
God is our Father and wants to help us if we cry out to Him, just as earthly fathers help their children. If you painted a beautiful picture, you wouldn’t want your work ruined or destroyed. Just as God has created all of us as His beautiful works of art, His heart longs to alleviate our misery when we look to Him. He is always waiting, always ready to save us with open arms.
“Lord Jesus, help me” is a simple way to set our minds on God and remember He is with us in all the moments of life.
It reminds me that I am not in charge and I need His help. I belong to God, I am His. Constantly submitting to Him keeps my ego in check and opens me up to receiving the help and blessings He wishes to bestow upon me.
Apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
So next time you need help, whether you are having a crisis or just a normal day, think of Jesus. Ask Him for help and allow His power to flow through you. And pray, “Lord Jesus, help me.”
Have you ever felt like you were under attack for your faith?
Can you sometimes sense a demonic spirit in a particular place or among a group of people?
I don’t think I am the only one. Over the years I have felt what seems to be demonic spirits in certain places and groups. Looking back, it appears that is when I often came under some kind of attack.
It becomes clear that the darkness senses the light. And THE DARKNESS HATES THE LIGHT. It cannot tolerate it. Satan constantly tries to sway us away from the light, the truth, Jesus Christ.
Looking back over the years, I see many situations where I was wrongly accused, attacked, silenced. I even had a situation recently. Attacks are often from non-believers but sometimes even by those who claim to be Christians.
Oh some say they are believers! But it is obvious that either they are not true believers or they are deceived. Following many different philosophies rather than the one Truth, Jesus Christ and Him alone.
Jesus said to them in reply, “See that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. (Matthew 24:4-5)
With all that is going on in the world today, the darkness hates the light verse is frequently in my mind. It applies in so many instances.
On our honeymoon we ended up in Reno, Nevada for a concert in a casino, which we would normally never enter such a place. I felt such a heavy spirit of evil in that establishment like never before. People who don’t have this experience can’t understand it and may not know what I am referring to.
In another instance, I was involved in the Parent Teacher Organization for a time at my kids’ school. For the most part it was a pretty vicious and aggressive group of mothers.
On one occasion, some came to my home for a meeting. Big mistake. The spirit of the whole thing was so vile. I felt as if my home had been violated thinking I would surely need to have an exorcism there. The spirit of evil was that strong! It’s hard to say this because we often picture mothers as sweet, caring people but it was not so, folks! These women were savage!
When I was younger I don’t think I fully realized that some people truly are wicked. Just look at the world today, there are many downright evil players. And yes, some are hiding in churches! The devil is alive and well.
All these situations, and there are many more, where I have come right up against the face of evil have one thing in common. The darkness cannot tolerate the light, no matter how many times people say they tolerate everything (which is not good by the way), or “hate has no home here”, “love is love” and all the cutesy sayings mostly touted by non-believers or deceived believers, at best.
I often have been coming to the conclusion that in these kind of environments, I represent the light in their darkness and they are repulsed by it. I do not even have to bring up Jesus or Christianity. The evil senses it.
We have to remember that as believers, it is the light of Christ shining within and through us. It is not about me or you. It is how the God of the universe works. Through His people. I am just one vehicle through which God works. I do think in the spirit realm people perceive this and I am viewed as a threat because I represent Christ, or at least I try to.
Following Christ has continuous challenges and trials, but the early disciples didn’t have it easy either and the Gospel continues on throughout all of time as Jesus promised.
God used the apostles and saints, many of which were martyred. John the Baptist was beheaded, Paul was imprisoned and so many others died for their faith throughout history. Today we have martyrs like Charlie Kirk who dared to speak the truth.
And Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for our redemption by dying on a cross. Why should we expect any less if we truly follow Christ? He will give us the grace to deal with the obstacles we face for His Kingdom.
I urge you to continue to follow Christ no matter what the world is doing because the alternative is an eternity in hell. It is not worth having an “easier” time on earth if our eternity with our Savior is forfeited.
This is the reason we are put on earth, not for ourselves but for the Kingdom of God living in and through us. It is our purpose and mission in life and reason for living. We are just passing through, on the way to our permanent home.
Sometimes we get caught up in the everyday things life throws at us, and of course we must take care of our families and earthly responsibilities, but we need to realize we are working for the Kingdom through all of it.
We never know who we will cross paths with and why. God can use us everywhere. At the store, in public restrooms, train stations, and on the internet. Anywhere we travel through life with Christ we are called to be the light in this world filled with evil and darkness.
We are either on the path of Jesus and the saints before us, or the path reserved for unrepentant sinners. It is a choice each of us has to continually make.
I never liked “old” people. I found most of them wrinkly, gross and scary. I still do, except now I am one of them.
I liked working with preschoolers. They were small, cute, excited about everything and just loved you. But I always dreaded when we had to take our class of tots to interact with the senior day care attendees. The older adults behaved just like the preschoolers.
But when I had turned 65, I started feeling like I was officially “old”, on the younger side of the oldsters, but still, OLD. There is only one direction I am going in now and there’s no turning back. Quite frankly, it’s scary.
I have friends in their 70’s! And some have reached 80! This is a new world for me. I can’t say I like it. I do, however, like the wisdom I have gained and not caring about what others think.
Buying dishes, of all things, is what brought all this flooding to my mind. I have been wanting new dishes for yearzzz. Our old ones were chipped and well-worn by a family of 6. It was beyond time.
I had never really found any dishes I liked enough to buy, until now. And the price was great. And I had a gift card. I bought them. I was thrilled.
The minute I got home I started cleaning out my cabinets to make space for the new dishes. Then I realized they are larger and heavier. They don’t fit in the cabinet as well. I’m not even going to be able to put all of them in the same cabinet! I had to come up with another place to stash the rest. No easy task. This was a bigger project of rearranging the household than I had counted on. I was exhausted.
My joy started to turn into annoyance. What had I done? I should have just left things as they were. After all, it worked. Should I return them after years of hunting?
I felt like my entire life was turned upside down—changed—by something as silly as dishes. New dishes I had been longing for. How am I going to deal with this and actually enjoy them?
They are simple, white, and shiny without any pattern. Food looks more appetizing on white, doesn’t it? (It does.) I have to tilt the large ones sideways to get them into our too-small microwave. When the kids come to visit, they will probably wreck them.
After using these white ceramic discs that have traumatized my life for a few weeks now, I am getting a little more used to them. They no longer make me want to cry. Besides, I threw out the boxes so they can’t be returned.
I have to learn to live with the change.
I hope this isn’t a foreshadowing of a lot more changes I will have to learn to live with as I age! But alas, I’m afraid it is. Things that will be more challenging than fitting dishes into a cabinet! Life is full of change.
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.
~Alan Watts
Who thought dishes could be so stressful? That is the problem with “stuff”. Material things take our eyes off God.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)
These crazy dishes are teaching me a spiritual lesson. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. We are running the race, we don’t take extra baggage with us to weigh us down. The material things we accumulate on this earth aren’t important but who we fix our eyes on is.
I was looking down right before communion at Mass the other day, when suddenly, in a booming voice with great emphasis, the priest proclaimed, “This is Jesus!” Whoa, that got my attention and I immediately looked up at the raised Host.
Afterward I thought, wow, that was highly effective, I don’t think the priest typically says that?? I surely would have noticed, right?
“This is Jesus”! He is here among us! We should all be falling over in sheer joy and ecstasy! Because this is exciting news!
“I will only say that when I am with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the beating of my heart is so strong that it sometimes seems my heart is bursting out of my chest. At the altar at times I feel such a burning throughout my whole being that I cannot describe it. It seems to me that my face is completely on fire.”
~ St. Padre Pio
I enjoy solitude, reverence and ritual at times, but I often relate to Jesus more like in the music video below. With praise, dancing and singing.
“Give praise with blasts upon the horn, praise Him with harp and lyre. Give praise with tambourines and dance, praise Him with strings and pipes. Give praise with crashing cymbals, praise Him with sounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath give praise to the Lord!” (Psalm 150:3-6)
Some Christians seem to have an aversion to worship music, which is sad because it is so uplifting.
As a music minister for many years, music speaks to me. People enjoy all kinds of music, so I don’t know why some Christ-followers get judgy about some types of Christian music. Different music speaks to different people.
I get it, we don’t base our entire relationship on Christ because of feelings, but there is still a thing called, “the joy of the Lord”.
But, I digress. All day long that phrase, “This is Jesus!” was in my head and honestly it has affected me since.
Wouldn’t it be great to be excited about Jesus all the time? No matter what is happening inside or outside of us? Even in our suffering? Or after a church service? Do we leave excited we encountered Christ?
I’m afraid most of the time people walk out of church like they are “dead”, unchanged, still heavily burdened, or in a hurry to move on with the rest of their day. We’re human, it happens.
We still have pain and suffering in our lives, but remember the words: THIS IS JESUS! He is always with us and He will never forsake us! We should never forget this and rejoice in this knowledge!
Also since my “this is Jesus” experience, I started paying more attention at Mass and what various priests say before communion. The priest typically holds up the Host right before communion and says, “This is the Lamb of God……..” Not nearly as effective in my opinion! I’m a city girl, I don’t have any experience with lambs so it’s a stretch to appreciate lamb imagery even though I know it refers to Christ dying for our sins.
Tell it to me straight and simple. “This is Jesus”. Right here, right now, in the form of bread and wine. Now that makes more sense. That is mystery enough!
There is an oft quoted statistic that 70% of Catholics don’t believe in the real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which makes the words “this is Jesus” all the more important. As for the Protestants, they believe communion is a symbol. I thought that for a while too, until I became transformed by the Eucharist.
However, we will need to go beyond a moving moment at a religious gathering to actually living “this is Jesus” in everyday life. That is the only way it will bear fruit and help spread the Gospel so others can come to know Jesus and find true joy in the Lord.
We need to look for this Jesus everywhere. In every person we meet and every circumstance we find ourselves in.
One thing is for sure, we need to see more of Jesus around us in this fallen, broken world. He is the only one that can save us.
This is Jesus, now go be transformed and help transform the world.
In Matthew 17 in the Bible, Jesus heals a boy with a demon after the disciples were unsuccessful. When the disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to drive out the demon, Jesus answered:
After reading that verse do you ever feel like your faith is weak? I know I do. My faith certainly isn’t moving mountains literally or figuratively. And I can’t say I know anyone whose faith does “move mountains”.
If it only takes a teeny mustard seed of faith to move a mighty mountain, even the faith of the strongest believer would still be quite weak in comparison!
The key is, our faith has to be in Christ, not in ourselves.
Sometimes doubts crop up and I question everything I believe and wonder if it’s all true or if I am going crazy or fooling myself. Or is it the devil trying to lead me astray?
Then I discovered that a lot of the saints struggled with doubts, depression, anxiety and other mental challenges. Doubt can be a good thing and actually bring us closer to God.
St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) writes about the trials and sufferings he experienced in his book The Dark Night of the Soul.
St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) became deeply depressed and suicidal after a battlefield injury.
St. Dymphna (circa 620-650) is the patron saint of mental illness and was martyred by her own father.
St. Mother Teresa (1910-1997) experienced a long period of inner dryness and spiritual struggle which her faith helped her get through.
The saints and Christians that have gone before us struggled with the same things we do today. But faith and trust in the power of God, not in their own power, kept them going.
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
If the disciples, who were actually with Jesus physically, doubted and lacked faith, then we should not despair (as the devil wants). God still used them mightily. And He can use us too.
I do believe, help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24)
Our faith also works collectively to move mountains through community with other believers. We can grow stronger together and help each other along in life and the faith journey.
We who are strong in faith can help those that are weak. We should help them in their weakness. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to help him be stronger in his faith. (Romans 15:1-2)
Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up. (1 Thess. 5:11)
When we are afflicted with trials and weaknesses, it causes us to rely more on God, thus bringing us closer to Him and increasing our faith.
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
It is natural to feel weak in faith or discouraged at times, but God does not operate on whims or feelings. He is always there. He never changes. He is steadfast and ever faithful; constantly guiding and having unconditional love for us.
Brothers and sisters, we must keep the faith even in difficult, seemingly hopeless, times.
If God so clothes the grass in the field that grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will He not much more provide for you, O ye of little faith. (Luke 12:28)
God often chooses the weak in the eyes of the world to do great things. The Bible is full of such examples. And it still happens through us weaklings today.
So have no fear! God can use us even if we feel like our faith is weak. Let us go out now and move some mountains! We can do it with a tiny mustard seed of faith!
Walking with Christ can at times be a lonely walk. The world just doesn’t understand where Spirit-filled believers are coming from. We may as well be coming from Mars as far as they are concerned.
This was brought home to me three years ago after a routine check-up with the doctor, who I’ve known most of my life. I left there feeling so misunderstood. It was at the beginning of the world returning to normal after the scamdemic and he was clueless about the evil that had just transpired. But then again, he had much to gain from all of it. I was so disappointed that even well-educated people couldn’t see truth.
I went to noon Mass after that and and later wrote about how I felt in my journal.
I will include an excerpt of what I wrote, rather than edit it as I usually do, although the emotion I felt at the time cannot be conveyed in words:
“As I was walking into the noon Mass today, I was thinking about (almost in tears) how if you trust in God, that it’s very lonely, really. The world doesn’t understand. It wants you to be afraid because the evil has much to gain from it. We must resist! Fear was never “cool” before or the appropriate response to most things. People just don’t get it if you put your trust in God rather than men.”
It so happened the Gospel reading at church that day was Matthew 14:22-33 where Peter walks on the water but then becomes afraid and sinks crying out for Jesus to save him. It’s all about trust in Jesus and not being afraid!
The world doesn’t understand the things we see in the Spirit, they are not able to. It is impossible. To them good is evil and evil is good. (Isaiah 5:20) I was almost thrown out of a Protestant church for quoting that scripture. They told me it wasn’t in the Bible, which had caused me to doubt myself. The others in the group railed against me and said the leader ought to know since they were in seminary. Crazy. Well they didn’t know. Or didn’t want to know.
It was an excellent example of the blind leading the blind. Yes this can and does happen even in churches.
Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
I have been bullied on social media, and surprisingly some were so-called Christians. I have been scoffed at in person for my faith. It’s ok because that is an indication I am following the truth. I will not falter. I’ve been in this fight too long. In the end, only what God thinks matters.
Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. (Proverbs 9:7)
No kidding!
Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. (Proverbs 9:8)
They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, who will live according to their own godless desires.” (Jude 1:18)
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers. (Psalm 1:1)
What a way to start the book of Psalms!
As believers, we live in the world and not of it. We are not “like everybody else” nor should we strive to be. We are set apart. The things of this world do not satisfy. Wise is the person who knows this.
The saints didn’t have it easy either when sticking to their faith. Some were even martyred, not unlike Charlie Kirk in modern times. But we follow God not man. And our reward will be eternal.
As I get older, I am more discriminating about who I spend my time with. Life is too short. Sometimes I even feel a sense of evil in a place or group and need to get away and stay away. I don’t want any weird stuff rubbing off on me. The company you keep matters. The devil will suck you in if you are not careful. The Bible tells us to avoid certain types:
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (emphasis mine) 2 Timothy 3:1-5
All we can do is try to stay the course of our own salvation and pray that others will lay down their pride and open their minds and hearts to Christ Jesus so they, too, may be rewarded with eternal life. Like the song amazing grace proclaims, “I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.”
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7
The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4
Air is breath for our physical body, the Holy Spirit is spiritual breath for our soul.
NEVER FORGET the government and 3-letter agencies–among others–would have loved to make it illegal for you to breathe by wearing masks for their planned “virus”. Without air, you are DEAD. Think about that.
It probably wouldn’t be the virus that would kill you. It would more likely be the arbitrary and unproven guidelines and improper “protocols”. There are always germs, most people live their lives in spite of them. It’s called your immune system. God knew what He was doing.
Why anyone complied with the scamdemic nonsense is still incomprehensible to me.
Why people weren’t in the streets in droves protesting, is beyond me.
Why parents allowed their children to go to school unable to breathe and in some cases visually compromised with a mask partially covering their eyes, is beyond me.
Back in the days of my triplet pregnancy, with the help of God, I was responsible for 3 lives inside me. My breath, my life, was sustaining them! My continuous prayer was:
Every breath is from you O Lord.
I was, of course, hoping we would all live. There were some scary moments. But I knew it was the breath of God sustaining us according to whatever His will was going to be.
People with anxiety, asthma, breathing and lung disorders know how valuable breath is. Yet many people were still scared enough to comply rather than realize the masks were dangerous as well as signs of compliance.
Now, in almost 2026, there is a store nearby where an employee is still wearing a mask religiously. I know for a fact this person smokes. Do they really think they are keeping themselves healthy by impeding their breathing for hours a day while they breathe in microplastics from their soggy, disgusting, germ-ridden blue mask–for what is now years on end???
God is our Creator. It is He who gives, sustains and ends life. If anyone ever tells you to wear a mask just tell yourself, “Every breath is from you O Lord” and go about your life unhindered. Don’t participate in insanity.
God created us in His image and likeness, He doesn’t wear a mask.
God sends his Holy Spirit to breathe life into us. We must be born again in the Spirit, then we will have nothing to fear. No man, no mask, no virus, not even death. This is our challenge, to walk fearlessly in the truth of Christ.
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spiritgives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:3-8
Jesus goes on further to say in verse 12, “If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”
This is why we need to be baptized in the Spirit as well as with water. There is so much evil on this earth, if we are not born of the Spirit, we can not see beyond the things of this world to the heavenly realm. We need “spiritual eyes” so we don’t get taken in by whatever comes along to dupe and deceive us like fake plandemics.
Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. And when he had said this he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. John 20:21-22
GO FORWARD BOLDLY THEN, AND BREATHE! O BREATH OF GOD. FILL ME WITH YOUR HOLY SPIRIT.
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6
There are times I am better at trusting than others. It’s usually when I am forced to trust because I have no other choice. Like being pregnant with triplets, the outcome was not entirely in my control.
After Charlie Kirk’s murder, it is even more difficult for me to trust. God could have prevented it, but He didn’t. The only explanation is there must be a higher purpose that we do not know. To take a father of two small children. Someone who spoke truth and could have done so much good for many more years to come.
God’s ways are higher than our ways and we just have to trust that He knows what He is doing because He can see the future and we cannot.
I’m sure Charlie’s wife prayed fervently for her family. Yet, sometimes our prayers don’t get answered the way we would like or hope.
If those of us who pray and follow God are still victims of horrendous tragedies, then does that mean our prayers are useless?
That is why I find it difficult to trust God. Yes, I know nothing is impossible for God and that He hears and answers our prayers according to HIS will, not always ours.
In the “Our Father” prayer we say “thy will be done”. But do we really mean it? It’s really a rough prayer, but that is how Jesus taught us to pray. It’s not my favorite. It’s challenging.
Yet I also know that even though I hope and pray for safety and protection, health, positive outcomes to problems–things may not turn out as I wish. I sometimes wonder if our prayers could be in vain?
So how do we trust in a good God when bad things can and do happen to good, faithful people?
There is nothing new under the sun. There have been many martyrs over the centuries such as John the Baptist, Joan of Arc, even Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Socrates.
Stephen was the first Christian martyr who was stoned to death for his faith.
We don’t often think about how Christians are still persecuted today and that there are many modern day martyrs like Charlie Kirk.
The media certainly doesn’t talk about it. We like to think humans have become more evolved and civilized since ancient times, but it’s not true. The heart of man is the same throughout the ages. There is always good and evil.
Christians are actually the most persecuted group, yet Jesus paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth, just like the martyrs of old and in the present day.
So I must trust that no matter what, God knows better and will get me through, but that is sometimes hard for me to accept.
Some may say it’s because of human pride, we want to be in control and want to play God. And yes, I would like to be in control and be able to see the future. I find it very stressful to know that I am not in control.
Imagine what peace I would have if I could surrender and always trust like a little child!! So that is my goal. To rest in the arms of Jesus and trust NO MATTER WHAT.
Jesus is still Lord.
God is still good.
God is still faithful.
God is still in charge. Even in the midst of tragedy.
Lord help us trust and surrender to you when all hope seems lost! Amen.
Here are 10 scriptures to turn to in these difficult and crazy times:
Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him
Job 1:21 The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised.
Genesis 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Proverbs 16:4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.
Proverbs 11:21 Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
1 Peter 3:14 But even if you suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. (English Standard Version)
2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Probably the biggest problem that plagues us as individuals and as a church, is WE FEAR MAN, NOT GOD.
We need to do the reverse: FEAR GOD, not man.
The Bible instructs:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10)
When we fear speaking the truth because of what someone may think or fear getting censored, attacked or losing money, we are fearing man.
What can man do to us?
Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Acts 5:29 We must obey God rather than men.
Hebrews 13:6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
Psalm 118:8 “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”
Proverbs 29:25 “The fear of man becomes a snare: but the one who trusts in the Lord shall be safe.”
The Bible also warns:
“For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.” (I Timothy 6:10)
Often when truth is censored or silenced, it usually comes down to money somewhere along the line.
The truth cannot be revealed because a company, medical entity or a government wants to make money. People cover up problems when they sell a house because money is at stake. Many are afraid to speak truth fearing loss of their career or a lawsuit, which results in loss of money.
Many pastors and priests do not speak truth because they want to keep their flock validated and happy or they will lose congregation members and collection money.
Corruption takes hold because there is no fear of God.
“See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ. For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily, and you share in this fullness in him, who is the head of every principality and power.” (Colossians 2:8-10)
Out of curiosity, I was analyzing a “teaching” given by a pastor at a megachurch that I have visited on occasion. The topic was happiness. That alone should provoke caution. True happiness is found in Christ, but the person did not mention that.
It was more like a self-help TED talk geared to the young. At one point the question came up, “don’t you want to feel good?” This is not proclaiming the Gospel or what church is all about.
Yes, we have the joy of the Lord if we are saved, but worldly happiness is something else entirely. I have experienced more “church” inside my car praying with another mother than “church” supposedly taking place in that arena.
I know too many people who want to soak up the prosperity messages that make them feel happy and validated. They prefer feelings over the hard truth that we are sinners. There is suffering. God is not a magic Genie in the sky giving us everything we want if we just believe or follow a formula. I, too, wish God was a Genie, but I know it is not truth or the way of the cross.
Yes, God always takes care of His children, but it is not always through happy times or prosperity.
God doesn’t validate or celebrate sin, as many like to believe. He wants obedience, long-suffering, our entire will and selves. That is where we find true joy and happiness. By doing His will and speaking His truth, even when it is hard or we don’t feel like it. Even when it will cost us, whether friends, money or sometimes our very lives.
These are not words I like to write, but truth doesn’t change or depend on what I or anyone else thinks.
None of us is perfect. Yet we must remember one day we will all stand before GOD, not man, and be judged. Only what God thinks matters, not what your friends, boss or loved ones think.
Do we live speaking the truth of Christ at all costs? Or do we compromise with the world because we fear man? Don’t let any other human determine your eternity.
So, will you follow man, or God? The decision is yours.
Eerily as I was finishing up this article, I heard the news of Charlie Kirk’s passing. He spoke the truth at all costs — and it cost his life. I was hoping he would have a long legacy, yet now he is gone all too soon leaving behind a wife and two small children. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord.
Not everything has to be proven by a “scientist” or a study. Life itself is the best teacher.
This was very clear during the covid nonsense. Money, corporations, grants, powerful people, often dictate studies and their outcomes. “Follow the science” just meant follow what those who thought they were in charge said….or else.
Of course research can be important, especially when it comes to health matters, but during covid we saw how health related research didn’t matter.
There was plenty of evidence that certain medications helped covid, yet they were not allowed due to imposed “protocols”. Others got rich while patients became victims.
In regards to vaccines and autism, food allergies and the rest of the ever-growing list of childhood ailments, research obviously doesn’t matter to those who have something to gain by keeping humans ill. But my life experience tells me something is very wrong. (1 in 34 children now have autism? Do you really think our leaders want properly functioning brains?)
There is also plenty of research that masks do not work, but did anyone care during covid?
The problem with research is it can be manipulated, buried or destroyed. It can definitely be biased.
I learned this fairly early in life. I had a friend who worked tirelessly in a lab of a prestigious university. There was continuous pressure to get the outcome the professor wanted, no matter what. I was appalled. That goes against the very nature of science and research.
During covid the true scientific facts did not matter one bit and there are many examples other than covid. True science can be ignored or re-defined to serve the best interest of certain parties or agendas.
Even when truth and proof is available, people were lied to and believed the lies. The truth gets silenced, banned, deleted, termed “misinformation”. The masses allowed others to “teach” them rather than thinking or researching things for themselves.
This is why our own experiences and life is the best teacher. We don’t need to look outside ourselves to so-called “experts” for every answer to life’s issues. We are the experts of our own journey.
Through our own life observations we can identify falsehoods if we are paying attention and capable of critical thinking. (You wonder why they don’t like to teach critical thinking in schools?)
Don’t be fooled, people who have agendas of any kind, do use “science” and psychology to their advantage. They manipulate societies and create fear. Fear is control. Fear is big business. Just watch the TV ads.
People will also tell you don’t “judge”, it’s discrimination, you are being “divisive”. Don’t listen to this baloney! We need to make judgments in order to survive and not get taken in by nefarious people and agendas and to keep ourselves safe.
Making judgments is survival.
You constantly need to make judgments while driving, in business dealings, in finding a mate. You need to be able to judge the character of someone you are potentially going to spend the rest of your life with. When voting you need to make judgments about the candidates.
Good judgment is critical in daily life.
We begin to obtain good judgment through our failures and successes, our relationships, our faith.
“Judge not lest ye be judged” (Matthew 7:1-2) is a commonly misused Bible verse. Non-believers and people who want to push their agendas or make sin acceptable like to quote that verse. But what does it really mean? Even the devil can quote the Bible. The Bible becomes used for a sinful agenda rather than God’s agenda.
‘Don’t judge’ is often used as a way to validate sin. Jesus never condones sin.
And so what if we are “judged”? We are being judged by others our entire lives even if we don’t realize it. Why should that bother us? Sometimes we may even deserve judgment or learn how to improve because of it. Does that mean we should never make judgments about situations or people? I think not.
Therefore, judgment is necessary, but gets a bad rap.
This is not to say we will never make incorrect judgments. We need to use wisdom to make proper judgments to the best of our ability. Sometimes this may mean not drawing conclusions from looks or appearances alone. There is more to a book than its cover.
If we never “judge” and we trust everyone and everything, we could find ourselves in a very dangerous or deadly situation. If someone is coming at us with a knife we better make the judgment that the person might kill us and act immediately!
The entire legal system is based on judgment and even lawyers frequently make wrong judgments either in error or sometimes on purpose.
Only Jesus can accurately judge people because He can see their hearts, we cannot. We must rely on experience, outward signs and divine intervention to make our judgments. Yet He is the ultimate Judge and none of us will escape God’s final judgment at the end of our lives.
Many of us have heard our parents say, ”Don’t do that or you’ll learn the hard way” which was mostly used as a threat and to encourage obedience. But it is true, life is the great teacher. We grow through difficulty and “learning the hard way”. Someone else can attempt to spare us a bit of suffering by their warning, but ultimately we have to learn from our own experiences.
So trust your own judgments. If you are following Christ and a believer, the Holy Spirit will guide you.
You are the “expert” of your own life. You’ve earned your “degree” in the classroom of life. You don’t always need textbooks or studies to point the way.
Now go live your life, judge wisely and always continue learning!
I was reading the passage in Luke where after the crucifixion two of Jesus’ disciples were walking to Emmaus when a man started walking along with them “but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.” (Luke 24:16)
Here were the disciples, those physically closest to Jesus on earth, yet they were unable to recognize Him! And not only that, still often doubted.
Jesus has at times in my life, very clearly manifested Himself to me, yet I still sometimes doubt and lack trust. But the disciples were no better! It’s crazy!!
So it seems there must be some innate limitations to our vision on this earth, because the passage reads, “their eyes were prevented from seeing Him”. It appears there are some dimensions that humans do not have the capacity to experience that block us from seeing things fully. This can leave us “blind” all too often.
Jesus returned in His resurrected body so there were obviously characteristics that were different about Him. He was also able to do things like walk through walls and disappear, which He had not done before, pointing to otherworldly dimensions.
I just happened to read these words for April 24 in Padre Pio’s Spiritual Direction for Every Day by Gianluigi Pasquale: “One day Mary Magdalene was speaking to the Master, but thinking that she was separated from him, she was weeping and looking for him. She was so eager to see him that, although she was indeed seeing him, she did not see him because she thought he was a gardener.”
How many times have we looked for something and didn’t see it when it was right in front of our nose?
We are visual beings. God gave us eyes to see, yet we don’t see clearly all the time. Just like I am a little “blind” trying to write this because my glasses are not adjusted correctly for computer distance. I will need to get a new pair so that I can see more clearly all the time wherever I look.
So too, we must correct our spiritual vision so that we can “see” as optimally as possible. We don’t want to remain blind to the things of God and His presence in and around us.
Perhaps also, we need to “see” more with our mind’s imagination and with our heart, not solely relying on our eyeballs. To truly see with “spiritual eyes”. Using imaginative prayer is an aspect of Ignatian Spirituality.
The Holy Spirit can help us see with our “spiritual eyes”.
So we must ask ourselves if we recognize Jesus when he walks beside us or are we blinded like the disciples were?
Jesus was still a real human in His glorified body and not a ghost until He ascended into heaven. (Luke 24:50-51) The senses of sight, hearing, taste and touch were invoked. He asked for something to eat and ate with them (Luke 24:41-43). He showed them His hands and feet (verse 40). He asked doubting Thomas to touch His wounds. (John 20:24-30)
On occasion, God may even choose to “knock us off our horse” like Paul with a miraculous intervention to get us to see, but we can’t count on this.
Further in the Luke passage, the women had gone to the tomb and found it empty and a “vision of angels” announced to them that Jesus is alive. (Luke 24:23) Seeing angels is one of those miraculous-type situations that do not occur often or to most of us. But God wanted to convey something extremely timely and important for all generations.
As the disciples continued walking and approached Emmaus, they asked the man (who was Jesus) to come stay with them. He accepted.
“And it happened that, while he was with them at the table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.” (Luke 24:30-31)
It wasn’t until the breaking of the bread that they recognized Jesus! Do we, today, recognize Jesus in the Eucharist? The most holy, intimate way He can be seen and present to us on this earth? Or do we still remain blind? Wanting to feed ourselves, or worse, letting the world feed us?
Do we recognize Jesus in others or in the mundane moments of life? We can do this through spending time with Him (prayer), reading the Bible, serving others and following God’s commandments.
We need to trust Him with our very lives until we get to heaven. There our eyes will be fully opened and we will finally “see” all that was not made known to us on earth.
We will see Jesus in all His glory and realize that He was with us all along, but like the disciples, we didn’t always recognize Him.
PRAYER:
Jesus, help us to see you more clearly and know that you are walking with us every day of our lives. Loving us, guiding us, protecting us, helping us. Help us to trust in you completely until we finally see you face to face in all your glory. Amen.
I could just cry. Because of the severe pain in my back and the kindness of a stranger.
I strained my back a couple of weeks ago and the pain and limited movement hasn’t gone away, but I needed to go grocery shopping. Somehow I would have to manage.
A lady behind me in line asked if she could go ahead of me since she only had two items. I said “of course”, because it always takes me forever to unload my groceries onto the conveyor belt.
To my surprise, she asked me if she could unload my cart for me, seemingly out of gratitude, which was unusual in itself. I was so thrilled because my back was killing me! I told her I really appreciated that since I was in a lot of back pain and she became all the more glad to help! I was so grateful she was sent my way, like an angel!
Perhaps it’s because I mumbled one of my “God help me” prayers that I would get through shopping somehow, not really expecting it to be answered. Never underestimate the power of prayer!
Even though the woman appeared somewhat rushed, I could tell she was making a conscious effort to look deeply into my eyes, not just a quick glance. It made me feel like I mattered.
Many days we can think the world has gone full-on mad, filled with self-centered, rude, crazy and evil people, but in actuality, there are still many more truly kind and helpful people in this world.
The interaction with this unknown woman spared my back a bit and made me want to continue the kindness cycle and be kind to someone else. And isn’t that what it’s all about?
As an added bonus, it is now making me think more about the topic of kindness which is not usually in my train of thought, since I am generally not one for positivity.
All this from one brief interaction with a stranger who decided to lend a helping hand. A fellow human being that I will probably never see again but who has profoundly touched my life with her simple act of kindness.
How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it.George Elliston
What stops us from being kind? Maybe sometimes we are afraid to reach out. We don’t want to get involved, we feel embarrassed, or we don’t want to risk rejection. Perhaps we are in physical pain, as I was, or hurting in some other way. (Actually, after this incident I did try to do a kind deed in the parking lot, but it didn’t work out. I will have to look for another opportunity.)
I know it’s been said many times before, but it is often good to opt for kindness. Remember those Random Acts of Kindness books? They are collecting dust on my shelf. Kindness makes the small, ordinary moments in our day become sacred. It is also good for the well-being of both parties and has a positive ripple effect.
You never know what people may be going through and you might just make their day or even change another person’s life. It can mean more to them at that moment than you’ll ever know. I think my simple encounter at the grocery store has changed me and I may just dust off those books for inspiration.
I could still just cry, out of pain, but also out of joy and a restored faith in humanity.
So let us all forge ahead and choose kindness. How can you show someone kindness today?
marred – damaged or spoiled to a certain extent; made less perfect, attractive, useful, etc. (dictionary.com)
marred – to ruin or diminish the perfection or wholeness of (Merriam Webster)
marred – blemished by injury or rough wear (wordnik.com)
This describes my kitchen table. It has been marred over the years and looks quite beat up with scrapes and scratches, dents and dings.
When we were first married, we bought the kitchen nook set “naked” meaning we had to refinish it. It was a beastly project, sanding, staining, polyurethane-ing over and over until it was just right. Young and in love while trying to save money, I was game to try it. I will tell you now, I would never undertake such a project again.
But this kitchen nook set, with its handy storage benches, has served us well over the years and 4 kids later.
Recently, upon glancing at my marred kitchen table, years of memories came flooding over me. The table’s wear is proof of years gone by. That table had “lived” in 3 different locations and one day a fourth, as I want to give it to my youngest who excitedly treasures the thought of refinishing it back to good as new. She has done these types of projects before, and unlike me, enjoys them.
Besides, with its marred surface and memories, it should stay in the family. Memories of triplets eating around the table with their booster seats, endless craft projects, dinners with friends & family, carving pumpkins, birthdays celebrated and still future memories to be made. A kitchen table has turned out to be a very emotional place rendering it invaluable.
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But aren’t we all a bit like that table? Marred in some way? Whether by the ups and downs of life, handicaps or failings, disease or sin. We are all marred by the scars of life.
But Jesus can restore us no matter how badly we have been marred, just as my daughter can restore the wooden table. Wood can be refinished, just like us.
We are molded by the hands of God like the potter molds clay. We are weathered and worn and beat up like the table but we still have value. Jesus is the great refinisher. Makes sense, since He was a carpenter’s son.
What has been marred in us can be restored. We can appreciate who we have become through our scars, dents and dings because they have made us more beautiful and who we are today.
My daughter may choose a different color of stain, but it will still be the same table underneath. Over the years we may look or seem different, but we are still who God made us.
We can always have hope in Christ for our restoration and refinishing.
I was fascinated (and relieved) when I learned many cultures deliberately include an imperfection in their artwork, rugs, pottery, etc. In Japanese aesthetics, for instance, it’s known as “wabi sabi”, a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. It is found in many forms of Japanese art.
Our flaws make us unique, just like each piece of crafted artwork. If we look beyond the imperfections we can see the beauty in ourselves and others.
I could cover my kitchen table with a cute or frilly tablecloth to hide the wear and tear and protect it from further abuse, as I have at times, but now I prefer to keep it “naked” with all its dings and dents and memories. I don’t have to worry about ruining it, because it is already seasoned and each scrape and dent will add a new flavor.
Now, every time I look at my kitchen table, it reminds me of life lived and that nothing and none of us is perfect, and that’s okay.
A bruised reed He will not break…. (Matthew 12:20)
Yet, Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:7)
But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; (2 Corinthians 7-9)
In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
Job 12:10
This isn’t an article I want to write, but feel I need to write.
Many years ago when the topic of abortion was perhaps less charged than it is today, I considered myself pro-choice. Why shouldn’t a woman have the right to choose what to do with her own body? (But in actuality, she is temporarily housing someone else’s body.)
I went to college in the days when The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan, and other feminist writings were popular. Freshmen were required to enroll in a “reading” class on feminism. Granted, it was a women’s college, but it was still heavily biased in only one direction. Funny how these modern-day “feminists” are now silent on biological men in women’s sports and various other issues pertaining to women. But I digress.
In the current culture, crazed women dress up like female body parts screaming in the streets for their right to kill while not even knowing what a woman actually is! Mystifying.
In contrast, elderly women are being arrested for praying near abortion clinics, and actual criminals are allowed to go free, even within our own government. How backwards things have become!
I also used to find it odd that Congress would argue about when life begins. As if a bunch of politicians with their own agendas are the ones to be making this decision!
We must remember legality is not necessarily morality.
Abortion is being called health care and a right, which it is neither.
Today, abortion has become over-politicized. (Just look at the Planned Parenthood free abortion truck outside the 2024 Chicago DNC. Demonic!) So now a President should be elected based on their approval to kill?
The Sixth Commandment clearly states: Thou shalt not kill. It appears even most non-believers agree with this basic moral rule, or so I thought.
It actually doesn’t matter if you believe in the Ten Commandments or not. Truth is truth whether you believe it or not, like it or not, and even if no one believes it.
The sacrifice of so many human lives through abortion today is not unlike the child sacrifice to the pagan god Moloch in the Bible. (Leviticus 18:21; Jeremiah 32:35)
This disrespect for life and destruction of the family unit as God designed it is why we are where we are today. And it’s not good.
In a society that displays a blatant disrespect for human life, it will only be a matter of time before they come for YOU. They will find a reason. Euthanasia is gaining momentum. Killing babies and the most vulnerable is only the beginning. (And don’t be fooled by the government suddenly caring about saving lives during a scamdemic or any other “crisis” deemed for your own good.)
But since things were never “nipped in the bud” way back when, they just continue to snowball. Look how far we’ve gone into crazyville.
Now the argument is whether you can kill a baby all the way up to birth and even beyond!! Has anyone ever heard of adoption? Soon the country will be barely recognizable with all our values stripped and society eroded.
All these things make me realize ever more clearly how this movement of disrespecting life has overtaken society and is the undercurrent for much of the evil going on today. Unfortunately, too many people just don’t see it.
It’s all so insane I can no longer ignore it. And neither should you.
WHAT FINALLY CHANGED MY MIND
What turned the tide for me was when New York lit up the One World Trade Center spires in pink on January 22, 2019 for the passage of The Reproductive Health Act on the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It was unreal, to celebrate death of babies aka murder. Seems the only thing people seem to want to celebrate these days is evil.
Also, as a mother of multiples (triplets) I was given the option by doctors to “reduce” my pregnancy on a number of occasions. Selective reduction they called it. By the grace of God I did not do anything foolish.
Then when Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24, 2022, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus no less, you would think churches would be ecstatic and celebrating from the rooftops encouraging more wins for life. Sadly, that was not the case, at least not where I live.
Unfortunately the churches, which should be very vocal on issues of life and death, are pretty silent (except during scamdemics). Most churches won’t touch abortion claiming it’s a political issue. How wrong they are. It is a spiritual and moral issue.
It all boils down to people not wanting consequences for their actions, they want to have their cake and eat it too but it doesn’t work that way. And whatever happened to healthy shame? That thing called your conscience, that can sometimes keep people out of bad situations.
The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord.
Proverbs 9:10
When abortion is perceived as a quick fix, fleshly desires can be quenched because you can just get an abortion after all. However, abortion is not without risk, physical and psychological. The effects can be lasting. Some women even die.
And where is the man’s right in all of this? It takes two to tango. What if he wants to keep the baby? I do not know what legal rights the father has but I imagine it probably varies based on location.
Alternatives to abortion such as ABSTINENCE or adoption, no longer seem to be part of the conversation.
TOWARD THE FUTURE
I still feel like this is a journey for me, as it is for many, but at least I am headed in the right direction. Everyone has their unique story, even women who have had abortions. I’m not judging anyone.
We have to remember some people just aren’t there yet and some never will be….I wasn’t. It often takes some kind of personal experience or aha moment to change your mind about things. And sadly, some people just don’t want the truth and choose to remain on the side of evil.
Jesus has His followers and so does the devil.
But, there is hope. There are still people fighting for those who have no voice. People can and do change their minds. God’s mercy is always available if you sincerely open yourself up to it.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
So maybe, just maybe, I could change some minds or save a life with this article. It’s a step in the right direction.
Some resources if you want to learn more or get involved in the fight for life:
In 2020, my son acquired his long awaited first pet, a six-week-old puppy. He wanted to bring it over to our house. We were horrified. My husband figured if we ever wanted to see our son, we would have to let him bring the dog.
I don’t like dogs.
I am afraid of dogs.
I know nothing about dogs.
I awaited the arrival of this creature called “Mochi” with a tinge of excitement but mostly fear and horror.
When “she” arrived, she was cute enough, but what a fireball of energy!!! Jumping, running, wanting to play and bite. Everything was new and exciting. She was an exhausting furry whirlwind. I was fearing for my life!
Along with Mochi came two huge bags of dog “necessities” such as toys, blankets, food, a potty training bell, which I didn’t even know existed. It was just like when I had to lug my infant triplets over to someone’s house with all their paraphernalia. And when my youngest arrived on the scene we had to drag along her green plastic rocking horse, or let’s just say, we would not have had a pleasant time.
This dog was just like a baby, or even worse! More work than three babies at once! It required CONSTANT attention until luckily it took a BRIEF nap under my laundry basket, which momentarily confined it.
The puppy also needed to be trained. To go potty OUTSIDE (when she pressed the bell with her paw), to sit, stay, lie down and most importantly, not to bite! As I observed my son initiating the training process, I was struck by the simplicity of it. Do this, in other words obey, and you are rewarded. It didn’t take much thought. Just please the guy in charge and life is good.
Since it was 2020, it was during the scamdemic and I noticed training the dog was a lot like people in those days (and unfortunately some still in 2025). People behaved just like dogs! How many didn’t think at all and just obeyed? Do this or that and you will be rewarded. Hey you get to live!
Maybe.
It was pretty scary to watch humans give up their freedom, thoughts and opinions for “free stuff” or for a perceived reward. Living to please whoever they thought was in charge. Conditioned, just like a dog. (Remember good old Pavlov’s dogs? The basis for the theory of classical conditioning in psychology.)
Even with the dog we sometimes say the word “treat” to manipulate its behavior and don’t pan out with the treat. During the scam people were lied to and manipulated.
Apparently it was so much easier for most people to be told to “sit”. Just sit in your house and don’t leave. “Stay” 6 feet apart. “Lie down” all your freedoms and opinions. Then you might get a treat. Pathetic.
The dog also has a crate (aka “cage”) for times when it needs to chill, be punished or be confined when the humans leave so it doesn’t get into trouble. When you say “go home” to the dog, it knows to go inside there. It obeys, because after all that is what the owner wants. I have observed that dogs like it in the cage and feel safe and secure in there. Kind of like how people are told to swaddle their infants in a blanket for security.
This is not unlike people during the scamdemic. They willingly stayed in their cages, oops, homes, during the scam and felt secure there. Seeming to think death would pass them over because they were obedient.
Humans are lucky. We have the gift of knowledge, a brain and higher thought processes than an animal. Yet we so often waste this gift.
I watched in horror as most people just shut down their brains and lives during the scamdemic. No one had to comply with that insanity or lock themselves up. If no one had, things would have turned out quite differently.
Humans have choices and opportunities. A dog has no choice, he is basically a slave, at the mercy of his owner. During the scamdemic, people became slaves to the government and evil tyrants by their own choice or inaction.
We have FREEDOM. We should not take this for granted and preserve it at all costs, even unto death!
I observed a lot of people acquired dogs or other new pets during the scamdemic. (Perhaps they got so much government handout money they were able to afford it.) The people across the street got two dogs. My son later obtained a second dog as well.
This is how people entertained and pacified themselves instead of fighting for freedom? And since their kids were stuck home from school, a new pet was a great way to occupy them. Perks like this made staying home seem more desirable, covering up the tyranny and evil that it actually was.
I am glad my son has his dogs. He always wanted one as a child and loves them dearly and they bring him immeasurable joy. It teaches him how to take care of something and be responsible.
Now, five years later, the dogs have even stolen my heart, which I never thought possible. Life is full of surprises.
But dogs should remain dogs and people should act like free thinking humans, not obedient dogs, no matter what is going on in the world around us.
Fear and anxiety have walked beside me basically my entire life. Friends they are not, however during the covid fiasco my biggest albatross became my greatest gift.
Suddenly, it felt like my life was turned inside out as I watched in horror as the entire world reacted in fear. I knew what it was like to be a prisoner of fear. I often felt like I was on the inside looking out at everyone else who appeared free from the chains that kept me bound.
It was a very ominous, undescribable feeling, like I was watching a horror film or living in a dystopian world. But oddly, I felt more fearless than ever in an insane world.
The eeriness of parks, schools, churches and businesses being closed was deeply disturbing. Basketball hoops were removed from parks and swings were chained up, discouraging children from playing outside.
Schools sat empty. For shame teachers unions, you are supposed to care about kids. An entire generation of children now traumatized and academically behind, for what?
Entire cities that were once bustling and full of life were ghost towns.
All this was not normal, nor should it ever be.
People hiding in their houses, whether by choice or in some cases by force, were afraid to interact. If they dared to walk outdoors, they would cross to the other side just to avoid another person as if some invisible drop of death would fall upon them. Wearing masks they were grasping at straws to pacify their imaginations while they looked like zombies from another galaxy and acted like they belonged in a mental hospital. How could this happen? It was irrational. It made me realize more and more just how irrational fear was.
The world was reversed for me, while stay home–waste lives seemed to be the directive. People who always told me not to fear or that I worry too much, were now literally telling me to be afraid! The thing I spend my entire life trying NOT to be! How insane was that? They did not like my bravery now.
How far toward insanity has a society gone when fear is promoted and even considered virtuous? Something was obviously wrong when the media was promoting insanity and fear rather than saying, this is not right, we need to go about our lives.
Where were the health gurus or religious leaders telling us not to fear? Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, one of the few Catholic religious leaders that does speak out about the evil of our time, warned, “our enemy is not the virus, but the insanity of those who betray their duties to the detriment of the community.” Our rights were trampled and most people allowed it.
Because this plandemic (yes it was planned) was “unprecedented” –a word I abhor–people went along like glorious little obedient sheep because, quite simply, they were afraid of dying. I think when Jesus talks about sheep in the Bible, this is not what He means.
Many people put their faith in government and medical professionals they thought would save them, but had really duped them. Because people were afraid, they were unable to distinguish reality from fantasy or look at things logically or spiritually. Anyone who went against the evil narrative and followed truth was seen as a threat and cancelled. What happened to freedom of speech, much less thought?
According to mass formation psychosis theory, and just basic social psychology, the need to belong and be part of something bigger, had many people bound, gaslit and brainwashed. The world indeed had gone mad. I write more about this here. It’s unsettling how truth and reality can be twisted to become quite the opposite.
Yet however virtuous people thought they were, the bottom line was they were afraid of dying. The death rate is one hundred percent for all of us. No one will escape so why focus on one virus unless there is a nefarious reason?
Surprisingly, all my years of worry, anxiety, and fear had prepared me for this time as well as being a child of immigrants from the Nazi Germany era, which gave me a perspective many other people just did not have.
Never underestimate the destructive power of fear. It can bring down entire nations, as we have seen time and again. I saw crystal clearly the insanity of it all.
There is a Bible passage that says, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10) I never thought it possible, but my weakness became my strength during the plandemic.
Safety is an illusion. We are not safe until we are resting in the arms of Jesus. This does not mean we hide and cower in fear until then. There is work to be done as this insanity has so clearly proven.
Like a mother caring for a frightened child, God instructs us not to fear 365 times in the Bible, once for each day of the year. That is how serious the problem of fear is for us humans. The devil loves it when we are afraid and so do tyrants. (Notice the word “evil” inside the word devil.)
I remember when The Rose, a song sung by Bette Midler, was popular. It is on my playlist. It always spoke to me, especially the wise words, “…and the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.” Feeling torn between being afraid to die and afraid to live is a terrible place to be. During the plandemic, people were afraid of dying, so they stopped living and were all too willing to give up their rights and God-given freedom for a bit of false security.
Many, if not all, fears ultimately stem from fear of death, either our own or our loved ones, but if we are Christians, we should have nothing to fear for Christ has conquered death and we will live life eternal.
“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
I wish I had an answer for fear and anxiety. I do not. It’s as old as humanity itself and part of the fallen human condition. Faith and support from others can help, as well as exercise and keeping busy to distract your mind from unwanted thoughts.
But it’s also sometimes a matter of adjusting and learning how to live with the handicaps we all have. It is an ongoing struggle that I consider my thorn in the flesh as St. Paul spoke of in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. It keeps me going back to God because I know I am powerless on my own.
“I am the vine, you are the branches apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) God wasn’t kidding.
All we can do is try our best to seize the day and live one moment at a time and make sure we NEVER LET THIS INSANITY HAPPEN AGAIN.
Have you ever felt like you were wrestling with God, or something greater than yourself?
The reading at Catholic Mass the other day was about Jacob in the Bible (Genesis 32:23-33). Jacob wrestled all night with an unknown man who struck his hip at its socket so that it became dislocated, leaving him with a limp. Afterwards, Jacob was given a new name, “Israel”.
Verse 33: “That is why, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the sciatic muscle that is on the hip socket, because he had struck Jacob’s hip socket at the sciatic muscle.”
Just having gotten over an excruciating experience with sciatic nerve pain, this Bible passage really spoke to me! I had no idea the word “sciatic” was even mentioned in the Bible, but then of course, I wouldn’t have noticed that in my younger days.
There is also mention of cataracts in the Old Testament, who knew?
(Tobit 11:5-17)
“Courage, father,” he said. Next he smeared the medicine on his eyes, and it made them smart. Then, beginning at the corners of Tobit’s eyes, Tobiah used both hands to peel off the cataracts. When Tobit saw his son, he threw his arms around him and wept. He exclaimed, “I can see you, son, the light of my eyes!”
I mentioned to Father after mass that I was surprised to learn these conditions were in the Bible and he proclaimed, “And God heals them all!”
I was a bit taken aback by his response. One, because most priests flee the faithful right after mass, and two, because I don’t think most priests/preachers would have responded that way.
Although, granted, the second reading at mass that day was Matthew 9:32-38.
Verse 35: Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness.
I guess Father’s response shouldn’t have surprised me since this was the priest who did an impromptu healing service with holy oils after a weekday mass. And wouldn’t you know it? It was while I was suffering from sciatica! I was so grateful!
I was just at the point where I was able to get to the church, albeit painfully, but this was one way that God took care of me during my sciatica bout. Honestly, I think the healing oils did help! Thereafter I came to the realization I could do online Physical Therapy for free through an employer program! God works in mysterious ways.
The morning of the mass with the Jacob reading, I had wrestled to get more sleep, while worries flooded my mind, and almost prevented me from getting to that mass which had impacted me so greatly. The devil is always lurking around the corner trying to prevent us from healing or breakthroughs.
Yet why are we often so reluctant to think Jesus heals today? Or just performs miracles in very select cases? Or they have to be “proven” and documented by the Catholic church or some other authority? Is it because our God is too small?
But don’t we all have miracles in our everyday lives? For some of us, just getting through each day is a miracle. I know, I’ve been there.
Every time we have an illness, challenge, grief over a loved one, or are persecuted for our faith, isn’t that like wrestling with God?
When we are confused, broken, or in trouble, we may wrestle with God.
Help! We cry out! And all too often God doesn’t answer right away or in the way we would like. So, like Jacob, we are forced to wrestle through our struggle until the end.
We wrestle with God every time He wants us to do something but we interject our own will into it.
We wrestle with God when we are trying to make an important decision.
We wrestle with God when our faith is weak and we don’t trust.
We wrestle with doubts.
We wrestle with anxiety and depression.
We wrestle against the world with all its sin, evil, and temptations. Trying to stay on God’s course.
We wrestle with God when we are afraid and don’t know what’s next.
Yet we emerge out of our trials transformed in some way. Either physically, as in the case of Jacob’s hip and limp—or mentally—or spiritually.
This is why we need to put on the full armor of God daily! (Ephesians 6:10-17) No doubt we will have many battles to fight but we will then be empowered.
Jacob was left with a limp, yet we are all wounded and limp along through life in some way. These are our BATTLE SCARS! We are wounded, but not defeated. The scars are a holy reminder of our battles and we are now ever stronger.
Let us remember that God is greater than anything we wrestle with and in the end, God always wins.
Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel written by Pope Leo the 13th after he had a vision of demons over Rome.
There is so much speculation in news reports, most of which never happens or at least not the way it was proposed. Part of it is to hook the reader or to spread false rumors for some gain or even to create worry about some future event.
Your head can be spinning from information overload which can lead to worry, stress, bad decisions or sleepless nights.
No one can predict the future. We can only guess or make judgments based on facts or previous experience.
If we reach retirement age, we will obviously need income, so we need to plan. Yet at the same time we must realize our plans can be foiled in a myriad of ways. The money system can crash, disasters strike, an unexpected illness hits. The list is endless.
Preparation is good and necessary, worry is not.
We should, of course, prepare for a trip by packing. We should have emergency items like flashlights, radios, batteries and water on hand for a storm or other disaster. This is being responsible and also just common sense.
We can take a warning from the Parable of the 10 Virgins in Matthew 25.
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.”
(Matt. 25:1-4)
The foolish virgins who did not bring oil for their lamps were not prepared and were locked out of the wedding feast while they went to look for oil.
Speculation about the future, at its worst, can paralyze us into complete inaction.
We need to consider various outcomes when we have a decision to make but unreasonable speculation digs a hole we can’t easily climb out of. Worrying about endless imagined scenarios does us no good. We must use our best judgment based on the facts at hand.
Nothing in life is 100% guaranteed, but we can trust in Jesus and that He will take care of us no matter what situation we find ourselves in. That He does promise.
It is too stressful to constantly worry about the future. We need to live in the present and not worry about tomorrow.
“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27)
This moment is the only time granted to us and we should not waste it by speculating about what could happen in the future, much of which doesn’t even matter or won’t ever happen. Things have a way of taking care of themselves.
God always gives us the strength we need when we need it, and not before. What is needed is trust.
When the Israelites were wandering around in the desert, God gave everyone enough manna for that day only. The ones who gathered extra for the next day, found it rotten. (Exodus 6:16-20)
Taking another lesson from the Parable of the 10 Virgins:
“Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matt. 15:13)
Many like to speculate about the end times, but this is foolish. We do not know the day or the hour. Live out God’s will for you TODAY, which is the only time you DO have and you will be ready for whatever is to come.
Take your life back and put your trust in Jesus and…
STOP SPECULATING!
Resource:The Present: The Gift that Makes you Happier and More Successful at Work and in Life, Today! by Spencer Johnson
PRAYER:
Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear; rather look to them with full hope that, as they arise, God will deliver you out of them. He has kept you hitherto, – do you but hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all things; and, when you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms. Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.
Many of us decorate our homes and walls with photos of those we love. Our spouse, kids, grandkids, a special friend, perhaps even a beloved pet. Schools cash in on this. We all remember the yearly “picture day” ritual.
It’s fun to look at photos and see how much your kids have grown, and unfortunately, how much the rest of us have aged.
In a group photo, whose picture do you search for first? I bet your own! It brings us joy to reminisce while looking over our yearbooks, or graduation, wedding and vacation photos.
But what about religious photos or art? Do you hang or display pictures of Jesus, His mother Mary, your favorite saint or a Biblical scene like the Last Supper?
Is that wrong? Some might call it idolatry, but images are physical reminders of the ones we love.
In this modern age, our lives have become so visually oriented with the internet, cell phones, constant scrolling, gaming, etc. Why not our faith life? God is using technology to spread the Gospel.
Having been raised in the Catholic Church as a child, I was not new to statues and religious images surrounding me. Nuns would distribute holy cards, we participated in Stations of the Cross during Lent, and the Virgin Mary statues always seemed to have eyes that were following you no matter which way you went.
Yet, we don’t worship statues, images or nature, we worship God.
Some of us have heard of Lectio Divina (spiritual reading) but I only recently heard the term “Visio Divina”, an ancient prayer form which means “divine seeing” or “sacred seeing”. It is a spiritual practice that involves praying with religious images, art or nature as a way to draw closer to God.
You can use any image, sculpture, crucifix, photo in a book, whatever speaks to you, not necessarily religious icons. Photos of nature like a roaring waterfall or beautiful sunset can be good options.
Even religious jewelry is a visual image to remind us of God, as we see by how some people are offended when others wear it!
I began to realize we practice Visio Divina more than we think, even before I had a name for it. I have religious images in my car, on my fridge, by my sink, on walls and tables. Some people use a religious image for their phone wallpaper.
Whenever we walk into a cathedral and are awed by the stained glass windows, the architecture, the beauty inside, we are participating in Visio Divina. I really underrated this, thinking it was foolish and idolatrous, until recently.
Photos, whether they are of family or religious images, are reminders of whom we love and what is most important to us. They prompt us to think about and talk to God as we go about our days. Images can be a starting point for prayer or for times when we feel we can’t pray. How can that be a bad thing?
God is a Creator. He gives us eyes to see and art and beauty in order to know Him. The arts in all their forms, help us get in touch with our creative selves.
God communicated visually with many Biblical figures through dreams or visions. Moses saw a Burning bush (Exodus 3:2-3). Ezekiel saw dry bones (Ezekiel 37:10). And God went so far as to blind Paul temporarily to make him see.
In John 20:25 we hear the famous words of the apostle Thomas: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
Just as musicians are oriented to sound and compose worship music or hymns, some people are wired more visually than others, so why not employ all our senses to connect with God?
Here are 5 steps on How to practice Visio Divina either alone or in a group setting.
Visio: Find an image to look at. This can be a religious image or a picture of nature or artwork. Or you can even go outside and find a tree, flower, landscape or something to focus on. Any place where it is quiet and you can get comfortable.
Meditatio: What is it about the image that strikes your attention or that you are drawn to? You may want to read and meditate on a Scripture passage that relates to the image. (lectio divina)
Oratio: Talk to God about what you see and feel. Do you sense Him speaking to you or leading you in a particular direction?
Contemplatio: Sit in silence and rest in God’s presence.
Actio: Is God leading you to take any action from what you have viewed/learned?
Do these steps for however long you need. There are no time constraints.
CONCLUSION
It was an ah-ha moment for me when I finally realized it isn’t wrong to have religious images on your walls, or to gaze at them.
Photos preserve memories, your heritage, your faith.
Photos can help you feel closer to the ones you love when you are apart. Just as now we are physically apart from Jesus, religious images are a way of connecting with Him while on earth.
The more we use all of our senses to experience God, the deeper our experience can become as we draw closer to Him.
Worshipping with our entire being and all of our senses, is a wonderful thing.
Visio Divina can be a powerful way to draw closer to Jesus, get in touch with your creativity and find more healing, peace and contentment in your life.
It’s Ordinary Time. If you are Catholic, you know what that means. The Christmas season is officially over, (sigh of relief!) but don’t get too excited, it’s almost Lent. “Always something” as we like to say. And so it is in the Church, and in life.
As I get older, I appreciate the ordinary much more. I even prefer it. Just an ordinary day, what is more blessed than that? A day where nothing extraordinarily good, or bad, happens. I’ll take it!
Years ago, someone told me to be thankful for an ordinary day because she had just gotten word that a friend’s child was helicoptered to the hospital and sadly it was no ordinary day.
It was a reminder that we must count our blessings each day for we don’t know what tomorrow, or even the next minute, will bring. (This awareness riddles me with constant anxiety but that is another article.)
Ordinary doesn’t have to mean something negative, however. We often think ordinary is boring, nothing special, even worthless.
But ordinary can mean life is good and as it should be. Often, getting through a regular day has enough adventure of its own!
One statistic states that 60% of our day is composed of routine tasks so we need to make them count. We can notice the sun on our face while we’re outdoors running errands, we can do a random act of kindness for someone, or we can make it a point to be more conscious of the beauty around us.
A few years ago there was a row of beautiful sunflowers in my neighborhood, so I walked over to take some photos. We can find extraordinary moments in each day if we but notice.
Our daily routines give us a rhythm and flow I have only come to appreciate the older I get. When I was young, I thought most old people were in a rut. I was looking to the ones that seemed more what psychologist Abraham Maslow referred to as self-actualized. Now I know that rhythm and flow can give us more peace and security, more contentment.
Routines reduce our stress because we know what to expect. It’s nice not to have to face a crisis or big decision every day. That is the beauty of an ordinary day. Life is easier when we don’t have to think about our every move and we know our toothpaste will be there when we reach for it.
We do God’s will in the midst of ordinary. It is our earthly calling. Many saints of old and monks in monasteries today live simple lives offering their mundane tasks, such as routine cooking and cleaning, up to God. We need to learn to welcome the ordinary and seek God there because most of our moments really are quite ordinary.
If we can’t find the meaning and magic in the mundane, we will miss so much of what life and God has for us.
So don’t curse the boring and the ordinary, it is often a good place to be! Don’t get wrapped up in always looking for something better or greater, because it is in the simple, regular moments of our lives that we can find meaning and God.
So go embrace the ordinary! You will be richer for it.
Since starting to blog, I’m finding out that writing sometimes takes on a life of its own and a direction you hadn’t intended. Things are so crazy in the world right now, immorality running rampant, the lack of truth and so on. Sometimes these things must be addressed.
First, I burst out laughing. This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. After my initial amusement, horror set in. It isn’t funny if this guy really believes this stuff and gets others to believe it too. It’s downright dangerous. I think we need to pray for him, because he seems to have a fever.
There is so much pain and suffering in the world yet he has time to hear the EARTH crying?? It is apparent there are more serious and immediate issues than the climate!
His job is to be a light in the world and help save souls while spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is not a scientist and shouldn’t be spreading the “gospel” of climate change.
What good is “the planet” without the humans who live on it? Who are we “saving the planet” for? Itself? So it can keep crying only next time out of loneliness with no one left to hear it? Or perhaps for a few select elites, after they abolish most of humanity?
“Climate change at this moment is a road to death,” stated the Pope on CBS TV. What?? Sin is the road to death! Maybe he doesn’t realize it because he likes to think of hell as empty.
Unfortunately, there are always natural disasters and we should surely pray for the victims as he suggests, but these occurrences do not constitute a climate crisis!
Because guess what? Climate changes! So what? Why is this news or an emergency? That is the nature of climate. There is no consensus on this idiocy except among those who want to control the earth and make our lives a lot more miserable while they do so.
Also in his monthly video, (September 2024 For the Cry of the Earth)the Pope seems to think only the poor are affected by natural disasters. Plenty of rich people have had their houses demolished by acts of nature, particularly on the West Coast of the United States. Weather does not discriminate.
The Pope is clearly a Marxist (not surprising since he is from South America). He does not appear to like the West or the tall office buildings which stand for capitalism in his mind. Does he realize that capitalism has pulled more people out of poverty than any other system? And don’t even get me started on liberation theology.
Ironically, if you go to the Pope’s video website there is a donation form on the main page. He doesn’t like money eh?
This Pope has even been heretical at times and we need to call it out. Many leaders in the church today are wolves in sheep’s clothing. (Matt. 7:15) He profits from and makes deals with the globalists, China, WEF, WHO anyone who has an evil, controlling agenda for the world.
The Pope spoke of diverse religions on his recent trip to Jakarta stating we have only one god, small “g”. However, all religions don’t worship the same God. Only Christians believe in Jesus and that He is the only way to salvation.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Why is the Pope ashamed of the cross, central to Christianity, even removing it for Muslims so as not to offend them. He should be evangelizing for Christianity and trying to please God, not men. Not worrying about offending people or apologizing for the faith.
He has also had some pretty inappropriate visitors at the Vatican over the years, some even demonic. The Pachamama idols are one example. He also claims people are fundamentally good which is in opposition to the Catholic Church, that we are all sinners after the fall in the Garden of Eden.
A lot of what the Pope says is twisted. I just have to shake my head and have to wonder if he even reads the Bible. Of course many people read the Bible and purposely put their own spin on it. God doesn’t change. (Hebrews 13:8)
DITCH THE HOAXES
In every age there are always hoaxes floating around and people with nefarious agendas. Climate “emergency” is one of them. (Just like the covid “emergency”.) Pleeeez. Emergency has become another word for “let us control you”.
When I was in second grade the nuns told us California would just fall into the ocean one day from all the fault lines. Well, I’m still waiting.
Then there was another Ice Age coming that would freeze us all to death. Or something.
More recently it was “global warming” but since the proponents of that began to look like fools, they changed it to “climate change”. Unless there’s a new false term they have invented. I really don’t care what they call it, it’s all baloney.
HOW TO REALLY SAVE THE PLANET
First, don’t listen to any of this garbage. It’s propaganda.
There are plenty of reasonable, common sense measures to help take care of the earth. The Bible says we are to be stewards of the earth but God didn’t mean make the earth your God or put the earth and animals above humans as many of these climate crazies do. (Genesis 1:28)
Of course we don’t want to dump poison chemicals from factories into lakes and rivers that are part of the human water supply, or kill the fish we need for nutrition. We can throw our garbage where it belongs instead of on sidewalks or in lakes.
But please don’t tell us our gas stoves need to go for the sake of the climate (and that you suddenly care about people with asthma). Give me a break. They want the gas stoves gone because they want to control us in whatever way they can. A person can still cook on a gas stove without electricity and they want to remove as many of our options as possible. For those times of “emergency” you know.
And electric cars….hunks of junk! How can things be implemented before they even realistically work and are affordable, like those useless, ugly, gigantic wind turbines severing heads off birds and littering our landscape.
Seems to me these things really aren’t meant to work. The globalists want to make things so difficult and expensive for the average person so they can’t buy cars, travel, eat well, etc. and will then be at the mercy of the government and their 15 minute cities. Maybe you don’t realize where all this is going, but there are nefarious people with a long-term plan for your life.
I will decide how I live, thank you very much. Personal choices and freedom are the name of the game and the only thing that works and from which all other things flow forth. Thank God some countries still have Constitutions protecting our freedoms. That’s why the tyrants don’t like them and want them changed, abolished or overridden.
And if you think recycling is a god to be held in high esteem and will save all our lives, watch John Stossel’s excellent video for a dose of reality.
Things have gone way too far and the climate culties want to take over and promote their “religion” at our expense while the Pope seems to have difficulty promoting true Christianity.
I suggest you do your own research and use some common sense. Don’t fall for the climate propaganda. Live your life and take care of yourself and your family and don’t fall for the fear-mongering, it’s only meant to control.
There sure is a lot of insanity in the world today. That’s nothing new. What may be new is the reaction to it. Insanity has now become normal, even virtuous! I never thought I’d see the day.
My favorite poem by Emily Dickinson, circa 1862, perfectly describes this:
Much madness is divinest sense
To a discerning eye;
Much sense the starkest madness.
‘Tis the majority
In this, as all, prevails.
Assent, and you are sane;
Demur,—you’re straightway dangerous,
And handled with a chain.
Today, good is evil and evil is good (Isaiah 5:20). Right is wrong and wrong is right. “Much madness”!
Men are women and women are men. How is this sanity? Or even “science”? It’s not. (Genesis 1:27)
Then there is the insanity of wanting to legalize killing babies up to birth or even AFTER birth!! Is this not murder? Legality is not necessarily morality folks! My body my choice, or is that only for some things? Who gets to decide? “The majority”?
Another type of insanity prevalent today is worrying about “saving the planet” instead of the people on it. But, that is another article.
Or hiding in your house because of germs, virus, disease. Is this not a type of insanity? Certainly it is not virtuous! It is not saving lives! Quite the opposite, it’s destroying lives!! Hiding in your house is neversomething to aspire to! What happened to living life to the fullest? Or courage? Or even just common sense?
Some people still disinfect all their groceries before bringing them into the house. Is this not a type of insanity? Who has time for that? At the very least it is magic thinking (superstition). The notion that if you think or do a particular thing, then that which you fear, won’t happen. It might make you feel better temporarily, but has no bearing on reality.
Remember Howard Hughes the famous billionaire and germophobe? Do you want to live that way?
These types of behaviors in the extreme, when they cripple daily functioning, used to be considered mental illness, but not during covid! The more extreme the better! Sometimes what is actually “insane” is touted as sane, just as Emily Dickinson observed. You need to know the difference
Another form of insanity is allowing your healthy self to be jabbed repeatedly with experimental poison for a disease with an over 99% survival rate for most age groups. Some keep getting jabs even after having had the disease, which typically provides natural immunity. But don’t worry, “the majority” says this is meant to keep you “healthy”!
Inhibiting your very life-giving breath with a mask? This is the most insane insanity! Some do this when ALONE in a car or while riding their bicycle. Health clubs, sports teams and school gym teachers “required” a mask while exercising! Woe to anyone who obeyed that! You are lucky you are still alive.
This is utter insanity, my friend. Even if masks worked, and there is plenty of research to show they don’t, it would still be insanity. Why does someone else get to decide whether you should breathe or not?
God has made us in His image and likeness. (Gen. 1:27) He did not create us to breathe through a mask. Leave the masks for those who choose careers like surgery, dentistry or working with hazardous materials & chemicals.
If you give your breath away to anyone who asks, what more can you give them? Breath is your very LIFE. You’re as good as dead. What’s to stop them from turning you into an AI robot? I am not a Star Trek fan, but I saw the initial Borg episodes! Humans are not meant to assimilate into the collective like the Borg. Sounds too much like governments across the world during covid to me.
God has given us a miraculous thing called the immune system. God has fearfully and wonderfully made you and knew you before you were born! (Ps. 139:13-16) He knows every hair on your head! (Luke 12:7) Every breath we take comes from God alone.
There are many things you can do to optimize your health. Vitamins, sleep, exercise, diet. It’s not a new concept. It just takes motivation. Ditch the fear and you will have more energy for positive things like working on your overall health and sanity. I know, it’s easier said than done, but give it a try and you may just avoid insanity, IF you so desire. But even with our best efforts, one thing is certain, every single one of us will die one day, which negates the “killing grannies” propaganda phrase.
FEAR CONTROLS
Ultimately, all this insanity is meant to confuse and control you and keep you afraid because fear gives the perpetrator power. Abusers, whether they be government leaders, organizations, churches or family members, get what they want by keeping their victims in a state of fear. Don’t fall into their trap!!
Fear also creates wealth. Every business based on fear such as insurance, infertility, vaccines, “big harma”, are huge and extremely profitable industries.
Der Struwwelpeter (The Slovenly Peter) by Dr. Heinrich Hoffman is a very graphic children’s book I had the unfortunateness to own as a child. I think I had the most gigantic print copy available. It was first published in German in 1844. The author was a psychiatrist who wrote and illustrated it as a Christmas gift for his 3-year-old son, never intending for it to be published. Imagine the horror of getting a present like that from your own father!!
I still remember my 3-year-old self staring at the illustrations in horror and fear. Germans used fear to discipline children and teach them to obey, so it’s no wonder Hitler had the success he did. Few talk about this, but it can give us valuable insight into history as well as parenting methods.
The book’s cover features a very unkempt Struwwelpeter with huge hair and exaggeratedly long, sharp fingernails. This is what happens when you don’t have proper hygiene, you become slovenly and look disgusting. No one will want to be near you. You become a disgrace. That is the message.
Each story has a lesson. For instance, if you don’t eat your soup, before long you will be dead. The illustration shows your name and a bowl of that soup you refused to eat sitting atop your grave.
Another classic story in Der Struwwelpeter worth mentioning, is Hans Guck-in-die-Luft (Hans Look-in-the-Air). Hans happens to fall into a body of water and could have drowned because he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. Lucky for him he did get rescued, but even the fish had no mercy and laughed at him.
And yet another story in the volume, depicts a girl playing with matches while her parents are away. As you can imagine she set herself on fire and ended up as a heap of ashes with only her red shoes remaining.
Analysis of the short stories in Der Struwwelpeter point to many disorders which today are labeled anorexia, ADHD, and pyromania, to name a few.
So beware of who or what, you follow, and why. Don’t let yourself be deceived. It can result in dire consequences. (You don’t want to fall into a body of water, or worse, like Hans Guck-in-die-Luft now do you?)
And the same country, Germany, also brings us Grimm’s Fairy Tales with more such fine fear-based reading like Hansel & Gretel. (hint of sarcasm)
SOCIAL CONFORMITY
How many times when you were a child did your parents ask you, “If your friends jump in the lake are you going to do it to?” Meaning, think for yourself, don’t follow the crowd, especially if something is potentially dangerous.
The waiting room beep experiment is an excellent example of social conformity, which was a phenomenon extremely evident during covid. It’s a crystal clear example of a person following the crowd.
What is infinitely more scary than the deadliest virus ever could be, are the people who just follow anything blindly and let fear and propaganda and group think control them for whatever reason. Whether they want to feel accepted or they are genuinely afraid, lazy or perhaps not too bright, it’s definitely easier to be a follower. They allow themselves to be gaslit. And even keep these behaviors going when they are no longer told to do so. (Think people who give in to magic thinking and can’t give up the security face diaper.)
I suggest everyone watch the 1944 Oscar winning movie Gaslight with Ingrid Bergman. It is enlightening. I also invite you to watch 1984 while you’re at it. It’s absolutely chilling.
DISCERNING TRUTH
With so “much madness” across the globe these days, as Emily Dickinson was so keenly aware in the 1800’s, we definitely need a “discerning eye”. Jesus asks, “Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear?” (Mark 8:18)
We need to trust in God. Ask God to help you see. “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Ps. 121:2) His Spirit will guide you, give you discernment, and allow you to see what others do not. He is in charge and will take care of you no matter what.
The people who want to control you want to be your God, don’t let them. Your faith is a hindrance to them and their nefarious agendas. Why do you think churches were closed while liquor stores, casinos and big box stores were open during covid?
Remember to always think for yourself and ignore cutesy propaganda phrases such as: “we’re all in this together”, “it’s for the common good”, “stay home, save lives”. For one thing, no one tells me what I am “in” and we have a precious gift in America called freedom. And what on earth is the common good and who decides? We are not a collective. What’s good for one person is not necessarily good for another. Also, everyone has a right and duty to take care of and provide for their own families the way they see fit, without outside interference. And every job is essential! Staying home doesn’t always put food on the table.
Things that are false often contain an element of truth, so be discerning! “And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” (2 Corinth. 11:14) It takes guts and conviction to seek the truth at all costs and go against the crowd and not jump in the “lake” with everyone else. More of us need to display courage.
The final two lines of Emily Dickinson’s poem, written well before technology, mention what is known in today’s culture, as “being cancelled”. Your opinions are labeled as “misinformation” in order to try to intimidate and silence you. If you have discerned the truth, you are seen as a threat. Dissenting opinions were always frowned upon as Emily Dickinson wrote: “you’re straightaway dangerous and handled with a chain”! Insanity is obviously not anything new.
In conclusion, the words of Emily Dickinson’s brief, but profound poem, always rang true to me, but never more than during the past few years. In these modern times, it is more important than ever to cultivate a “discerning eye”. Pay attention. Don’t close your eyes to the madness around you. Resist it! Do something about it! Use your common sense, knowledge and faith to guide you. Keep your immune system strong so you can fight the battle.
In this world filled with insanity, follow the better path, the path of truth. And most importantly, stay sane out there!
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.”
The way education was handled during the scamdemic (covid for tyranny deniers) was grossly appalling. covid revealed how most societies treat their children and it was not good. Sweden was one exception, displaying some sanity.
America’s children and young adults were denied an education, friendships and a normal life in the name of a “pandemic.” This affected their physical and mental health and will for years to come, but did anyone care? Does anyone care now?
I can’t help but think the people behind the scam wanted to brainwash the young people with this “control” so that they will think it is perfectly normal if a future event were to occur. Young adults hadn’t yet gained enough life experience to realize what a sham it was. Fear works.
Horrifyingly, school age kids were told crazy things like they could kill grandma and grandpa if they got them sick! How is that for scare tactics and life-long psychological trauma?! Lay on the guilt!
How many days do grandparents have left? Often their greatest joy is their grandchildren yet they were told not to see them. Family was barred from senior living facilities. What kind of sick minds promote such a thing in the name of safety, health, or love and compassion? Kudos to all the people who did not obey the garbage and lived their lives not wasting precious time away from their loved ones.
Looking back on the start of the 2020’s, I was very glad I was “old”. For one thing, I had enough life experience to realize this was not deadly, a crisis, an emergency, or any other such nonsense. Definitions of “quarantine,” “herd immunity,” “natural immunity” and even “vaccine” were conveniently and secretly changed. Quarantine was suddenly for healthy people too! Keep your old dictionaries, folks.
Developmental milestones were changed. It is not okay to lower the bar. For example, babies need to see adult faces and mouths and watch cues and emotions in order to acquire language. Masks interfere with this very important part of development. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has seen an uptick in problems since the scamdemic. And they are not the only ones. Taken from the ASHA.org website:
“ASHA members overwhelmingly reported seeing more children with behavioral, social, and language difficulties—as well as more cases of undetected hearing loss—as compared with the numbers before the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Fortunately, years ago I had researched vaccines because of my kid’s health issues and determined that was the root cause. I was pretty well versed and already had my opinion on the matter. So no media propaganda was going to change my mind. Plus, the jab was experimental which many did not know. Now, some people realize it was one big failed experiment, but they still push shots anyway. Big harma needs to make money after all.
I was also armed with a lot of knowledge about fear, faith and psychology. Since my parents were European immigrants who escaped communism, I was more clued-in than a lot of people during the scam.
I would have had a much harder time if my kids had still been younger. What parents of toddlers and school age children had to go through! I would have kept them home from school and public places because I would have refused to mask them. It’s child abuse, plain and simple, and that goes for adults too. Masks are suffocation devices as Peggy Hall rightly calls them. (Here she lists “75 Ways to Say No to the Mask”.)
Two year olds getting thrown off planes for refusing to mask was complete insanity! What do you expect a two year old to do? Do you realize those two year olds were smarter than the adults around them? I felt so sorry for the little ones forced to mask in day care settings.
I have fond memories of when my own kids began Kindergarten. Their happy little faces, excited about learning and making friends. Now a whole generation of children and parents were deprived of this important part of childhood! As a stay-at-home mom we would often linger after school at the playground but during the scamdemic, playgrounds were “closed” and eerily vacant. For Shame!
Picture all those cute little happy faces locked in their houses and not really comprehending why! Do you think that was “normal” or okay??
Why did anyone put up with this? It was sick, abnormal, unethical, tyrannical, anti-Biblical and abusive.
How has the covid scam scarred all these youngsters now? It may take years to find out. And sadly, IT DIDN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN. It will keep the psychiatrists in business, anyway.
I know all too well what it’s like to live life as a scared kid. Scared little kids often turn into scared adults. Having a PTSD, agoraphobic, fearful grandmother who lived in our house and NEVER left, and I mean NEVER, I saw clearly how constantly sitting in your house is a very bad idea.
So why was the government telling people to stay home?? There had to be a nefarious agenda.
What kind of monsters in charge do this to children? To any of us? Hospitals, too, should have known better. People need to breathe for heaven’s sakes! Imagine laying there sick, dying of a heart attack or writhing in pain and forced to wear a mask! I can’t fathom it.
My hairdresser shared with me how her school age son was berated by his teacher because his mask was causing his glasses to fog up so he pulled it down slightly in order to see. What kind of crazy monster teacher would do that much less be watching like a crazy hawk to notice a mask was a quarter inch lower on someone’s face?!! How can he learn if he can’t see!! It’s also a safety issue. Heartbreaking. I would have pulled my kid out of school immediately.
This is child abuse. Teachers were allowed to do it in the name of saving lives and following the narrative of the government and the Teachers Unions. Some teachers, not all of course, thrive on having power over kids.
Teachers Unions are way too powerful, corrupt and only looking out for their own gain. They have nothing to do with the welfare of students, they are solely for the welfare of teachers. Many public schools were closed ridiculously long due to the Unions. The money and power was flowing.
Teachers acted afraid of their students. Nice excuse. It’s a fact schools are germ baths. I used to work at a day care. I loved being with the kids but was sick basically ALL the time. After a few years of that, I quit. I was sick of being sick. If someone chooses to become a teacher, that’s part of the deal. If you don’t like it, find another career path.
Some teachers got bent out of shape because suddenly parents could observe from home what was being taught and did not approve of some of it. Some complained how hard it was to switch to online teaching.
So much learning was lost due to school closures, continuing to add to the dumbing down of American children I experienced when my own kids were in school. I had many conferences and disagreements with principals over this. I can write a book about my public school experiences and just might. Perhaps the global tyrants think they will have an easier time taking control of unhealthy, dumbed down populations.
Jimmy Carter established the Department of Education in 1979. Big mistake. Once again, you can thank the Teachers Unions (NEA) for involvement in that. America, which used to be at the top of the list for education, continues to sink lower and lower. Is this what we want 40 years later?
Missed graduations were another by-product of the scamdemic! Students were wrongly deprived of their celebrations, transitions, and awards. I am extremely thankful none of my kids had graduations during that time. So many families were unable to celebrate hard-earned achievements. How many students were denied this rite of passage and closure? What will the ramifications be? Employers have found that college graduates are lacking in many skills.
What about all the high school valedictorians, of which my kid was one?! If my daughter had been denied that ceremony I would have been livid beyond comprehension and so would she if we hadn’t been able to celebrate that moment of glory for all her hard work! You can never get those moments back.
For the college set, testing was halted. ACT and SAT test results were no longer required, doing away with accountability and standards. Many colleges still have testing suspended or optional in 2024.
My youngest was still in college during the scamdemic. This produced some unexpected and unwanted challenges. I thought for sure colleges would be more sane and continue as normal, but they didn’t. If the government dangles money in front of them (CARES ACT for one) they will comply. I was horrified.
In fact, college students, whose task is to become independent, were one of the most imprisoned groups! This should have been broadcast widely, but wasn’t. A bit suspicious.
Students were literally locked up at many schools with no rights, barely able to get food or go to the bathroom, cameras and security watching their every move and told to snitch on anyone breaking the rules! What does that remind you of? Nazi Germany perhaps? I guess all those field trips my kids took to the Holocaust Museum didn’t help.
Instead of preparing for their careers and interacting with their peers, they were taught Communism through fear and obedience. Energetic, partying, rebellious college students were turned into zombies and obedient government slaves. Shocking.
Some students who did not want to comply, left school for a year or transferred to less tyrannical colleges or to schools where the jab was not required. Some sued. Many more should have.
Read some student horror stories of how they were treated at their universities, here.
Centers, with prison-like conditions, were set up to house students who tested positive for the virus. Food would be delivered outside your door (if you were lucky), and at many schools you were quarantined, alone. Who would know if you were okay or even dead? Completely isolated. Great for mental health! It’s surprising more kids didn’t commit suicide under those conditions. Although we probably wouldn’t have heard about it if they had.
Many colleges basically turned into student prisons. The University of Notre Dame in Indiana, hired private security firms to guard the quarantined students. This was extreme and colleges were getting away with it!
While some students were being held hostage, my child was told to get out, which she was not able to do immediately as they also needed to remove all their things from the dorm before the end of the semester. Being quite a distance from home, she had to find other arrangements for a few weeks until we could fetch her and her things. Utter insanity.
What about students from other countries? Some were not allowed to leave the U.S. Yale wouldn’t even let students go eat in restaurants in the town!! This is tyranny, not American freedom!
Besides quarantine and masking, many colleges instituted policies invasive of health freedom and privacy such as requiring vaccines or having to get tested weekly to remain on campus or enter buildings. I had a student in graduate school during this nonsense. Waste of time and added monumentally to the stress level. What was the benefit of this when college students were in a low risk category to begin with?
Remember, most college students pay dearly for the “privilege” of being there and come out with ridiculous amounts of debt, which is also great for mental health. You don’t just tell them to leave immediately and upend their lives!! They were unable to use the facilities they pay for like the library and gym, much less their extracurricular involvements, music programs, sports and peers. Important Career Fairs were cancelled. Preparing for adulthood and independence was completely halted.
I also had a college graduate who was still living on campus while her boyfriend was finishing grad school. I don’t care WHAT is going on short of the campus buildings being wiped out by a flood, fire, tornado, hurricane or other destructive act of nature. You do not do this! Nothing was so dire as to warrant closure. They were told to leave at once!!! No matter if some students had nowhere to go. My daughter was on the verge of a job opportunity. It was wiped out. For what?
I don’t understand why college kids were so compliant. Were they afraid of dying? Losing their credit hours? Getting expelled? They don’t seem to consider any of these things when a conservative speaker comes to campus. Then they remember how to protest and unfortunately, usually without consequences!
They should have fought the covid restrictions tooth and nail and for their freedoms that were stolen. They were at a rebellious age where they resist authority, so why was it so easy to silence them with fear?
I read the literal lies and propaganda about the scamdemic and the fast-tracked experimental vaccine on college websites. I saw how some kids didn’t agree with the masking and they were shamed and labeled selfish, murderers, grandma-killers (but killing babies with abortion is ok). How had we reached such insanity?
Schools tout no bullying, anti-suicide, concern for mental health, yet they closed down and instead CAUSED THESE VERY ISSUES to proliferate! Did schools help with students’ mental health after restrictions were lifted? Let me know if any have.
In Conclusion
How will our young people who experienced the scamdemic, ever get back what they lost academically, socially and emotionally? They won’t. How will this evil time in history scar them for the rest of their lives? Some kids are more resilient than others.
So much was enforced hastily, arbitrarily, and with little to no thought about the ramifications to the average person who wasn’t making money off this “crisis”. No apologies ever came, and no consequences for the perpetrators, but that still wouldn’t repair the damage. There is talk of federal legislation to require U.S. colleges to compensate students injured by covid vaccines.
All in all, schools should never have been closed. Life should have gone on as normal. If someone was genuinely afraid, they could always choose to stay home like my grandmother, but it has to be each person’s CHOICE. Without the media fear-mongering and tyrannical players in high places, it would have been like any other flu season.
Graduations can’t be re-done, learning has been lost, academic standards and milestones have been lowered, friendships destroyed. These stories need to be told. Never forget! YOU have the power to never let it happen again!
The reaction of the church in America during covid was atrocious. Churches of every denomination thought closing their doors and following the government was more important than following God. All this under the guise of saving lives and false virtue.
I happened to be at mass the day Catholic churches closed down in my area. “They don’t want us here” were the shameful last words I heard a parishioner say as I was leaving.
My heart sank lower than the ground. People are not wanted in church? What has happened in America? Land of the free and home of the brave. This was not my country. Churches don’t close here!! That’s something that happens in other countries. I was dumbfounded.
I immediately recalled the scene in The Sound of Music when Captain von Trapp came back from his honeymoon to find a Nazi flag hanging on his house during the Anschluss, which is when the Nazis took over Austria. (link) He tore it down and ripped it proclaiming, “This is not Austria!” It all felt surreal.
Churches failed their congregations by so willingly shuttering their doors. It was a slap in the face to the precious gift of religious freedom in this country. Our freedoms don’t end during a time of crisis according to the U.S. Constitution. If they did, our founders knew the government would continually come up with crises to maintain control over the people.
The church is even more essential in times of crisis. Yet the government deemed churches and the spiritual health of Americans “non-essential” and “virus spreaders” while big box stores and your friendly neighborhood liquor store were safe? Also, who gets to decide what is essential? That in itself is dangerous.
But the church readily agreed. Why?
FOLLOW THE MONEY
As the saying goes, follow the money. Churches fall under tax-exempt status 501(c)(3). Many churches also have NGO’s (non-governmental organizations). Catholic Charities is one of many examples.
These NGO organizations receive money and the government often hides behind them to promote their not so virtuous agendas. Right now many of these NGO’s are enablers with the government helping flood the country with illegals.
Churches do not want to risk losing their non-profit status if they do not comply with the whims of the government that helps feed their pockets.
Also, under 501(c)(3) donors to churches receive tax exemptions for their donations. Churches do not want to risk angering and losing their donors. On the other hand, some of us would never give money to any church that followed “mandates”.
And don’t forget, all of this went on far too long because churches, hospitals, schools and even morticians were getting extra government money for covid, so why give up this sweet deal? Some people were even getting paid to sit at home! Once the free money started flowing, everyone was on board and hooked on the agenda. And of course, the leftist media continually helped promote the cause and the sheep willingly obeyed.
Churches chose money over morals. Their lack of courage was masked by altruistic claims and disguised as virtue. They rationalized and justified their behaviors under the guise of saving lives. What about saving souls for eternal life? Their master was not Jesus Christ it was Caesar.
The church is supposed to be set apart from the world, but during covid it willingly joined in as a partner with evil and tyranny. Sadly, the message of the Christian churches was basically the same as the message of the government.
For the love of money is the root of all evils
FEED MY SHEEP
The main role of religious leaders is to save souls and spiritually feed their flock. During covid, some took that more seriously than others. Various creative ways were employed by churches to try and achieve this, while for others it seemed like a nice long vacation.
Many churches offered some form of online services but a steady dose of online church does not a community make. (Which by the way, online services are a good way to check out other churches and see what they are preaching.) Unfortunately, many Christians haven’t gone back to in-person church because of the ease of this method.
Other churches moved things outside, which is a somewhat poor solution. Who wants to freeze to death, get soaked or just sit in their car? If you are already meeting outside, why not just go inside? Erecting tents or sitting in a garage or other structure, isn’t any different than being indoors. Where was the common sense?
One of the more unusual ways concocted to feed the sheep was distributing communion bread & wine outdoors in “to go” baggies! I think for Catholics that would be considered sacrilege since communion is the actual body and blood of Christ.
Once open, many churches set limits on attendance and had sign up slots. This goes against freedom, privacy and the right to worship. A common limit was 50 worshippers at a time because apparently everyone knows you can only get sick if there are at least 51 people in a huge building. (Unless you are at a big box store, rest assured, no germs there!)
This resulted in many being turned away because not every church added extra services to accommodate everyone. As far as I know, God never turns anyone away so why did the church? Easier for the fearful shepherds perhaps?
Also shocking was how long some churches took to lift their insane “mandates” that they shouldn’t have had in the first place. (Mandates aren’t laws, for those of you who don’t know.) I figured only Catholics would be following rules and I could go hang out with the Protestants who would surely be more sensible. WRONG. To my surprise, the Protestant churches in my area took far longer to open and were far more afraid and compliant. (Perhaps Catholics had more collection money to lose.)
Another thing that was appalling during all of this was that many churches banned singing and wind instruments! There is power in praise! POWER in worship!!! Even the demons know it! To silence praise through music and song is as if to relinquish power to the demons. For shame!
Many Catholic priests conveniently used their vow of obedience to cover for their cowardice, making themselves appear virtuous instead. Evil tyrannical bishops (and yes there are some) used this as a power grab, mimicking many political leaders. What happened to freedom of speech or religion?
Through all of this, I have lost respect for almost every single church leader except for the few who spoke out against the fear and madness. Yet what happened to many of those? They are now “cancelled”. However, they are the real heroes, not the “obedient” ones who spread the gospel of fear and hid from their duties.
THE SACRAMENTS
Catholics have 7 Sacraments and administering them is considered of utmost importance. This is one of the ways you spiritually feed the flock. How can this be done when churches are closed and the priests are suddenly either afraid of people, taking their vow of obedience to a tyrant above them too seriously, or escaping to the woods or other owned properties.
Recently, the Catholic priest at Sunday mass was rambling about the importance of the Sacraments and how Jesus shows His love to us through them. Oh really? I’m supposed to take him seriously? Where were those utterly important Sacraments during covid? Did Jesus not love us then? The church found it more important to obey the government than to obey God.
He further went on to discuss each Sacrament, one of which is marriage. Where was the Sacrament of marriage during covid?? Or anointing of the sick?? Many hospitals discriminated against religion when they banned priests from administering the Eucharist or the sacrament of last rites to the dying. I wonder if any priests had the nerve to fight this? Baptism was also put on hold. Total disgrace.
My heart goes out to anyone and their family who had to die alone or without the Sacraments. What cruelty in the name of “saving lives”! These souls deserve a special place in the afterlife.
PROPAGANDA
During the covid scam, propaganda was everywhere. Phrases like the common good sound virtuous on the surface but reek of Marxism. Whoever is promoting this usually has a bigger agenda, meaning for their good, not yours.
Never give up your individual rights and freedoms for any reason. Once lost, they are difficult to regain. Without freedom, you won’t have much of anything else. The greater good is Jesus. Most churches forgot that.
“Two weeks to stop the spread”. Did anyone really think it was only going to be two weeks? (More like over two YEARS!!) A virus isn’t going to know it needs to be finished after a randomly chosen two week period, and in every part of the country at the same time! This is common sense. You don’t need so-called unelected medical “professionals” or the government to tell you this. It was just a way to scare people into compliance and very unfortunately, it worked. People’s compliance was far more scary than the virus.
“Stay home, save lives” was another lie from hell heard frequently. Since when is it desirable to shirk most of your duties and hide inside your house?? This used to be considered mental illness. How is this suddenly healthy and the right thing to do? It’s not.
Isolating people from their support systems like family, friends, work, school and church is inhumane and many should be held accountable for this horrific evil.
Convincing people to stay away from each other is a good way to destroy, rather than save lives however, which was apparently the goal.
Mental health, preventative health care, health maintenance and diagnosis, all fell by the wayside or were restricted. How many lives were lost and how much more harm was done in the name of safety and “saving lives” for one particular virus when there are so many other diseases in the world? We don’t shut down the universe because people are sick.
Many lives have also been ruined or lost because of poor handling of the virus by the medical community, banning effective medications and treatments. How did the medical profession fall for this injustice? It will take years to recover, if ever.
None of this had to happen.
In order for those in power to pull off this great scamdemic successfully, people had to be isolated and made afraid. If you allow people to mingle freely, they will talk. And they just might decide it’s all nonsense. And then they just may band together to do something about it, which the government didn’t want. The internet tried to cancel opposing viewpoints and people who spoke the truth were deemed misinformation spreaders. Fear and compliance were the name of the game.
Here is a link to Biderman’s Chart of Coercion showing how lockdowns compare to Biderman’s chart used for war prisoners. Very telling.
The 10 Stages of Genocide is also applicable regarding propaganda and what is going on in the world today and something everyone should be aware of.
Life always involves risk. It is up to each individual how much risk they are willing to take, according to their own circumstances. People will always become sick or die. This is nothing new. It’s the circle of life. This doesn’t mean we all hide in our homes and suspend life because of a so-called crisis, emergency or disease.
THE CHURCH AND PROPAGANDA
The church was just as cowardly in the face of evil as the rest of the world, readily falling for the propaganda and uniting themselves with the tyrants who fed their pockets or issued threats. They should have concerned themselves with the fear of God, not man.
Churches should not be promoting vaccines or nefarious government agendas. Each individual has their own health needs and, supposedly, medical privacy. There is no one size fits all. But this was of course in opposition to the government agenda of preaching as much fear as possible in order to control the masses. This was never about public health. It was about control.
Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.
Eric Metaxas wrote an excellent book, which is now a film, entitled, Letter to the American Church. It shows how the church was cowardly and complicit with evil in Nazi Germany, eerily similar to what we saw in America during covid. There is a scene (link) where people inside a church ignored the trains passing by filled with Jews being taken to the concentration camps. Their solution? Sing louder and ignore the situation instead of taking action to help. Germany knew propaganda well. We need to take a lesson from them or history will repeat itself.
In a free country, churches should never be shut down for any reason unless blown to bits by an act of nature or violence, which is the rare occurrence. In many places going to church suddenly was deemed a “crime” even if it wasn’t an actual crime by law. Churchgoers were sometimes arrested for exercising their rights.
We must never let this happen again.
SO WHY CHURCH?
The aim of Christianity is to save souls. How many souls are now lost that could have been reached?
Churches, supposedly composed of Christians, are supposed to be:
A light in the darkness.
A stronghold in times of trouble.
A place of refuge.
A place of joy and peace.
A place of truth, faith and courage.
A place of community and belonging.
Not a place of fear and closed doors. But unfortunately, during the covid scam, the lights went out in the church. If anyone should be able to identify evil, it should be the church! But the church failed miserably. Do they even realize it? I’m afraid the answer, in most cases, is no.
Years ago in Catholic grade school, we were required to view many movies about missionaries risking their lives to help lepers in foreign countries. This was looked upon as virtuous. This is what Christians do. They go out into the most desperate, needy places without fearing for their own lives. Where were most of the church leaders during covid?
One of the great saints, Mother Teresa, ministered to people as Jesus would, just as they were, where they were. She wasn’t covered in PPE fearing for her own life. The poor needed to see the love in her face. Unmasked. This is true Christianity, not preaching fear and feeding people lies that staying in their house is virtuous. What would have happened if all the nurses and doctors did that?
The church should be saving souls and spiritually feeding their flock, no matter the cost, no matter what is going on in the rest of the world.
The scamdemic would have been the perfect opportunity for churches to remain open and preach faith over fear! The church should stand out in the darkness, not become part of it. Instead, they often preached fear by their words and actions, which was no different than what the rest of the world was peddling.
GOING FORWARD
So what happens now? Are any churches admitting they shouldn’t have closed, shouldn’t have tracked people, shouldn’t have guilted them into compliance, shouldn’t have interfered in their personal health care?
Will churches ever realize the error of their ways? Will the faithful ever get an apology? Will believers be provided with a way to work through their anger over church closures and propaganda? Will anyone promise it will never happen again? Will anyone be held accountable?
How will healing now take place for all the lives destroyed by mandates, isolation and fear? Mental health issues have skyrocketed along with suicides, abuse, and addictions. Is the church doing anything to help these people now, since they contributed to a worsening of the problem?
Is pleading ignorance or virtue a good excuse? Or justifying their actions under the guise of saving lives or financial gain? It is not possible to know how many lives were “saved” but we can certainly see how many lives have been lost or destroyed.
The church in many cases was like the priest in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37) The people were just left lying there in the road so to speak, during covid while the leaders looked the other way.
IN CONCLUSION
In the end, it clearly shows the “church” is comprised of everyday people like you and me. Not a building, not an institution, not a denomination, not the leaders, but regular people who follow Christ.
The Catholic church teaches that through baptism, we are all part of the priesthood, not just those ordained as priests. Therefore we have the power to go out into the world and feed the sheep in whatever way we can, just as Jesus asked Peter to do. (John 21:15-17)
Going forward, the faithful must take matters into their own hands. Gather in homes, create our own prayer meetings, Bible studies and communities, doing whatever it takes to feed each other and our own spiritual hunger. We are the ones that must be courageous and support each other most especially during times of crisis.
Covid has taught us not to rely on our leaders. They are imperfect as we all are. We need to always put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and not in humans, governments or even so-called “science”. We can’t expect these things to save us, only Christ can do that.
Our enemies will not rest, so we must be vigilant.
We must be the bold examples that the world needs in our everyday lives, during times of crisis or not. We must promote truth not propaganda. That is the loving and Christian thing to do.
We must never forget.
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Today I had unwanted visitors named Fear and Anxiety.
I lament that if I genuinely believed that God is taking care of me, then why do I fear? Why do constant what-if scenarios play out like a horror film in my mind? (Reminder: Live in the present.)
It can be a continuous battle to trust God. That’s why we are to put on the armor of God each day. (Ephesians 6:10-18)
June 3 is the feast of St. Charles Lwanga and the Companion Ugandan Martyrs who were burned to death in 1885-1887 for their faith because they would not obey the king’s orders.
Most of us will not have to endure being burned to death or die for our faith like the Ugandans, but what “fires” of life do we endure?
The priest at church, when preaching about the martyrs, listed a few common “fires” people deal with and lastly mentioned, “the fire of fear”. Whoa, it was like he was speaking right to me. How many of us burn with the fire of fear, or any other “fire” in our lives, all too long and all too often?
I later experienced a startling image. The devil laughing smugly. Yup, he was ecstatic because he succeeded in getting me to worry. It definitely stole my peace and any iota of joy I might have had. Exactly what he wants.
It was as if my spiritual eyes were opened more profoundly. It was extremely unsettling to see the devil satisfied, smug and laughing at a follower of Christ, rather than seeing the loving face of Jesus, pleased that I was trusting and resisting no matter what fire I was enduring! Talk about scary!
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:7-8)
Maybe sometimes we forget the submit to God part.
It’s ok to be afraid, it’s how we handle it that counts. We need to resist the devil and he will flee no matter what he is throwing at us. To not partake in the fear and his temptations so that instead, we can see the face of Jesus looking at us with love and approval.
Like St. Charles Lwanga and the over 20 martyrs who were loyal to their faith until the end, we can learn from and be inspired by the people who have gone before us. Maybe this feast happened on just the right day to awaken me. Little did the martyrs know, their faith would positively affect people many generations later!
What fires are burning in your life right now that you can decide to extinguish today? Let’s go and put the devil to shame with faith and trust in God as our fire hose. No fire rages so great that God cannot put it out.
Binding Prayer by Father Chad Ripperger, Priest and Exorcist:
Spirit of (fear, anxiety, illness (name it), depression etc.) I bind you in the Name of Jesus, by the power of the most Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Michael the Archangel, the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul and all of the saints, and I command you to leave (your name) and go to the foot of the Holy Cross to receive your sentence, in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I wasn’t going to “do” Lent, but am finding Lent is going to “do” me.
I keep getting images of Jesus and His suffering.
I ponder if I really am living like all the comforting (and challenging) little Bible verses we make pictures of to display on our pages.
Particularly this one, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)
It makes me think, “oh no, more suffering is on the way”, or that maybe I should deliberately inflict some kind of suffering upon myself to become more holy as the saints and some Catholics like to do. But then I realize that each day, even when it’s not Lent, we all have crosses to bear.
Some days our crosses are heavier than others, but they are there. Life is full of challenges. We don’t need to purposely add to them because trouble is always lurking somewhere. From bad news, relationship issues or everyday life stuff like the fridge going on the blink or unexpected car repairs. “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)
And actually, we often create our own unnecessary crosses when we worry, don’t forgive someone, do something we shouldn’t, or cling too tightly to this world.
I feel prompted to try to give up worrying for Lent. I never give up stuff for Lent. Only once in high school when I was getting a daily candy bar out of the vending machine. I stopped for Lent just to prove to myself I could refrain (and to save money).
But since this time Lent is “doing me” giving up worrying, one of my crosses, is on the agenda. Egads. Do you know how impossible that is for me? But with God all things are possible.
Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)
Just today I had PLENTY of chances not to worry, but I worried. The flesh is weak, what is needed is trust. Trust in our Savior.
When I was a young person going to prayer meetings, I will never forget a story someone told the group. They said we all have our crosses in life to bear and oh how we wish we didn’t have them and we plead with Jesus to take them from us. (Just as Jesus prayed in the Garden: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”) Luke 22:42
As the story continues…..Jesus took them to the “Used Cross Lot” and you could look around and trade your cross in for a different one. Turns out, after looking over all the various crosses, the person decided they would keep the cross they had.
Our crosses often don’t look so bad when we see what others have to bear. Plus, not only that, our crosses are designed specifically for us, teaching us the lessons God needs us to learn and for our unique journey, growth and life purpose. Someone else’s cross just would not do.
But the good news is, Jesus is there alongside us to help us carry our crosses. He Himself has been there. And the best news of all is, He rose from the dead. He has overcome the cross. There will be a resurrection. For you and for me, and for all who believe.
Now go pick up your cross and carry it faithfully, for that is what the Father wills until we reach our heavenly home.
There is a new TV ad promoting a cereal that has been in social media lately as one of the worst for containing excessive levels of glyphosate. So naturally, it is now being promoted as healthy complete with American Heart Association endorsement.
Liars, I say.
Drug ads plaster the TV all day long glorifying the latest medications with smiling faces singing, dancing and vacationing.
For one thing, why would someone be happy to be sick? Much less take lifelong drugs that have side effects and are costly? Besides that, it can cause people to think drugs make you happy and therefore create more addictions.
After hearing how all these drugs can cause “death, heart attack and stroke”, why would anyone risk taking them? (But, that doesn’t scare people, only a cold did in 2020.)
Liars, I say.
Vax scams? Safe and effective, NOT. No autism, allergies, myocarditis, autoimmune issues here. Again, the picture is glorified and exaggerated. (Have you ever read the ingredients in vaccines? They contain many things you probably would not want to inject into your body such as mercury, formaldehyde and aborted fetal tissue. Not to mention stuff that can change your DNA.)
This is supposed to keep you “healthy”?
Liars, I say.
We’ve all been targeted by computer phishing scams trying to get you to click on a link so your computer can be overtaken by some nefarious hacker. Or, you receive a text to your phone saying you haven’t paid your tolls, when they are auto-paid or you don’t even drive on the toll road. We need to protect ourselves from such fraudulent behavior.
Liars, I say.
People that want to sell you things like insurance, cars, homes, frequently lie or at least withhold a lot of important information.
Governments and politicians lie. Global leaders lie. Most of these lies are to benefit the liars, not you.
One of the biggest lies ever perpetrated on humanity was the covid scam.
Are you aware of the Nazi Germany tactic that if you repeat a lie long enough, the people will believe it? Modern politicians, the news media and others still use this effective tactic today.
People twist and change words and definitions to deceive, cover up and promote falsehoods.
People who want to get ahead, or stay out of trouble, often lie. Or they lie about others for their own gain or power.
“The essence of lying is in deception, not in words; a lie may be told by silence, by equivocation, by the accent on a syllable, by a glance of the eyes, attaching a peculiar significance to a word, and in countless other ways.” —St. Augustine
Withholding information is a form of lying I detest the most! There are times too numerous to count where I would have made a different decision if I had had all the information. In my experience, the public school system is expert in this type of deception.
Heck, even churches lie by proclaiming half-truths.
Did you know Satan is the father of lies?
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
And do you know what happens to liars? Liars will be thrown into the lake of fire.
So with all this lying and deceit going around, where can truth be found?
Truth can only be found in Jesus Christ.
Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
Only Jesus can set you free from the bondage of the lies and liars that want to enslave you. Don’t listen to them! Read the Bible instead, and follow Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6)
Years ago I came across a banner that disturbed me. It read, “All Are One.” This immediately made me think, who is all? One in what? Offhand it sounds nice, but if you think about it, it’s really not true, nor should it be.
There seems to be a fallacy in our culture that we should all be one, basking in some utopian “unity”.
The word “divisive” is thrown around like rice at a wedding. It is typically meant to intimidate and silence.
True oneness can only be found in Christ.
Jesus proclaimed the only way to heaven is through Him.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name in heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Unfortunately, this means not everyone will be saved. All are welcome to follow Jesus, but not all will, just as some shunned Him while He walked this earth.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.” (Matt. 10:34-36)
Truth divides. This became even clearer to me during the covid scam.
These days evil itself is transformed into “virtue”. This is a deception from the pit of hell.
Good and evil cannot mix. You can’t have a little bit of evil in something “good” because then it can no longer be purely good.
The devil comes as an angel of light. There is often just a fraction of truth in something evil or false. Just enough to deceive the undiscriminating mind.
I threw up my hands in frustration one day, and asked God why so many people believe lies. And immediately I heard, “Because they don’t know my Word.”
When you don’t know God’s word you can be convinced of anything, looking to the latest flashy trend, or follow things that sound nice on the surface, such as the claim “we are one”.
Many false prophets will arise and deceive many; and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold. (Matt. 24:11-12)
When Jesus was tempted in the desert by Satan, (who also can quote scripture by the way), He would always respond with, “It is written….” Jesus knew the Word because He was the Word, and His word defeats the devil. (Matt. 4:1-11)
If you look to your local church for truth, don’t necessarily expect to find it. Churches and theologians don’t even agree on what the Bible says. Churches are also led by fallible humans. There will be error.
This is where discernment comes in: “Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God.” (1 John 4:1-3)
Many churches fail to teach truth. Their leaders are often more concerned about what the culture is promoting or whether someone will become offended. Speaking the truth is not always good for finances or growing the membership either.
A host of churches are preaching a false gospel or at least not the entire gospel, whether on purpose or in error.
A gospel in which we make God into who WE want Him to be rather than who God actually is. The God of the Bible never changes and never will change.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
Yet since we are all sinners, we should have some discomfort in church, at least some of the time, if we are trying to grow in faith and become like Christ.
TRANSHUMANISM
The Borg on Star Trek: The Next Generation is a great example of what is wrong with the concept of “oneness”. To my dismay, I have seen some of those episodes by default because my husband and daughter are Star Trek fans.
The Borg is a collective, a futuristic species that has assimilated various other species into one.
We are not meant to become part of a collective, as the globalists desire. We need to stay away from any organization or persons that want to control the entire world. Communism and Marxism also do not respect individual rights and freedom.
We are not all one. We are separate, free beings with a mind and a soul made by God. We are all different and unique, made in the image and likeness of God, our Creator.
There is some very dangerous thinking and technology, such as AI, in the world today and unfortunately it is becoming more of a reality and not just a sci-fi TV episode.
Whatever can be used for good, can also be used for evil.
Transhumanism is one of these dangerous philosophies and brings up a myriad of ethical questions and ramifications which must be addressed.
CONCLUSION
Unity won’t happen on this earth as long as there is sin and the devil reigns as the prince of this world.
We can, and should, strive for peace and unity to live harmoniously. No one wants strife, but there is a difference between treating your neighbor as yourself and tolerating evil. This means there are times when it is necessary to call evil out and not let it proliferate. And that is the loving thing to do.
We don’t have to be politically correct. We need to speak the truth, and not to some fantasy utopia.
In the end, God is always the ruler of all and we can look forward to complete unity and oneness in Him when we get to our heavenly home. Make sure you choose the right path.
“Let the children come to me and do not hinder them. It is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” Mark 10:14
I was reading that Bible passage one day as my children were noisily playing in the room below. I thought about how the adults wanted to hinder the children from going to Jesus; how sad. How many times do we hinder ourselves from going to Him? We are too busy, too afraid, too embarrassed or too proud to need Him, whatever the reason.
But the kingdom of God belongs to children because they are naturally receptive, loving, unburdened by the world’s cares. When children play, they enter all kinds of worlds we adults no longer know. We get stuck in our busyness, stress, affluenza, and the kingdom isn’t about any of that. Interestingly, the next section in the Bible is about the danger of riches!
I mentioned this Bible story to my children and my youngest blurted out, “Me want mama!” Precisely! To desire Jesus as much as a child desires mama, because to a child mama is life, just as Jesus is life to all of us.
These are words of hope for the New Year. There is so much evil in the world, but God’s Word promises the darkness shall not prevail and His church will stand to the very end.
No matter what crosses you have to bear, God is with us, Emmanuel. Things will work out for our good and His glory for those who love Him. Trust in Him. Walk forward boldly.
At times this may mean closing doors to the past–forgetting what lies behind and pressing forward to what lies ahead. (Philippians 3:13-14)
We all have had doors close on us, sometimes ones we badly wanted open, but God has His perfect plan. He knows what is best for us.
Some doors may even be marked “No Entry” but God never closes the door on us if we come to Him. We are always welcome.
Yet other times open doors greet us with opportunities, blessings and new beginnings.
Mary and Joseph had a door opened for them at the inn after many doors were slammed shut in their face. It only took one innkeeper who opened his door leading to the use of a manger for the birth of Jesus. We never know where the doors will lead!
The word “door” or concept of door, is found over 400 times in the Bible. We can view this new year as an open door to the future.
We enter and exit through doors every day–to our home, school, work, church or coffee shop. We may decide whether or not to enter a particular door at any given time.
Remember game shows like “Let’s Make a Deal” or “The Price is Right”? Contestants had to choose a door for their prize, not knowing what was behind it, hoping to make the best choice. Some doors had a great prize behind them like a car or trip but others did not. Life is like that. We don’t always know where the path will lead but we have to keep moving forward.
Doors require choices, do we go in or out? One door may be as good as another but would lead down a completely different path. We have to discern which door to pass through.
God can even close a door for our protection. God shut the door behind Noah on the ark to save his family and the animals to start the world anew. (Genesis 7:16)
When God has a plan, no one can stop it. It is under His timing and control.
Another time, God protected His people from the Egyptians through the use of blood on doorposts for Passover. “For when the Lord goes by to strike down the Egyptians, seeing the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door and not let the destroyer come into your houses to strike you down.” (Exodus 12:23)
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
For Catholics, 2025 is proclaimed a Jubilee Year where the Pope opens the Holy Doors symbolizing salvation through Jesus Christ. No one can obtain eternal life except through Him. “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” (John 10:9)
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
So let us follow Jesus. There is a well-known picture of Him standing at a door and knocking. There is no doorknob on the outside. It is we who must let Him in from the inside. It’s all about relationship. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)
So this year and every year, let us invite Jesus into every situation in our lives and look forward to the new doors He will open for us. Going from darkness to light, fear into faith, until we pass through the final door where we exit from this life into life eternal.
I take heart in the above verse because the world is anything but peaceful. True peace can only come from Christ, but since we live in the world, this can be quite the challenge.
“Peace not as the world gives” has been buzzing around in my head frequently these days. I wasn’t really looking for an Advent theme, it just happened. I generally prefer my spiritual life to be without imposed “seasons”.
Holidays and “seasons” ruin the ebb and flow of my ordinary, everyday life which I appreciate much more and is in many ways, less stressful. I can always find meaning in the mundane.
My anxieties have flared up, a stressful election (with thankfully the right outcome) plus years of scamdemic nonsense has all taken its toll on me. I have been yearning for peace for a very long while. It’s about time.
Our worldly cares distract us from Christ and His peace. The world’s peace is ephemeral – momentary, passing.
There are, however, those rare times when I experience an other-worldly sense of peace, a peace that I know is only from God. I can’t make it happen. It is typically brief. It will often occur in the midst of some kind of chaos, madness or important turning point, crisis or decision. This is the peace that passes understanding that the Bible speaks of.
It is impossible to describe but it is a deep sense of knowing that things will be alright no matter what happens.
It is a gift from God and out of our control, but perhaps we can invite more peace like this into our daily lives by perpetuating a calmer and more open state of being.
“Prince of Peace” also hit me like a ton of bricks lately and keeps coming to mind, so I think God is trying to tell me something. The words ‘Prince of Peace’ never impressed me in this way before.
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on his shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
Jesus is truly the Prince of Peace.
So here I am, trying to figure out how to obtain and maintain peace as I go about my days. I’m sure many of you struggle with this also. Highly annoyed with all the little problems that crop up each day and the extra work and expectations holidays bring, we think, peace, where are you?
Then I have to remember there is always a part of us that will never find complete rest in this world. As St. Augustine has famously said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee”. There will always be a part of us reaching in toward the next life.
So as Advent comes to a close, let us carry the true Prince of Peace with us into the New Year and seek the kind of peace that is not as the world gives.
Trigger warning. I will mention Trump in this article.
Politics is not my usual topic, but being a United States citizen, it does affect all of our lives and we need to be aware and on guard to protect our freedoms and this great Nation.
We just dodged a bullet. America was at a crossroads. We are in a spiritual battle between good and evil. A battle we can’t afford to lose. Thankfully, God had mercy on America once again.
As a child of LEGAL immigrants, (key word: legal), my parents were grateful and proud to have fled Germany after World War II to come to the United States of America.
I have heard about how wonderful this country is my entire life. As an American-born child, I rolled my eyes. But during the scamdemic when our freedoms were gone, (willingly in most cases–insane!), I am no longer rolling my eyes. Our freedom of speech and to worship were threatened like never before. I write some more about this here.
Life in America has changed drastically over the last 15 years and not in a good way.
I don’t intend for this to be only about Donald Trump, he is just a man, but when someone displays an extraordinary amount of courage in the face of evil, I kind of take notice and find it inspiring.
Trump is imperfect, as we all are, and God is in charge, but God does use people to accomplish His will, and often the most unlikely people at that. The Bible is full of examples. God needs more than perfection, He needs willingness and many other traits depending on the task.
God is clearly using Donald Trump. Like him or not, this man is anointed to serve our great country. I did not like how he handled the scamdemic and locked down the country, or that he allowed the fast-track of an experimental deadly vax, but other than that, he did many good things. And the economy was great. Everybody wins with that.
Plus he never took a salary! The media ignores that, while so many other “public servants” go to Washington to become rich, typically through nefarious means.
But the thing I find amazing is Trump’s courage and perseverance against all odds and the evil doers who continually try to bring him down. Even surviving two attempts on his life and a raid on his home. You can’t deny his unusual amount of courage. Nothing stops this man. This is remarkable. Most people would have given up long ago.
It’s like superhuman fearlessness. There has to be a greater power behind him. That’s why it appears God has His hand on this man for a purpose. And likewise, our country.
If all of us had even one iota of the courage this man has, imagine what this country could be like!
Trump’s energy level is mind-boggling, especially at his age. His amazing family also says something about the man. His stand against globalism and open borders and his love for our Constitutional Republic are vital. Our Constitution is a precious gift we must not let slip away.
My point to all this is how courageous are we? Do we choose courage in the face of evil? As proven during the scamdemic, most people do not. The easy road of least resistance was taken by far too many. I was horrified more people did not stand up for their freedoms! Very sad and scary.
The question becomes, how much are we willing to risk in the face of evil. Everything?
Our country and the world is in the mess it’s in because few have the courage to stand up and fight evil and take whatever consequences that may bring. How many will fight until death for freedom? Talk to some Veterans about that.
I am now humbled and more hopeful about our future and that of our children, but we cannot become complacent! There is still much work to be done and much more after the next four years. We cannot let our guard down and must continue to fight for godly principles.
We can never forget the mercy that God has bestowed on this great Nation and need to thank Him every day and do whatever is in our power to keep fighting the battle. We must be involved as we are able, so we can leave a better, safer, stronger America for future generations.
God Bless America, Land of the Free and Home of the Brave!
For most of my life I’ve had dental woes. Lately, things are getting worse, partly due to aging I suppose. This is seriously stressing me out.
I don’t like things in my mouth that are breaking, loose, falling out. Not to mention, wasting huge amounts of time and money on dental visits and long-suffering until my appointments.
This is preventing me from eating some of the things I enjoy, so it’s frustrating and challenging. I am not new to issues with food, more recently having raised three kids with severe food allergies.
As I continue to hunger for the foods I enjoy, I think it is God’s way of turning my attention to spiritual food and hunger for Him. Nothing on this earth will ultimately satisfy. The human heart longs for more than what earthly food can give.
Thus, I have been pondering spiritual food, specifically Communion, the body and blood of Christ, which fills and sustains us just like the physical food we eat.
Spiritual food is the only truly life-giving food that can save us for all eternity and give us strength for our days on earth.
While I (patiently?!) wait and hope for my teeth to be repaired, Jesus “repairs” us through our communion with Him, the most intimate way we can connect with Christ this side of heaven.
The Lord’s Prayer invokes “give us today our daily bread” which many times we forget means spiritual bread as well. (Matt. 6:11)
Food is necessary to keep us alive but we must eat proper, healthy food. A person with food allergies who eats the wrong food, has the potential for death. So too we need the right kind of spiritual food (Communion, God’s word, prayer, etc.) to avoid spiritual death.
God is known for feeding His people throughout the Bible, from manna in the desert in the Old Testament to the loaves and fishes in the New.
As a good earthly father feeds his children, why wouldn’t our Heavenly Father do the same for us, and even more? Especially since He is no longer physically walking with us in human form.
“Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him?” (Matt. 7:10-11)
I recently learned of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa of Portugal who lived on the Eucharist alone for 13 years after being paralyzed and later bedridden, from jumping out a window to escape an attacker. This has been medically proven.
On July 30, 1935 Jesus appeared to her, saying: “I have put you in the world so that you may draw life only from Me, to bear witness to the world how precious the Eucharist is…..The strongest chain that keeps souls in bondage to Satan is the flesh and sins of impurity.” (The Eucharistic Miracles of the World, pg. 294)
Our flesh must be crucified with Christ so we don’t give in to the devil.
This holy woman’s story is a testament to the Eucharist and spiritual food being of utmost importance. Of course I am not suggesting anyone try to live on communion bread alone, but after hearing this story and many others throughout the ages, how can we not believe or partake as often as we can in this great gift of Jesus Himself?
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (John 53-56)
I admit it has occurred to me, that maybe I am crazy to think a piece of Styrofoam bread is Jesus, but people for 2,000 years before me have believed it and still do today. This is where faith comes in.
Plus, I have had experiences that were otherwise unexplainable pointing to this reality. You can read about one I shared here.
Things are not always as they appear to the naked eye and our feeble human minds are not able to comprehend all things. I would rather believe and get strength from a piece of spiritual bread even if I were to be wrong, than follow the sinful, evil, false teachings of the world and get nowhere, with no peace, no spiritual food, no eternal life.
When the focus is on Jesus you can’t go wrong. He will take you where you need to go.
We must remember we are not worshipping a piece of bread, we are communing with Jesus. There is the popular saying “you are what you eat.” In receiving Jesus in this way, we are drawing closer to Him who loves us and made us, and hopefully becoming more like Him in the process.
We are that which we consume, whether it be positive or negative, so we need to be careful about what we “eat” in every sense and choose our diet wisely.
As we become strengthened through Christ’s body and blood along with His word, we are then prepared to go forth and feed others so that they too may be spiritually fed and gain eternal life.
Some claim it’s a myth we only use ten percent of our potential. I don’t know how this can be accurately measured, but how much of your potential do you think you use? My guess is most of us only tap into a small part of our potential at any given time even though our brains contain 100 billion neurons!
The days blend into weeks, months and then years and perhaps we feel like we accomplish so little besides trying to get through another day. Is that enough? Quite frankly, some days it is.
There is an I Love Lucy episode that hits the nail on the head as far as potential goes. Lucy has set out to bake bread and decides to use 13 cakes of yeast rather than the three the recipe called for, assuming more has got to be better. As we can see in the clip, that isn’t always the case and not what should be motivating us.
Tiny granules of yeast have the potential to make things rise but things didn’t turn out too well for Lucy as we see in the exaggerated size of her loaf of bread.
In birthing our potential, we have to grow from within, like the yeast. This is not always fun, for the oven is hot, but if we wait the required amount of time, we will reap the results. We must keep the end goal in sight, scrumptious perfectly golden bread.
Jesus teaches about potential first in the Parable of the Mustard Seed and then again in the Parable of the Yeast! (Matt 13:31-33)
With potential also comes responsibility. Humans have the potential to do good or evil. There are two sides to every coin. Either the seed is sown and grows tall and strong, or it withers without the right conditions and care. If the yeast is at exatly the right temperature, it spreads within the bread causing it to properly rise, but if the yeast is put in too high a temperature, it dies and the bread will turn out flat as a pancake. One bad seed can spoil the whole batch.
But maybe achieving our potential isn’t about doing great, amazing things each day and making new discoveries for the world to behold. Maybe the potential in each day is much simpler than that, like going grocery shopping for your family, being kind to a stranger, tending to your home or job responsibilities—wherever you are planted for that day. Most days in life aren’t going to be skyrockets and fireworks exciting.
St. Therese of Lisieux and her Little Way says: “Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love.” and Mother Teresa of Calcutta is known for saying: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” and “It’s not about how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts.” Both these saints were proponents of simplicity in life and fulfilled their potential through their daily tasks.
But as comforting as the words from these two great saints sound, I often feel like it justifies copping out. It’s almost too simple so when I lack motivation, their words can allow me to be satisfied with mediocrity rather than striving to grow or attain a goal. It can be good to have at least a bit of dissatisfaction in life or we won’t aim higher.
So how do we become motivated to reach our potential when it is easier to just cop out or procrastinate since there are always a myriad of distractions and excuses?
WAYS TO STAY MOTIVATED TO REACH YOUR POTENTIAL
First, we need to step out of our comfort zone. Don’t get stuck in a daily rut. Try new things once in a while.
Second, we need to discipline ourselves not to waste too much time on things that rob our time such as technology.
Also, try to turn your fears and weaknesses into your greatest strengths or at least find ways to work around them. If you have a rebellious streak, turn that into something positive and be bold toward a cause you are passionate about.
Find a mentor if appropriate, or analyze what successful people you admire have done.
Learn how to do things you never thought you could do in order to achieve your goals. Consider taking a class to learn new skills.
Create actual concrete goals. The SMART Framework is a popular method used by businesses.
And the most important piece of advice: NEVER GIVE UP!
In the end, it’s the tiny seeds we plant each day that matter, as the saints realized. We don’t always see the growth of our efforts as they are taking place, just as the farmer doesn’t stand over his seeds until they grow into a mature crop. He keeps busy sowing more seed or he won’t reap a harvest.
I suspect most of us never use 100 percent of our potential at any given time in life, but we can keep trying to use our gifts in the small moments of each day. Don’t be satisfied to just survive, but thrive as you inch closer to your goals. And remember to be kind to yourself if you feel defeated, tomorrow is another day.
Do you ever get impatient? We all do. I hate the thought of things taking time and the process of waiting. I know it’s inevitable but we are so used to instant everything from drive-thrus to social media scrolling, the world is at our fingertips. Like the old advertising motto for the yellow pages (remember those?) “Let your fingers do the walking.” Today, that rings truer than ever.
This is probably also why I don’t enjoy gardening (besides the dirt). Waiting is required. You have to wait so long for the stuff to grow and then it doesn’t. Or it gets destroyed by a nearby creature or your son’s baseball, or, in the case of my zucchini, eaten by worms. After all that effort you can end up with nothing or very little. I prefer “gardening lite” which consists of buying a hanging plant and putting it on a hook or planting a few flowers into pots which is strenuous enough.
Exercise is another thing that takes lots of time and perseverance. About the only physical activity I used to enjoy was swimming laps, but an aging body isn’t kind for that anymore. Exercise takes months and years of hard work and patience to build health benefits and muscles, if you ever do. Mostly, I have observed, you just end up with injuries to the overused joints and muscles with questionable or unmeasurable benefit. How worth it is that?
Cooking? Also not a fan. I often burn things while I am multi-tasking. To me, few foods are worth eating that are worth the time to make them. Maybe I need to invest in one of those “instant pots”.
Waiting for my dinosaur computer to load brings out my impatience like nothing else! Slow grocery store lines and deadlocked traffic jams are no treat either. If the power goes out, that is indeed the last straw. Not knowing the length of my long-suffering, is what does me in.
Our impatience gets fueled if we feel that we can’t control the situation, or if things don’t go the way we expect or when we expect. We get impatient with other people. We get impatient if we’re running late. It’s as if we have become slaves to time because we never seem to have enough of it.
Creativity is in order when things don’t go as planned. If we can pause and enter a calmer state, it will allow us to think more clearly about solutions or how to cope with the challenge at hand. This will lead to better decision-making and less unnecessary frustration or anger.
With so many situations that could set us off on any given day, we could change our perspective and focus instead on the things that are worth waiting for. That answer varies for each one of us, especially when it comes to gardening or exercise, yet there are some things in life most of us would still find worth the wait, such as the arrival of a newborn. We can’t speed up those nine months, but we can prepare as we wait with joyful expectancy. (I can assure you, I was not multi-tasking while delivering babies!)
Building relationships, like marriage, takes times but is well worth the effort. It’s not an accident one of the most popular Bible readings at weddings is 1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient love is kind.
Building your business or future nest egg is a good reason to exercise patience and clear thinking.
Don’t let impatience cause you to miss opportunities or just the simple pleasures in each day like stopping to enjoy a flower garden or even the floral area of your favorite grocery store.
However, there are still those times when we don’t have a choice but to be patient because waiting is necessary or can’t be prevented. Dealing with an illness or injury, hunting for a job, or serious problems our children may be facing are things we cannot control. We would like a quick fix, but can’t know how long the situation will last. Sometimes we just have to suffer through adversity as best we can.
It is said patience is a virtue but apparently even pharmaceutical companies have no patience when they release injections or medicines to market well before the time needed to research them properly for safety, as we have recently seen with the plandemic. You can’t speed up time when time is what is needed. The goal of astronomical profits clouds their better judgment.
So, we need to discern whether our impatience is serving a good purpose or not. There are those times when impatience can be a good thing. It can spur us on to finish something that really needs to end, like a bad relationship, a toxic work environment or a nefariously planned “pandemic”.
So what are we to do when impatience rears its ugly head?
9 Tips for Combating Impatience
First, we need to decide if the effort spent is worth the desired outcome in particular situations. Is it worth standing in a long line to buy one thing you don’t really need? Is building a business really what you want to do and worth the amount of sacrifice?
Learn to recognize when you are feeling impatient. Is there another response you could have instead?
Stop multi-tasking. Focus on the present moment.
Stop worrying about the future. Instead, set attainable goals and plan wisely for the future which will give you more confidence that things will be ok and you have done all that you could.
Try to be more organized and allow yourself enough time to prevent being in a hurry.
Have things to do for times when you have to wait. Have music or an audiobook available in the car for traffic jams or long trips. I enjoy word games, which are easy to load onto your phone for days when you have to wait in a doctor’s office or for your kids to get out of school.
Play a little game with yourself to practice patience. Next time you are in line at the store, practice remaining calm and just look at the things and people around you and think about what they may be going through instead of getting annoyed and upset waiting. Strike up a conversation with someone in line.
Accept what you cannot control. Let go of the control you think impatience is giving you. Our feelings won’t change a situation.
Trust in God and His perfect timing and that He cares for you.
When we learn to cultivate more patience in our lives we will reap the fruits of our efforts. We will be calmer, happier, healthier and more successful without our impatience getting the best of us.
We will also be growing in the fruits of the Holy Spirit: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, PATIENCE, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23
Good things are said to come to those who wait. Maybe patience is one muscle worth exercising.
Don’t you hate losing things? I feel like I spend one third of my life looking for things I’ve misplaced around the house. Why is this? I consider myself pretty organized. Sometimes I get the brainy idea to move something to a “better place”. That usually backfires when I can’t remember where the better place is. Alas, we are creatures of habit.
Just for fun I searched “lost items” on the internet. I couldn’t believe how much I found (play on words?!). This is obviously a common problem because there are Youtube videos on how to find your lost objects and Wikipedia instructions with 13 steps complete with photos. There was even a TV series entitled Lost (2004-2010). Who knew?
There are also videos on topics such as the “20 Most Wanted Lost Objects in the World” and even a website lostify.com which is an online lost and found for people or objects. This is going a little too far, perhaps.
Lost objects already result in lost time looking for them. Ironic. It’s double the loss. Do people actually need directions on how to find something? It makes me feel like the Alzheimer’s is coming on and I’ve lost my mind, if I would need to resort to a video on how to find things! All we have to do is LOOK.
Some people turn to Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of lost objects, for help when they can’t find something. As the story goes, Anthony lost an important notebook which was then later returned to him by the monk who had it all along. I must admit, Saint Anthony has often come through for me and a whispered prayer of desperation is a lot quicker than watching a video!
Psychology Today magazine has published articles about how to find your lost stuff and reports we spend a total of two and a half days per year searching for lost items! (Personally, I think it’s more!) Sixty years of life, for example, multiplied by two and a half can equal 150 days of your life spent looking for things!
Although sometimes hunting for lost things can be fun, like children searching for Easter eggs or a good game of Clue, looking for our lost stuff is typically not all fun and games. For some it is even a career if you happen to be a detective, or an archaeologist digging up treasures from the past.
Losing a shopping list or TV remote isn’t as important as losing something valuable like jewelry, money, or a sentimental family heirloom which can’t be replaced.
There can often be serious consequences for losing things. Losing your car keys can make you late for work or an appointment. Losing a Drivers’ License, credit card or Social Security card can be a gain for thieves and a nightmare for you.
Lost wedding ring? Lots of sitcom episodes about that.
Worse yet, is losing something that is alive like a pet or child. Anyone who has ever lost a child at the store knows it’s the longest 5 minutes of your life while you think of every horrific scenario imaginable.
This brings me to the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Matt. 18:12-14). Of course you will go look for that one child (or sheep)! So many times we ramble about life like God’s lost children. How He longs for us to seek and return to Him, just as the father in the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) welcomed his son back home with open arms. The father was always waiting and hoping. Luke 15, verse 32: “…your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
There are times we feel lost in life, like the prodigal son. We don’t know which way to turn. We are uncertain about the future. We need a map or gps so we don’t get lost getting to our destination. In order to not become spiritually lost, the Bible is God’s map for our lives. In His Word we can find everything we need to stay on course.
Mary of Magdala was looking for Jesus after he rose from the dead and was no longer in the tomb, but He was right there with her and she didn’t recognize Him. (John 20:11-18)
Jesus is always right there with us and how often do we fail to see Him or forget He is there? Unlike lost objects, we never have to search far and wide for our Heavenly Father.
Jesus, who is eternal, is the most important thing we should be seeking. More important than any temporary material item we have lost on earth. If we lose our salvation, everything we have lost in our earthly life would pale in comparison.
Let’s not stay spiritually lost. If you haven’t done so, you can give your life to Christ and He will guide you to salvation so you won’t be lost eternally. This is the most important thing you could ever do.
The hymn “Amazing Grace” says it well, “I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind but now I see.” Let us always see Jesus with us, and we will never have to be lost again.
I know I should be thankful I have enough food to eat, but four days after Christmas I was still eating multitudes of mushrooms. I don’t like mushrooms. I barely tolerate them. Yet every Polish food item we bought this year had mushrooms. Mushroom pierogis, mushroom dumplings, mushroom soup. I was ready to pull my hair out!
I walked around grumbling about crumbs and feeling like the Israelites eating manna in the desert. I can totally relate.
Mushrooms, every single day. Although 4 days doesn’t compare to 40 years, I don’t understand why God would get mad at the Israelites for being tired of eating manna. Wouldn’t He have liked some variety once in a while? (Exodus 16:1-36)
Their complaining probably angered Him because He was the provider of all their needs and got them out of Egypt, and yet they were not thankful or appreciative enough. We are all like the Israelites sometimes.
Along with my mushroom “manna”, every sink in my house has been giving out. First it was the kitchen sink spraying water all over the place since before Thanksgiving. It’s like I was taking a shower and simultaneously washing the walls every time I turned it on. At least the walls are clean.
The last straw was when the bathroom sink started the same thing while brushing my teeth!! How much can a person take? (In case you are wondering, I found out the aerator on the bottom of faucets needs to be replaced periodically.) So guess what my husband finally went shopping for? He even ordered an aerator from the kitchen sink manufacturer and it came the very NEXT day!! I had suffered too long.
Even when I tried NOT to eat mushrooms, it didn’t work out so well. I decided to eat some scrambled eggs with leftover Swedish pancakes. A refreshing contrast, I hoped. But alas, I found mysterious gray strands in the syrup on the pancakes I was eating. MOLD?! Whatever it was, I wasn’t going to eat any more of it! Perhaps God was teaching me a lesson for dissing the mushrooms. He did get mad at the Israelites, after all.
All these are very minor annoyances in the grand scheme of life, but every day it seems like there is just one annoying thing after another, pounding on me like a hammer. Like today, I get ready to eat some cereal and I find my unopened container of milk is leaking in the fridge so I had to dump it, clean up and switch my menu. It’s like somebody is trying to tell me something.
Let’s get psychological about this for a moment. Is my dissatisfaction serving some need? Am I enjoying complaining? Could I make the choice to not let life’s annoyances bother me? Perhaps, but I am not one to suffer in silence. There is some value in venting. So I think complaining does have a purpose and can get you what you want if you know where to draw the line or are persistent enough.
Even God broke down and gave the Israelites some meat for a month after all their complaining. Although He made sure He gave them so much meat they couldn’t stand it anymore! Variety is the spice of life I say. (Numbers 11:1-35)
Complaining did serve a purpose in my case. It got my husband fed up enough to buy the doggone aerators. Persistence can pay off. Remember the parable of the persistent widow in the Bible? Her persistence paid off just because the judge became weary of her continuous asking. She didn’t give up until she got what she wanted. I say, “You go, girl!” (Luke 18:1-8)
And then there’s Luke 11:5-8 which is the story of the man who bothers his friend at midnight for some bread. The man and his children are already in bed and he did not want to be disturbed. Jesus says, “I tell you if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.”
As illustrated, persistence can be a good thing. We need it to succeed in life, but how often do we quit before we reach our desired goal or outcome?
Upon reading further in Luke, Jesus shows us we also need persistence in prayer. There have been things I have had to pray for for years before I received an answer. Therefore, persistence can help increase our faith.
Complaining often gets a bad rap, but it can pay off. Businesses, like the kitchen faucet place, have Customer Service departments. The legal system also deals with complaints, and a “no” can turn into a “yes” with the right argument.
Also, some people are better at getting results than others. My son has a knack for complaints resulting in positive outcomes. One time he had reservations at a restaurant and had to wait an extra 20 minutes. He made a formal complaint and was rewarded with a $100 gift card of which I was the happy recipient of a free lunch. There is a time for everything. Sometimes there is even a time for complaining.
It’s a new year. I never do resolutions. To be honest, I don’t think I am at the point where I am serious about giving up my grumbling and complaining either. But, it’s something to think about in case I get inspired to turn over a new leaf. Wish me luck. And next year I am going to make sure we do better holiday meal planning with far less mushrooms!! It will be one less thing to complain about.
And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Luke 1:43
Those are the words Elizabeth cried out in the Holy Spirit when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, came to visit her.
Elizabeth’s son, John the Baptist, was to prepare the way for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who am I that my Lord should come to me is a phrase that has been in my head quite a lot lately. Not the exact phrase in the Bible, but similar.
Why would Jesus come to me, a nobody? A fallen human like everyone else dressed in the filthy rags of sin. But when I think about it, my Lord continuously comes to me in so many ways I don’t deserve.
He comes as:
A babe in a manger
A King
The Savior of the world
As my light in the darkness
As my strength
my hope
my help in affliction
As my healer
my Redeemer
my Father
Through the Holy Spirit
As the Bread of Life in Communion to sustain me
As the Prince of Peace
Jesus truly comes to us, He seeks us out, quietly. But we have to notice. And we must welcome Him into our lives like Elizabeth welcomed Mary into her home.
Who am I that my Lord should come to me? After these prophetic words during Mary’s visit, Luke 1:5-80 is the only mention of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth.
But God fulfilled his purpose through Elizabeth when he allowed her to become pregnant with John the Baptist in her old age after being barren.
I had difficulty achieving pregnancy like many women in the Bible, and then was surprised with triplets.
Many times our purposes are unbeknownst to us. Only God knows. We don’t have to be great or do great things. Most of us are just pretty lowly, but who knows how we may be impacting others and fulfilling God’s plans, just like Elizabeth.
Jesus was a baby in a stable. No one expected, a King, the God of the Universe, to appear as a baby! He surprised everyone. God’s ways are not our ways.
In Matthew 18:12-14, Jesus has 99 sheep but seeks after the one that is lost.
We are God’s children. He longs for us. He fervently pursues us. We are His lost sheep waiting to be found. We are each His special one out of the 99 and He will not rest until He finds each one of us.
As Christmas approaches, how is the Lord coming to you? Will you notice Him? Will you welcome Him into the home of your heart? Not just at Christmas, but every day of the year?
Are you going crazy with the holidays around the corner? Too much to do and not enough time? December is a busy month and with the year’s end looming, it feels like an appropriate time to carve out some solitude.
As I was looking up the definition of solitude, I came across the word “solicitude” which means: anxious care, carefulness, anxiety, eager uneasiness of mind lest some desired thing may not be obtained or some apprehended evil may happen–The American Heritage Dictionary. I’m afraid this is the state too many of us are living in regularly.
In contrast, is the word solitude, which the Collins dictionary defines as: the state of being alone, especially when this is peaceful and pleasant. Solitude is certainly the preferred state. Who doesn’t like peace and pleasantness over anxiety?
But how is quietness or solitude strength, as proclaimed by Isaiah in the Bible? Haven’t we been told repeatedly that the squeaky wheel gets the grease? Make noise! Be noticed!
Do, do, do……….don’t let up or someone else will get ahead of you. The ping-ding of our computers and phones reminds us the world of technology is constantly vying for our attention. The responsibilities of our daily lives surround and overwhelm us. Busyness is worn as a badge of honor.
“The Lord said to St. Teresa one day, ‘I would speak to many souls, but the world makes so much noise in their ears that they cannot hear My voice. Oh, if only they would stand a little apart from the world!’ ”
We can let Jesus be our example. Such greatness and strength was born in a stable in the stillness and dark of night…..quietly, softly, barely noticed, except by three wise men and some nearby animals.
He appeared helpless and weak as a babe in his mother’s arms but yet He was ever so strong as the Savior of the world, Almighty and powerful…..come to change our hearts and save us.
For God to put Himself in this lowly state, He must have been trying to tell us something. Things are not always as they initially appear.
So we draw our strength from God and the stillness helps us know Him and hear His voice.
The saints knew a state of quietness and solitude is needed to refuel ourselves, just as a car needs gas. A car also needs someone to steer. Quiet time helps us see more clearly out of the windshield of our lives so we can steer ourselves in a better direction. Stepping away from the world in quietness strengthens us for the journey ahead.
Solitude can open us up to new thoughts and ideas and helps remove the clutter in our lives. We may see things we wouldn’t have otherwise, or come up with the solution to our problems after some quiet reflection.
When we are frenzied, we can’t always think straight or make the best decisions. We need to try to come from an inmost place of solitude.
We always get to know someone better when we spend time alone with them. God is no exception.
When you are sick, the doctor often prescribes rest to promote healing…..so too with stillness. It lets us find the ultimate Healer who heals not only our body but our souls.
So what are some ways we can find solitude in our lives?
8 WAYS TO ENCOURAGE SOLITUDE
Meditate or pray.
Use repetitive prayer such as the Rosary which many Catholics find meditative and soothing. I also find it gives me something to focus on, which helps quiet my mind.
Try repetitive music like Taize or Gregorian Chant. Churches of various denominations sometimes offer Taize prayer. Being one of my favorite ways to invoke solitude, I have personally experienced Taize prayer at Episcopalian, Lutheran and Catholic churches. The music can also be found on Youtube and elsewhere to use at home.
Read the Bible or an inspirational book. Or practice lectio divina (divine reading) which is repeated reading of a Bible verse and letting it speak to you. More information can be found here. You can also try Visio Divina (praying with your eyes) which you can read more about here.
Take a walk in nature.
Journaling is a great way to collect your thoughts or pour out your frustrations. It is also a great way to view your progress (or lack of it!) over the years.
If you are near a Catholic church with Adoration, that is the ultimate place of silence before God. There is no other choice but to be silent in the church before the very presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist as seen in the monstrance. (It can also be a good time to journal when thoughts come to you.) Here is a very beautiful video about what happens in adoration produced by Fr. Mike Schmitz of Ascension Presents. Also, you do not have to be Catholic to pray in a Catholic church when it is open. I was even bold enough to enter a cloistered convent and ask to pray in their chapel, which they graciously allowed.
If you have kids, get away into another room by yourself for a while. Bathrooms are great for this! You could soak in the tub if you have someone to watch the kids. Learning to find stillness amidst all the madness is probably a good idea at this stage of life.
And don’t forget, even Jesus took time to get away from the crowds to pray and be quiet. Matt. 14:23; Luke 5:15-16
If you can’t find time to practice solitude daily, and most of us probably can’t, at least try to practice solitude as often as you are able or feel the need. It will help you refuel and gather strength to carry on.
So what best refuels you? Hopefully we can all find some much needed solitude not only during the holidays but in all the seasons of life. May we continually try to focus on Christ and draw our strength from Him as He refreshes our soul.
He will keep those in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on Him
Have you ever experienced the “magnet of God”? What is that, you might wonder?
One day I hadn’t planned to go to weekday Mass at the Catholic Church, when I started to feel what I refer to as the “Magnet of God”—a strong, supernatural pull to go. This is just one small example of the many ways God draws us to Himself.
This particular day turned out to be the Feast of the Sacred Heart, which shame on me, I was not aware of. But the priest said something that caught my attention. He said, “I thank God for God loving me to Himself.” I thought, ah-ha, he is referring to the magnet of God! The very same thing that drew me there that day.
Of course I have the choice to ignore these promptings, and I have also experienced the opposite sort of pull, just as there are two poles, but nevertheless, there was a continuous gnawing in my Spirit begging for attention. It was God Himself drawing me.
Many years ago I was in Fairbanks, Alaska. That year there was high magnetic activity in that location. (I’m sure I don’t have the correct scientific explanation.) But the point is I still remember feeling off, like something magnetic was pulling at me. I had never felt that before.
In doing some research, I discovered this wasn’t entirely impossible. There are human studies that show some humans are capable of feeling this magnetic pull.
I also learned various animals, such as birds, feel this magnetic pull of the universe. It helps them with migration.
God is our compass! It’s built-in GPS! GPS is based on true north, which is fixed, as opposed to the magnetic north of a compass, which varies and is currently moving westward at 50 kilometers per year! This seems to explain my experience in Fairbanks.
Also, the earth has a magnetic shield, without which, life on earth could not continue to exist. Mars is lacking this protective magnetic shield so therefore cannot sustain life.
Nothing God has created is accidental. I am completely awestruck at how God’s design of the universe mirrors His relationship with us! I think it’s quite overwhelming that God has created the universe with this magnetic force and it’s as if He uses it to draw us in. It shows the vastness and immensity of a humongous God, beyond all human comprehension. I am humbled and honored this God draws me in.
So be thankful and awed that this immense God of the universe is loving you to Himself. He is our True North. Keep your heart open to feeling the magnetic pull of God as you go about your days. For He is always waiting for you. He is always pulling for you. He is always drawing you to Himself. All you have to do is notice and respond.
Have you ever prayed for something for years? Were your prayers answered? Were they answered the way you hoped?
There is a popular saying — Prayer Changes Things. Does it?
St. Monica, a patron saint of mothers, prayed for her son to turn from his ungodly lifestyle for 17 years. He turned out to be the influential St. Augustine who has impacted millions throughout the ages and is the author of numerous written works. Not all stories end this well, but nevertheless, it speaks to perseverance in prayer and a mother’s love.
Then there was Sarah in the Old Testament (Genesis 17:15-19) who was barren and well past child-bearing years. God promised her a child but in her impatience, she made some mistakes along the way. Then at God’s appointed time, it miraculously happened, despite all odds.
This gives us hope for perseverance in prayer. If it’s in God’s will, nothing will stop it.
I have had occasions where it has taken years for a specific prayer to be answered–for a mate, for a child and so on. When I fervently persevered in prayer for a child, I got triplets. God has a funny sense of humor. Mother Teresa said, “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.” Keep that in mind. Be careful what you pray for.
Yet what do we do when the years roll by and our prayers aren’t answered in a timely way or as we would hope? This is when we need to consider the journey. Prayer is not just about asking, it’s about relationship, a relationship with our Creator. We can ponder: What have we learned on this journey? How has this period of waiting changed us?
We learn patience for one thing.
We learn to trust God’s plan and timing. (as if we have a choice!)
We grow closer to God by spending more time with Him.
We increase our faith.
We learn to keep trudging along and come to realize all the other blessings in our life we continue to have, as well as receive, while we wait.
We learn an openness and receptiveness to whatever God may have for us. It could be something we didn’t even expect or light years better than what we could have hoped.
Sometimes, we need to just pray for the strength to get through whatever our trial is, which can then change our attitude and ability to cope, if not the situation itself. So we gain an acceptance of the situation. Thy will be done, all the while learning to cast our cares upon Him.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11
We trust that God loves us and knows what we need. Proverbs 3:5 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” God sees the future we cannot see. He has the blueprints.
And this is just on a personal level. What about the bigger picture? People throughout the ages have had to pray for years, often decades, for their country to return to freedom or more recently, for Roe v. Wade to be overturned.
Some of these world issues require the prayers of a great many people over a large span of time and most of them will not even live to see the fruits of their efforts. But it must be done, to improve all of our lives and to save the future of humanity. We must have faith that prayer, does indeed, change things.
In the end, we will be strengthened from our journey through perseverance in prayer. We will become what God is molding us to be through His plan and purpose for us. He does not wish to do us harm but desires for us to grow and strengthen our relationship with Him. At times that means He has to put us through trials and waiting so that we can learn valuable lessons. Just as a loving father teaches his children and gives them what they need, yet does not always give them everything they want. Ultimately, we learn that if we cling to the God who made us and persevere, in the end, prayer does change things!
“Do not be troubled if you do not receive from God immediately what you ask Him; for he desires to do something even greater for you, while you cling to him in prayer.”
There are times in life where we just don’t know what to do or which direction to take. To quote from one of my favorite poems written by Robert Frost, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by.” Sometimes we are at a fork in the road. We think we have exhausted every option. Everything seems impossible. But it is at times like these that we must trust that God will make a way, for nothing is impossible with God.
One example from my own life where God unexpectedly made a way, was when churches in my area had caved in to government tyranny in the spring of 2020 and went on lock down (for shame!!) I had not been able to receive Holy Communion for months. You just don’t deny people the Sacraments, no matter what is going on.
That summer we drove to my daughter’s university to move her into her new apartment which happened to be directly across a small parking lot from the campus Catholic church. I split up from the group to walk over there and check things out.
It so happened mass had just ended and people began flowing out the main door at the top of the hill. I watched timidly from a lower, grassy hill which was near a bottom level church door. Suddenly, for seemingly no particular reason, a young priest came out the door not too far from where I was standing.
He was wearing green vestments, and walked over to me and said hello and asked me if I had come for the ice cream after mass. We got to talking and I explained that where I was from I was not able to go to church or receive Holy Communion for months.
He then graciously asked if I would like to receive Communion. We went inside and just around the corner was the tabernacle in the church and I received Jesus! Privately, just me! This was a first. What timing that I happened to run into him!
It was then that I realized it was Jesus standing on that hill greeting me through the priest, and offering me Himself. It felt like a miracle! I was finally being fed after starving! (And yes, I did end up getting ice cream besides, which happens to be my favorite food!)
I discovered the priest had just been ordained 3 weeks prior and he was better at feeding his sheep than most of the priests back home who couldn’t seem to figure out they needed to feed their sheep, no matter what the cost. A good father feeds his children.
Needless to say, I was rather ecstatic for a couple of days, continually rambling on how I was found and fed by Jesus Himself. I’m sure I was driving everyone crazy, but that’s okay because maybe I planted some seeds since my daughter and her roommate were going to have to stare at that church building from their apartment window for the next year.
Jesus came to me 500 miles from home when I least expected it and needed Him so desperately! He made a way for me that day on that grassy hill, a spot which is now permanently etched into my memory. If Jesus can find me and feed me so far from home, I have no doubt He is always with me no matter where I am or whatever the circumstance.
Maybe you can remember times where God has made a way for you. It can serve as encouragement the next time things seem impossible. Following are a few Bible verses to encourage all of us along the road.
7 Bible Verses Where God Makes a Way
Luke 1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.
Exodus 14:21-22 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord drove back the sea with a strong east wind all night long and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split, so that the Israelites entered into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water as a wall to their right and to their left.
Isaiah 43:16 Thus says the Lord, who opens a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters.
Deuteronomy 31:8 It is the Lord who goes before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all Your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; in all your ways be mindful of Him, and He will make straight your paths.
John 14:6 I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.
God will meet you wherever you are at. You can expect He will make a way in His perfect timing. Sometimes you may have to wait. Maybe a few minutes, maybe many years, but He will not forsake you. He promised.
I’m not a Jolly Jane when I wake up in the morning. All my problems and worries immediately come flooding into my brain. Or, I am angrily awakened by neighborhood noise such as garbage trucks, landscapers, or birds chirping in the nest they decided to build right outside my bedroom window.
My sentiment is frequently something like: Ugh, another depressing day on planet earth. I didn’t ask to be here.
I tend to lean negative so I doubt I will ever be one of those people who excitedly jumps out of bed ready to greet a new day. I guess I can’t help but see reality. A teacher I would share my woes with in high school would tell me, “Life isn’t always a bowl of cherries, sometimes it’s the pits!” Exactly. I don’t like to sugar-coat things.
Growing up, I was influenced, albeit a little too much, by my grandmother who repeatedly warned in German, “After laughing comes crying!” (Nach dem Lachen kommt das Weinen.) In other words, don’t get too happy because something bad is right around the corner to steal your joy. As if being punished for daring to be happy. I suppose this is understandable from someone who had a traumatizing life and survived World War I and World War II.
To this day, I commonly walk around with a sense of doom hanging over me. People refer to it as “evil forebodings”. A nagging feeling that something terrible could happen at any moment.
This kind of thinking does paralyze a person and sometimes prevents them from getting things done. It also makes for stressful vacations.
“Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Many years ago, someone suggested I flip the words in my grandmother’s saying to “After crying comes laughing”. I was stunned. I never thought of that! Yet at the same time, I was also kind of angry. That’s not how the saying goes!
Maybe I wasn’t ready to hear that back then. That one phrase was so ingrained in me and had taken over my life for so long. It takes a lot of concerted effort to change thoughts and habits we have had for years.
I only recently made the connection that there is a Bible verse that is the exact opposite of my grandmother’s words! “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” (Psalm 126:5) It’s amazing! Can it actually work the other way around?
I am further reminded of the man in the Bible that was healed at the pool of Bethesda. He had been sick for 38 years. He sure was stuck in his situation.
Jesus approached him and asked him, “Do you want to be healed”? The man replied by giving excuses that he couldn’t get his mat into the healing waters and that there was no one to help him, but he did want to be healed. (John 5:1-15)
Maybe you are stuck in a bad job, a bad relationship, or have a chronic illness. Whatever it is, there are many reasons that can keep us “sick” or stuck.
We must ask ourselves: Do we want to get well? Do we want things to change? At what cost? It may not just be due to a lack of courage or laziness. Is our “sickness” serving some purpose or benefit?
If we do want to be healed, we must “pick up our mat” as Jesus instructed the man at the pool of Bethesda. Getting up and walking, is the first step on the journey to recovery or change. It’s not always easy or instant, but it is possible.
Jesus offers us healing for our bodies and our souls. Do we want to laugh again after crying? Do we want to reap joy after sorrow? Jesus asks all of us:
Do you want to be healed?
So let us say with David in Psalm 30, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
When I received the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Catholic Church in 6th grade, the nuns endlessly drilled into our heads that we were going to become “soldiers of Christ”. What on earth did that mean to a 12 year old? Not much.
Who knew those words would come back to haunt me years later as I watch this country falling apart. I now literally am feeling called to be a “soldier of Christ”. Not a task to be taken lightly.
There is a battle going on right now for the soul of America and the world. It hits me in the face every day and I can’t NOT see it. This is not a battle between Democrats and Republicans, black or white, young or old. It is between good and evil, darkness and light, tyranny and freedom.
It is a battle in the spiritual realm and on the surface we appear to be losing miserably. Good thing God knows things we don’t and He has promised to prevail in the end, but how bad will it have to get?
“For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.”
I have never seen this more clearly in my lifetime than in these current days.
Sister Lucia, Fatima visionary, has predicted that the final battle will be over marriage and the family. This is clearly an area that is being fiercely attacked today, from education to the entertainment industry.
So much is happening to tear down the family unit as God ordained it in His Word. From the blatant disrespect for life, to marriage being between one man and one woman. People these days can’t even define what a man or woman is!
Many churches are either silent or buying into the evil in the culture. The family is the foundation on which everything is built. The Bible warns us a house built on sand will not stand. (Matt. 7:24-27)
Revivals like at Asbury University are happening, which is promising, but will enough people wake up before it is too late?
Too many people are still asleep. “Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather, expose them, for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says:
Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead
and Christ will give you light.”
Ephesians 5:11-14
So what, then, can the average person who is awake to all this evil and corruption, do? First, we can try to help others wake up, even if we get flack for it or if they try to silence us.
Some of us will of course be able to do more than others, but we can no longer turn a blind eye to all the evil and corruption around us if we want to preserve this great country and our freedom, Constitution and God-given rights.
Below are 14 suggestions for things we can do to help take our country back. Hopefully these will inspire you with more ideas.
Pray like crazy as if your life depended on it, because it does. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Know scripture. God’s Word is truth. The devil is a liar and word-twister. Remember, even the devil can quote scripture as he did when Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40 days.
If you have children, teach them the Bible and things of God. Yes they will grow up and make their own choices, but at least the foundation is laid.
Speak what you really believe and don’t censor yourself to be politically correct or follow the culture. Refuse to use the redefined words the culture comes up with. Tell things like they are; stop the pronouns!
Ignore anyone who calls you names such as conspiracy theorist, or whatever “-ist” or “-phobe” words the culture comes up with that are currently fashionable. Do not be intimidated.
Support churches that aren’t following the culture. These are getting harder to find. Such as the ones that stayed open or didn’t force you to wear a mask during the pandemic. Go into the ministry and follow God’s truth refusing to give in to the evils of the culture.
Speak with your dollar and shop less, or not at all, at businesses and entertainment venues that censor and support the woke agenda such as Amazon, Target, Disney, NFL, and many more. There is a popular saying, “Go woke, go broke.” Make sure of it. I just came across the website publicsq.com where you can find businesses that support freedom, truth, the Constitution, and the family.
Get off social media that censors and does not value freedom of speech, like Facebook. There are alternatives starting up all the time such as Rumble, Gab, Telegram and Truth Social. I recently came across Godtube.com which has a variety of positive videos as an alternative to Youtube.
Volunteer during elections. We must make sure our elections are safe and secure, which they are not. Support and protect the U.S. Constitution. Vote for candidates that value life (the few there are). Or run for office yourself.
Join your school boards. Consider homeschooling or a faithful private school. I went back to work and took my youngest out of the public school system when boys in the girls bathroom and locker rooms became an issue I was not willing to compromise on.
Consider going to college to study history, political science, education or law and really make a commitment to fight the culture and woke agenda fearlessly. Hillsdale College in Michigan is one such place. They even have resources for K-12 classical education on their website. Join campus groups like a chapter of Turning Point USA and get involved which is even more important now since Charlie Kirk was martyred. Young people are the future.
Form your own businesses, groups, websites, blogs, or become active in those that are leading the way.
Learn to grow your own food and become more self-sufficient. Create new ways and systems of doing things like alternative health care and education. Anything that won’t rely on government funding.
And lastly, never become intimidated or apologize for the truth.
It is necessary to know your enemy before going into battle. Our enemy is Satan and all his works. He will try to silence us, have us back down, make us feel hopeless and give up. Don’t let him!! Put on your spiritual armor!
Chapter 6 in Ephesians continues:
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground…. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith…. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (verses 13-17, NIV)
This is not a time to be silent. Evil triumphs when good men do nothing. This is what happened in Germany during WWII. Eric Metaxas has written a timely book, Letter to the American Church, which is now also a film. The way to defeat Satan is to know scripture, but more importantly, to live it. We need to be courageous and fearless in the face of evil.
The battle belongs to the Lord. He will take care of things or issue punishment where it is deserved. Christ will triumph in the end. But we must be aware that our actions and the seeds we sow today can save ourselves and future generations a lot of suffering tomorrow.
The battle belongs to the Lord. The victory is won. But He calls us to take up the fight.
“And even though I’m walking through the valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him Whose love will comfort me
And when all hope is gone and I’ve been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will ever need. He will carry me.”
lyrics from “He Will Carry Me” by Mark Schultz
We’ve all experienced brokenness of some sort in our lives, from the loss of a loved one, to missed opportunities, to the little disappointments in each day. Sometimes it hurts so bad we think we will never recover.
But our brokenness opens a place for Christ to enter. We enter into His suffering and His becoming bread broken for us. And sometimes then we, in turn, can go out and help heal a broken world.
In Christ we have hope and healing. We will survive. There is a resurrection. Let us rest in the security only He can provide. Like a child feels safe in the arms of its mother. He is there embracing us, loving us, carrying us. What more could we ever want?
I bought a sign for my laundry area at the dollar store recently that reads, “Laundry, sorting out life one load at a time.” It just spoke to me so I didn’t think twice about grabbing it. Words of wisdom found at the dollar store! Hooray! Laundry truly is a lot like life, isn’t it?
Don’t we all have many loads at a time to deal with, whether it be laundry or life’s burdens? Don’t we sometimes feel like “throwing in the towel”? (Which would just create more laundry.)
Perhaps sometimes we feel like we are on the spin cycle. Everything is too much. We feel like we are getting tossed about, everything moving too fast. Our lives and minds spinning out of control. Where is the stop button?? Pull out the plug!
We have all had times like that. I feel dizzy just thinking about it.
In life, as with laundry, we have to sort things out. There are decisions to be made. Big things like where to work, where to live, how to treat an illness, as well as all the little things on our to-do list, such as what to make for dinner. So it is with laundry, we must sort the colors or they bleed and we end up with a big, ugly mess, a heap of ruin. Not looking at all like what we had wanted or hoped.
Mom Moment when college kids return home for Christmas.
We wash one load at a time and then it is clean (and maybe put away) but there will always be another load to take its place. One thing you can be sure of, laundry is certain to pile up again, a healthy sign of life lived. Laundry doesn’t disappoint, it always returns, like a dear and loyal friend.
My son played baseball for many years. I would dread washing his baseball uniform as there were always grass stains to deal with. I had to find the right stain remover and scrub and scrub and hope for the best. Life, too, will stain us. We need to try to scrub away our bad habits and failings. As humans, we all carry the stain of sin. But Jesus, our Savior, has bled for us and will wash us clean if we ask. “If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrong-doing.” (I John 1:9)
Picture the laundry rinse cycle or standing in a refreshing downpour, drenching us and cleansing us. I have a Precious Moments picture I stitched in my bathroom that says, “He cleansed my soul”. O how sweet it is. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psalm 51:1-2) Also words the priest prays during Catholic mass.
Laundry also has to get hung up or dried. Life often hangs us up. Time passes, clothes become out of style or worn and so do we. We get wrinkled, physically and figuratively. We may have to iron out the wrinkles now and then. Hopefully we won’t get put away like the clothes, or left in a forgotten heap.
Personally, I don’t mind doing laundry. Menial tasks are the stuff of ordinary life with their own rhythm and flow. Plus they are great procrastination tools. Nothing like vacuuming when I am putting off something else. But I must admit I was glad when all of my kids were away at college doing their own laundry. Sorting out the fabric and colors of their own lives. It is no longer my job.
In doing a bit of research on laundry, I came across a business called “Life Without Laundry”. At the top of the website they ask, “Can you imagine a Life Without Laundry?” and then they list services for pick up, delivery, etc. so that you don’t ever have to do your own laundry.
My answer to that is “no thank you”! I can’t imagine a life without laundry.
I prefer not to hand over my dirty laundry to someone else. I will deal with my own loads and relish every minute. The dirty and the clean. The wet and the wrinkled. It is part of my cleansing journey. It is my load to carry and mine alone. No one else knows how to sort out the fabric of my life.
So my advice is to appreciate those loads of laundry piling up, for you never know what treasures you may find. People have been known to find money in their pockets they have forgotten about. My son once got a new phone because I washed and ruined the one he left in his pants pocket!
I think I will go hunt down some laundry now! What about you?
I just want to lay at Your feet
and absorb Your love, O Lord
for I am weary of this world
and long to find rest
in You.
12-21-2022 WordNerd
That is the cry of my heart. At least it was during Christmastime when life was busy and filled with visiting children and a dog. My previous, fairly solitudinous life, shattered for a while.
However, that longing has been fairly constant for me regardless of busyness. What is the cry of our heart? Humans throughout the ages wrestle with this. A yearning for something better, something more perfect, that which completes us.
Sometimes I am just so sick of this world and all the evil in it and what seems to be so few willing to fight for what is right, no matter the cost. I can relate to St. Faustina’s words in her Diary, entry 867, “O Jesus, what a dreadful wilderness this life seems to me! There is no nourishment for either my heart or my soul. I suffer because of my longing for You, O Lord.”
In all of this mental and spiritual anguish, I come to realize that nothing else really matters but Jesus. Eternal life is the reward I seek and everything else pales in comparison. That is often my reality even though it may sound depressing to some.
It’s difficult to describe, but sometimes it is as if everything dims and fades and swirls into a blur around me and there’s only Jesus. Kind of like the swirling galaxy in the photo above.
Nothing in this world seems to really matter because our life on earth is temporary. Each one of us is a tiny speck in time. Everything is changing. Everything will pass away. But it will be okay because….Jesus. What else in this world can give the same depth of contentment?
So in the meantime, this is our temporary home and we are just visitors passing through and all the earthly stuff of our lives is being crammed into a weathered suitcase, about to burst, which we won’t even need in the life to come. But I am consoled because God will triumph in the end.
“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator made known through Jesus.” Wise words attributed to Blaise Pascal.
This Lent, and every day, perhaps we can come to better know this Jesus.
We can go before the cross and lay down our stuff, throw down our vices, read the Bible to learn who Jesus is, receive the Sacraments, and most importantly, just take time to lay at His feet and absorb His infinite mercy and love. Because in Him we live…eternally. There is nothing else.
As a mother and wife, I have heard the words, “Not now” or “I’ll do it later” far too often. It drives me crazy because when I ask someone to do something, that is when I want it done, not at a future time (or more likely, never).
I have a note jotted in frustration from 2012 while in the thick of raising four children. It says: ‘Not now’ is the answer to a lot of things around here! “Do your homework”. Not now. “Try on these pants I bought you.” Not now. To the husband, “Let’s just relax for a while.” Not now. Well if not now, WHEN??
I am reminded of Bartleby’s famous words “I would prefer not to” from the book Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville. Bartleby remains expressionless as he responds, “I would prefer not to” to basically everything he is asked to do at work. This is about the only thing I remember from college English and literature classes. It struck a nerve.
I can’t help but wonder what God thinks when we don’t do what He asks. I’ve heard it said He will find somebody else. I think of that when I see many of my ideas taken flight by other people.
It took me 40 years, like the Israelites wandering around in the desert, to finally get around to doing some more writing. I always felt a nagging sense that is what I needed to be doing. Saying “I would prefer not to” to the master of the universe isn’t a good idea. The ramifications are a lot worse than not taking out the garbage when asked, or not trying on those pants!
When I was younger, I would get so bent out of shape trying to discern God’s will for my life. As if it were a one-time decision. I couldn’t come up with anything that felt right (except maybe writing) and many doors were slammed shut in my face. I still think I may have made the wrong decision when I was offered a newspaper writing job after high school and didn’t accept it. I have always wondered what direction my life would have taken if I had. I feel like I am living my “Plan B” because I missed that particular opportunity. But who knows, I only have the present. The past is gone and the future is not guaranteed.
Now being able to look back over the years, I think we have many purposes throughout our lives. God’s will is a continuous journey with many twists and turns along the way. Many times I think I didn’t even realize a lot of the things I was doing were actually God’s will for that time or at the very least, laying the groundwork for the future.
For instance, I worked as a preschool teacher for a time, but only looking back realized it was part of the path God had for me because I ended up raising triplets plus a fourth child. That time spent working with preschoolers prepared me for my vocation of motherhood. I was able to use the skills I had developed to run my household. Triplet babies needed a schedule, if for no other reason than my sanity. We had meals, craft time, nap time, outside time, music time, story time. I had an entire repertoire of crafts and activities at my fingertips. I was ready for the challenge!
Sometimes even the waiting is part of God’s plan, because His timing is perfect, which I learned battling infertility. Also, sometimes God has to prepare the other people that will be involved in our fulfilling His will. There’s so much behind the scenes that we don’t know or may never know.
All these situations in life take time, patience and trust that we are exactly where God wants us to be at that moment, even if it seems like nothing is happening. Joyce Meyer, whose ministry helped me a lot during my infertility days, likes to say “Learn how to enjoy where you are on the way to where you’re going.” That is another way of saying, live in the present.
So how do we become motivated and get things done sooner rather than later? After my 40 years of desert wandering, I am the last one to ask.
First, I think we have to want something bad enough. Also, we need to conquer fears that may be holding us back. Deadlines are my best motivator. Now that my days on earth are obviously numbered, I feel more like I better get to writing if I don’t want to stand at the Pearly gates (which I just learned is derived from Revelation 21:21) and have to say to God, “I was going to do it….later”. I more and more want to be able to say, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” 2 Tim. 4:7
So what is it you have been putting off? Don’t put it off for 40 years like I did. Whether it’s pursuing a career, improving your health, learning how to play an instrument, re-uniting with someone you are estranged from, whatever it is, there is no time like the present and that is why it’s fittingly called the “present”.
The present is a gift, to ourselves and those around us, if we accept it and not let it sit idle. We should treasure and celebrate the present. If not NOW, when??
Book: The Present: The Gift that Makes you Happier and More Successful at Work and in Life, Today! by Spencer Johnson
I wonder what happened to the common phrase I heard throughout my childhood, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Seeing how youth come out of universities these days, it should be taught on every college campus. Instead, academia is raising “snowflakes”. Young people who can’t tolerate an opinion different from their own or without feeling threatened or triggered.
Everything offends them. Well, maybe not all of them, but dare I say, the majority of them. I can tell a recent college graduate a mile away. My own children have not come out unscathed. College students are taught they need “safe spaces” to survive any slight or difference of opinion. These are rooms or places they can go to when they feel “offended”. There they can cuddle stuffed animals, pound on playdough, color, and most importantly, cry. There are even specific cry rooms at some universities. I thought “cry rooms” were for babies at churches. I was also surprised to find some schools literally have a facebook group of places to go cry, complete with maps. “Places to cry at CWRU” is one such example.
One problem with all of this is that it promotes victim mentality. They are the victims and the other person or group is the perpetrator. This can also be seen in our government, justice system and even churches. It also prevents kids from growing up and makes them less able to solve problems in the real world. Playing the victim becomes an easy way out of responsibility and a way to gain attention, or get what you want. It can also foster moral superiority.
Of course sometimes a person truly is a victim of a crime or abuse, but I’m not talking about physical safety here, which every human being deserves at all times. Obviously no one should be throwing “sticks or stones”, or even worse, at anyone. And students with real and serious mental health issues should definitely seek help. But a lot of this is sheer nonsense. Things have gone too far. Everyone is offended with everything. It has become a way to control how others think, speak, act and feel. This is NOT appropriate.
Unfortunately, universities pay staff excessive salaries to promote this kind of garbage and more. They encourage the notion that any discomfort cannot be tolerated, yet life is uncomfortable sometimes. Growing into an adult isn’t all fun and games, there is some pain involved. Pain and discomfort is necessary for growth, and that goes for all of us.
College is supposed to be about learning, about interacting with all kinds of other viewpoints, about preparing for your future career. Thinking, discussing, debating helps you learn and grow. It helps you understand where someone else is coming from, and perhaps even results in reformulating your own opinions. It is NOT to demand that everyone should think and speak the same way or according to some current cultural agenda. Freedom of speech must be protected at all costs, even if it makes some uncomfortable.
Instead of arming kids with confidence to go out into the world and slay the giants, they are taught the giants are trying to slay them! However, isn’t that what the current cultural agenda wants? To create as many weak, dependent, unquestioning followers because then they can be controlled. Dumb the kids down and make them weaker, not stronger, all in the name of some delusion of equity.
So where has sanity gone? Is it hiding in the cry room?? I don’t think so. The Bible states, “And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matt. 24:10-13 NKJV)
It’s not just the college kids that get offended either. I see plenty of adults who get offended at the slightest thing. Either adults are getting touchier or maybe they are learning the wrong things from their offspring. Whatever happened to turn the other cheek, kill them with kindness, forgiveness, telling someone calmly how you feel, or just ignoring someone or walking away if you are offended or don’t like something?
We can all benefit from being less touchy. Certainly we can always try to fine-tune our behavior, treat everyone with respect, love your neighbor as yourself, be kinder, but victim mentality has become all too common everywhere you look, and it’s doing far more harm than good.
So if you are offended by this article, perhaps you need to go find a safe space or cry room and let the rest of society live their lives, the good, the bad and the ugly, the insults, wounds and bruises. Because that is how we all learn and grow, and even heal. Not by playing the victim or hiding in a cry closet.
Personally, I’d rather run into the loving arms of Jesus as my safe space. How about you?
If you are the parent of a college student or soon-to-be one, check out:
Remember bookmarkers? Back in the day when Hallmark shops had a carousel with tasseled words of wisdom? As a child, I was mesmerized by them. What profound truths would jump out at me? I only have a small collection because it was a rare treat to be able to buy one. Nowadays, if anyone actually reads a physical book, they may use sticky tabs, random scraps of paper, or maybe even a crumpled Kleenex as a bookmark.
One day during my teen years, my dad happened to give me one of those tasseled bookmarkers. I was ecstatic! It said, “Live to seek God and life will not be without God.” Leo Tolstoy (tears) My father was not especially religious as far as I could tell, but it was one of the best presents he ever gave me. It was during the time when I was entertaining the thought of becoming a nun. I took it as a sign of encouragement, but maybe he was only trying to get out of paying for a daughter’s wedding, as was the custom back then, as well as one of his looming worries.
Live to seek God and life will not be without God, are good words that are just as applicable today as back then. As I ponder these words with the actual bookmark before me, it echoes the words found in scripture, “When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me…” (Jer. 29:13) We should never stop seeking God, but how often do we think about God seeking us, His beloved?
God continually calls us to Himself if we are sensitive enough to hear His voice. “Know that the Lord is God, He made us, we belong to Him.” (Psalm 100:3) Then there is the parable of the one lost sheep (Luke 15:4-7). Also, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house…” (Revelation 3:20) However, God is a gentleman and it is we who have to let Him in. The God of the universe shows us time and again that He actually wants a relationship with us because we are the creatures He made. We are His works of art.
God obviously and purposefully chooses people for various tasks and reasons. We see this throughout the Bible. Jesus chose the twelve disciples and they weren’t the most perfect guys on the planet, and one even turned out to be a traitor. Why would Jesus choose a traitor if He knew the future? I guess it goes back to free will and human weakness. Some choose money— the dark side, the devil and all his empty promises and lies. We never know what is in God’s plan. Jesus would also ask people if they were willing to give up everything to follow Him and sadly, many said no, so we do have to reciprocate. It’s a two-way street.
If Christ seeks us out and chooses us, does that make some of us more special or favored than others? What happens to everyone else? Isn’t God’s love for everyone? I finally began reading the book, Story of a Soul, The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux that has been collecting dust in my house for years. I am only as far as the first chapter, but she muses about some of the same things I do. She writes, “I wondered for a long time why God has preferences, why all souls don’t receive an equal amount of graces. I was surprised when I saw Him shower His extraordinary favors on saints who had offended Him, for instance, St. Paul and St. Augustine…….” “I wondered why poor savages died in great numbers without even having heard the name of God pronounced.” So what about those “savages” St. Therese speaks of? Did God really forget about them?
I think it comes down to being open to hearing God’s call and then seeking Him in return. It’s a sort of dance, a weaving back and forth between us seeking God, our creator, and Him desiring us. Like a bride and bridegroom. Christ refers to the church as His bride in the Bible. Another great saint, Teresa of Avila says, “Christ does not force our will, He takes only what we give him. But He does not give Himself entirely until He sees that we yield ourselves entirely to Him.” That’s quite a challenge!
Sometimes I also wonder if maybe God “edits” His work, like when we write or create art or music. Usually we edit for the purpose of making improvements. Obviously we all need growth and improvement. History has shown God often chooses the most unlikely characters to do his work, so being perfect or the best is not a prerequisite. “Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong…..so that no human being might boast before God.” (I Corin. 1:26-29) This should make us feel a bit better and less like we have to compete with the saints of old. God will mold all of us into something more beautiful over time and for His glory if we let Him. We are all saints in our own way.
I think St. Therese of Lisieux sums it up beautifully, “Just as the sun shines down simultaneously on the tall cedars and on each little flower as though it were alone on the earth, so Our Lord is occupied particularly with each soul as though there were no others like it.” We are all special in His sight if we heed the voice of our Beloved.
I am humbled and deeply grateful that I have heard God’s voice and consider myself among God’s chosen ones, even if I don’t always live up to His call. Let us seek God and be sensitive to when He is knocking at the door of our heart and say a resounding “yes” to Him as He pursues us. Even if no earthly person cared for us, our Creator and the Lover of our Soul will always be there, waiting for us and welcoming us to Himself. Live to seek God and your life will not be without God!
(All this from a bookmarker, truly they do impart words of wisdom!)
“My soul, be at rest in God alone, from whom comes my hope. God alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not fall.” Psalm 62:6
Welcome to 2026. (I still feel stuck in the 1980’s somewhere)
I don’t like beginning a new year. It makes me nervous.
I worry about what could happen in the future. Will it be good? Bad? Surely there will be some of both.
Worst case scenarios run through my mind like water out of a faucet, but even so, I am usually more than ready to let the previous year go. Why? Because I hope the new year will be better than the last. And that is the gist of it — HOPE.
We can hope for many things. Hope that America is finally going in a better direction in many ways, with a stronger leader now in charge, as opposed to an improperly elected, dementia-stricken, corrupt puppet controlled by the deep state that wants to destroy this great country.
Hope that people realize the precious gift of freedom and protect it at all costs. Never falling for any scamdemic lies, fear and tyranny ever again.
Hope that believers will rise up for what is right and not allow themselves to sit back or become intimidated by the opposition.
Hope that people come to their senses and choose human life as a priority and stop worrying about ridiculous things like global warming. (Yes, the original name proponents now look foolish using. Changing names and definitions doesn’t change reality, sorry.)
Hope that Christ’s church will have a revival like never seen before.
Hope that we and our loved ones stay safe and healthy and all our needs will be met.
The list is endless…
And so we dare to hope, because the alternative is despair.
Hope in light over darkness.
Hope in right over wrong.
Hope in good over evil.
Hope in the unseen.
Hope in miracles.
Hope in eternity.
But our hope must be rooted in Christ. For Jesus is the only one who can save us from the mess we have made and the struggles we find ourselves in. We are never alone. He is our only true hope.
So no matter what befalls us, remember, there is always hope; if not in this life, then in the life to come. We can’t go wrong with hope. Never give up HOPE!
“My soul, wait in stillness, only for God—from Him comes my salvation.”
Ps. 62:2 (TLV-Tree of Life Version)
In preparing our hearts for celebrating the birth of our Savior, it is difficult to obtain peace in the midst of worldly Christmas preparations like shopping, meal prep, relatives and adult children descending upon us….perhaps pets and grandchildren as well. These can be happy times, but also stressful and certainly not the picture that comes to mind when we think of “stillness”.
Often, when I have experienced stillness, it has come as a welcome surprise in the least likely places.
Once, believe it or not, a sense of stillness came over me in the midst of IKEA (a gigantic, bustling four-story home emporium). Maybe it was necessary for survival in that place (!) but I still recall the time I was sitting in a snack area with my four young children and it was extremely crowded and noisy. It seemed like over-consumption and greed was everywhere. I started thinking about how the quietness of God was in stark contrast to the frenzy I was experiencing at that moment. It was then that I started to feel God’s presence and a deep sense of stillness in the midst of the madness. No one around me could see the stillness I had found in my soul, but oddly enough, it was there.
Other times I’ve experienced a profound sense of stillness in more expected places, for instance after a heavy, night-time snowfall. The snow covers the earth like a thick white blanket, absorbing the sounds of the world, and it feels so cozy and still, compared to a typical night. I just love the “sound” of it!
In my younger days, I visited Yellowstone National Park and our group decided to hike to the top of Mt. Washburn for the sunrise, starting out in the dark of night. This was way out of my comfort zone but once we got past the timber line, there were no cars roaring in the distance, no birds chirping or any of the myriad of daily sounds we have grown accustomed to. There was complete and utter silence hanging heavy in the air. I will never forget this ultimate experience of stillness and have never experienced anything like it since.
Stillness isn’t just the absence of noise or problems.
The goal is to find stillness in the midst of the madness of daily life. It is a state of being. It comes from deep within us, from the very core of our being. We must wear stillness like a favorite sweater or pair of snuggly pj’s. We must know it, befriend it, and embrace it, so that we can call upon it like a dear and familiar friend. It is a place of peace, rest, and tranquility no matter what is going on around us. And in the stillness, we will find God.
So as we prepare for Christmas, let us in stillness wait. Waiting not only to celebrate the birth of our Savior, but for whatever may be birthed within us from this sacred stillness in our soul.
“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”
(1 Thessalonians: 16-18)
‘Tis the season for Thanksgiving. A holiday most everyone in America seems to celebrate, no matter their religious beliefs. The time to think about what we are grateful for. It sounds so cliché. A gratitude journal? Been there, done that.
Probably a better way to cultivate gratitude is to make it a habit so that it becomes second nature every day of the year.
This is, of course, easier said than done. Perhaps we should have a gratitude buddy, like an exercise buddy, to keep us accountable all year.
A good place to start, is by being thankful in the everyday mundane stuff of life.
Many years ago, when I was on bed rest while pregnant with triplets, I wasn’t allowed to do much of anything. I was thankfully(!) allowed to take a daily shower. But that was it. It got to the point where I was longing to do even the simplest task, like washing dishes. That would have been sheer bliss!
It was then that I vowed to always remember what a blessing it is to be able to do something as simple as washing dishes. This challenge was put to the test soon after, when I found myself endlessly washing baby bottles because we had no dishwasher. I think a person could go to heaven just for that!
I am happy to report that I still frequently remember to be thankful when I wash those dirty dishes. A trick that can also help is putting a picture of Jesus by the kitchen sink.
“Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe.”
Another challenge of the above scripture verse is, “in ALL circumstances give thanks.” That doesn’t mean just when times are good, it means even when tragedy strikes or we just don’t feel like it.
It takes discipline to make gratitude a habit, but it will help us in the long run and can provide health benefits as well.
I really enjoy the following video by Fr. Mark Goring, which is about being thankful while grocery shopping. Maybe it will inspire you and be something to keep in mind while shopping for our Thanksgiving feasts. It is a reminder that every occasion in life is an opportunity to practice gratitude and that our prayers can have far-reaching effects that we may never know.
May we, then, humbly make this our prayer:
“O Jesus, eternal God, thank You for Your countless graces and blessings. Let every beat of my heart be a new hymn of thanksgiving to You, O God.”
From the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in My Soul, entry 1794
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways…..For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
I am always trying to comprehend the ways of God, but it’s just not possible with my finite mind. The nuns told us everything will be revealed to us when we get to heaven and I always hoped they were right! I want to know all the secrets of God and the universe, the spirit world and other dimensions. I want to be able to walk through walls or be in two places at once like St. Padre Pio. I have an insatiable curiosity and need to know why things are the way they are, and what will happen in the future. But as they say, “curiosity killed the cat”. This can be dangerous.
I frequently ponder things like: how can God hear us when we are praying silently in our minds? Or how does He hear all the people on earth that are praying simultaneously?? How can He be present in all the tabernacles in the world, and at every Christian gathering, and at the deathbeds of every dying person?
God is supposed to be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, but all this “omni-” continues to boggle my mind. God is just too enormous for me to grasp.
It is said God exists outside of time, so I can’t even begin to fathom these things, and that is what fuels my doubts and endlessly frustrates me. Faith is based on the unseen and the mysterious, but honestly, this drives me crazy! Out of nowhere Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection and on one occasion He said to the disciple Thomas, “Have you come to believe because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and believed.” (John 20:29)
A friend of mine uses this analogy–we are like ants in comparison to God. Think of how much bigger we are than an ant! The size of our brains alone! Our perspective is so much different from up where we are. People can get on airplanes and travel from one end of the earth to the other. We can birth new human beings into the world. Some of us can make music or paint masterpieces. Others help build skyscrapers and cathedrals, or rockets that soar into space to explore the vastness of the universe. Just because ants can’t do these things doesn’t mean they aren’t possible. But all of this pales in comparison to the magnitude and mind of God. Maybe to God our accomplishments look like the tiny hills of ants that we see. It’s like looking down at the street below from the top of a skyscraper and spotting vehicles that look like tiny Matchbox cars.
Another thing that separates us from ants is that each of us has a soul, the part of us that Christians believe will live on after we die. We are made in the image and likeness of God. “Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)
But notice, we do not have dominion over God, and that is where our earthly problems stem from. We will never be on the same level or have the knowledge of the Creator of the universe. It started in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, all the way through to modern times. Destruction and evil, sin and death, are the results of wanting to be God. Bill Gates and Fauci come to mind, as well as many political leaders now and throughout history. They have caused much needless death and suffering for their own ego, gain and their need to play God. We ultimately are not the ones in charge, though all too many would like to be or act as if they are. It never has a good ending.
So in the meantime, we will have to learn to humble ourselves before the all-powerful Creator of the universe and exercise faith in things unseen. We need to let the Holy Spirit guide us and not the spirit of this age or fallible leaders. We need to allow our minds to be shaped into the mind of Christ and trust that everything will be revealed in the next life, like the nuns indicated. Expecting, that what awaits us for all eternity, will be infinitely greater than anything we could ever imagine because the God of the universe mysteriously loves us.
(1 Corinthians 2:7-10, 16) “Rather, we speak God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden, which God predetermined before the ages for our glory, and which none of the rulers of this age knew; for, if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love Him, this God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.” ….“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Catholicism is a fascinating thing. Often I am really stumped by it. There is so much doctrine, ritual, legalism, rote prayers, Sacraments, Mary, saints, statues—the list is endless. I call it “Catholic clutter” and so I basically took a break from the Catholic Church during my child-rearing years for what seemed to be simpler, Protestant ways. I did my fair share of church shopping and reluctantly settled on a place where my severely wheat allergic daughter could receive gluten-free communion.
As a child, I went to Catholic grammar school with the mostly scary nuns, who had masculine names and rosaries jingling from their belts. At least we knew when they were coming! As it happened, I found myself in “Catholic” institutions all the way through my first two years of college. I was also active in music ministry throughout my young adulthood.
Now that my kids are grown, my Protestant break is over. I find myself back at the Catholic Church and wonder if I have lost my mind. Much of me still relates to the Protestants as well as more emotional forms of worship such as what I experienced in the Charismatic Renewal, where I found Christ and got “saved” as a teenager. I was so Jesus-happy my mother thought I joined a cult! Once, she even locked me in my room (those were the days of skeleton keys) when my ride was going to pick me up for prayer meeting. My mother was so worried she even took her very religious, protestant friend, to a prayer meeting to analyze the situation. They deemed it “okay” but far too emotional.
In my Catholic high school, I would walk around with a giant Bible and religious jewelry hanging from my neck and I tried to convert all my unsaved friends. It is embarrassing to remember those days. I was an actual fanatic, crazy in love with Jesus. But life goes on and has a way of toning you down. Problems ensue, life happens and the spiritual honeymoon is over. It was time to grow up.
What started me thinking about all this was a particular day recently when I happened to go to Adoration at the Catholic church, which then turned into Benediction, which then turned into people praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, which then turned into Mass complete with a cappella hymn singing and topped off with the, suddenly controversial, St. Michael prayer. Whoa! When I got out of there I felt like I was doused in a full round of Catholicism, like getting a full service car wash or a hamburger with the works! It felt kind of good and cleansing!
On the other hand, it also felt kind of weird. What on earth was I doing there and even kind of liking it??? Me, the previous Charismatic, hand-raising, speaking in tongues, guitar playing, baptized in the Holy Spirit follower. What to make of this? Perhaps my doubts are from the devil, trying to tempt me away from Christ, or maybe it’s okay to like reverent rituals as well as joyful praise sessions. There are many forms of worship. After all, to everything there is a season.
But what is it that keeps drawing me back into the Catholic Church, even with all the brokenness, sex abuse and fair amount of poor leadership, especially from this current Marxist Pope? It is Jesus calling me to Himself through the Holy Eucharist. In all my time spent in other churches, many did not even offer communion during their Sunday services. The music could be good, the people sincere and welcoming, the preaching excellent, but I always had a feeling of emptiness. Something was missing. That something was Jesus in the Eucharist, the source and summit of the Catholic faith. I wasn’t getting fed in the most vital way.
Through the Eucharist, we commune with Jesus in the most intimate way. I am no expert on the Eucharist, but if I believe that it truly is the Real Presence of Jesus in the form of bread and wine after the priest does his consecration magic, then I am all in 100 percent. What have I got to lose? I can only gain. Whether it be strength for my day, a closer relationship with Christ, or food for my soul.
As I get older, I am growing to like the “Catholic clutter”. There is an over 2,000 year history to the Church that provides a richness and depth that other churches can’t rival. I am more fully appreciating the majesty of ritual with the incense, holy water and elaborate priestly garb, especially during holidays. I am more curious about what I can learn from the saints, that I used to write off as mentally ill, and am thankful we have a perfect Heavenly Mother who watches over us. I find comfort in the familiarity and I love good music (when it can be found). Now, being Catholic is like the icing on the cake. It’s like having all the flavors of ice cream ever made, not just some of them.
I will always cherish emotional experiences, and feelings of God’s presence, but that isn’t realistic all the time. It’s about commitment and faith, no matter what I feel. It’s about relationship and Jesus in the Eucharist, communing with me. And what is more glorious than that?
On a recent trip out of town we had three great choices of where to go out for breakfast. We ended up at the place I rarely get a chance to visit that has a country shop I love, yet I was still thinking maybe we were missing something better at the other possibilities. One place was highly recommended by my daughter’s boyfriend who eats there weekly, and the free hotel breakfast was also better than usual that day, so I was feeling rather tormented.
Normally, I would be ranting endlessly about how we should have chosen one of the other places because I am always seeking perfection, which is not possible this side of heaven. However, this time I actually made the conscious, mindful choice of just trying to be satisfied where I was. Satisfied that I was at this particular place in time, even though the menu choices weren’t overflowing with things I would have preferred. I decided to just enjoy the unseasonably warm day on the road and the time with my husband and the blessing that we were there, together. Not to mention it also spared my husband a lot of grief to not have to listen to my typical indecisive rant, setting a better tone for the rest of the day.
As it turned out, the pancakes I ordered were probably the best I ever ate! They were SO delicious! Crunchy, yet fluffy and moist!! I thought, wow, we ended up at the right place after all, and it was as if I was rewarded for my efforts to be content (which believe me, is no easy task!) My husband had tasted the pancakes off my plate and he loved them too and kept stealing bites! I even saved the leftovers and ate them later in the car. Turns out he bought a box of their special pancake mix to bring home but I bet they won’t taste as good as the ones we ate that warm, fall day.
And so it goes…….how to be mindful in the moment and satisfied that no matter what life brings we are supposed to be in that time and place, appreciating the little blessings in each day or accepting whatever difficulties come our way. I will see if I can keep this up and turn over a new leaf, as I write this while the autumn leaves are turning colors and falling.
Phillipians 2:14 “Do everything without grumbling or questioning,..”
Like many people, I was a Target fan. I lived for the clearance pile. My heart would pound with excitement driving to the store each week. I couldn’t wait to get there! It was like a person needing their morning coffee. I had to have my Target fix. I would find stylish clothes for my kids so cheaply. It was also my escape time while the kids were at school. I referred to it as “Target Therapy”. Sometimes I would run into other moms enjoying some Target therapy too.
I was a Target expert. I knew which days the different departments marked down. I followed groups online for Target lovers with Target shopping tips. Some of the best deals I snagged over the years were: a ping pong table for $30, a gas grill for $90, a large inflatable swimming pool for $20 and outdoor wicker chairs for $25! My record shopping streak was nine consecutive days! I was the Clearance Queen!
Unfortunately, the $20 pool only made it one season. It was inhabited and torn to shreds by rats in the garage during the winter.
However, from all this shopping, I was beginning to feel like Target had become a false god in my life. Shopping there was too emotional. I shouldn’t like it THAT much, should I? The thing that eventually tore me away from the hold Target had on me was becoming an actual Target employee! God has an interesting sense of humor.
I thought I would finally learn all the secrets of the clearance piles and Target in general, but I didn’t. They divulged nothing to regular employees.
Their woke agenda made me feel like a traitor to my own values, even if I was doing it to pay private school tuition, which made it seem all the more wrong. The work was physically grueling, the pay terrible, the treatment worse. My life was taken over by Target alright, but no longer in the fun, Target therapy way. It was a very humbling experience.
While there, I ended up meeting all kinds of people from very different cultures and backgrounds. I worked with young and old, manipulators and back stabbers. I had many different conversations with people in the lunch room. I listened to people’s stories and life journeys and at times tears were shed. I saw a lot of brokenness in people. I like to think I was sent there for a time to be a light in the darkness. Maybe some seeds were sown. Maybe there was a reason for that season of my life.
Some years later, I no longer enjoy shopping at Target very much. Things have changed a lot, prices have risen. My kids have grown up and I don’t need as much stuff, plus I still have way too much stockpiled from days gone by.
And so God cured me of constantly needing a Target fix and now, instead, I sometimes experience that same pounding heart kind of excitement, but it’s while driving to church. There are times when I can hardly stand it and can’t wait to get there to spend time with the Lord and receive Him in the Eucharist or spend quiet time with Him at Adoration. Often I will hear just the right Christian song on the radio in the car and it becomes a kind of praise session. Other times, it is just the song I need at the time, God speaking to me through the music. It’s like a glimpse of heaven.
So let us be aware of the false gods in our life. Sometimes it could be a person or material things, sometimes power, money, security (or Target). But whatever it is, nothing should keep us from our first Love. Let Christ be number one in our lives. It’s easier said than done, the world is full of distractions, but I do enjoy the times I am blessed with a little glimpse of heaven.
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Exodus 20:2-3 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall not have other gods beside me.”
One of the saddest, most heart-wrenching experiences I have had was watching my grandmother, and then my mother, descend into the abyss of Alzheimer’s Disease. Both came from Europe as immigrants in the 1950’s with only the clothes on their back, to find a better life.
My mother’s childhood during the war consisted of fleeing from bombs, hiding Jews on their property and later becoming refugees. Their lives were filled with fear and hardship and I did not escape unscathed. My mother always wanted her story to be told, but I am sorry now that I know so little of it.
I vividly remember the first time I realized my mother had Alzheimer’s. We went shopping and she was trying on some clothes. She tried the same clothes on over and over and over again, cheerily asking me how they looked each time. It was then that I realized, she doesn’t remember at all that she tried these clothes on before. We could have been there all day. All the times where the ugly Alzheimer’s was there but I hadn’t realized it yet, came flooding back to me. The notes of where to meet me at the mall, getting lost when trying to take the bus, inability to read or work on a craft project, it was all there staring me in the face.
I reported to my brother that it seems obvious that mom has Alzheimer’s just like grandma, who was still alive and completely bedridden. He was in denial and didn’t believe it at first. That was rough too. As a child I was always told my grandmother was “forgetful.” Alzheimer’s wasn’t mentioned then, it was referred to as hardening of the arteries and just a normal part of getting old. I thought what a horrible thing it was to become old!
As time went on, I noticed mail would be returned, either because my mother did not add postage or address the envelope properly, or because the check inside to pay a bill was written in complete gibberish. She would say with the saddest puppy dog face, “I made a mistake, didn’t I?” As a result, I cannot write a check without scouring over it a dozen times to make sure it is correct.
Then there was the time she told me to take her to the bank. She told the teller she needed to withdraw $2,000. My father wanted her to. The teller was arguing with her and I found out she did not have that amount of money in the account. The teller was looking at us like we were trying to pull something. I am lucky she didn’t call security. I tried to explain to her that my mom has a problem, painful to do with her standing right there, plus the teller didn’t seem to believe me and the whole experience was humiliating.
At my parents’ house I would find all kinds of crazy things, like plates stacked together wet, with mold in between. The silverware in the drawer was unsorted in a big heap and my mom got violently angry at me when I noticed. Now, every day when I put away the clean silverware, I think about my mother and try to sort them as quickly as possible telling myself, phew, I am still able to do this and in record time! Maybe the Alzheimer’s ghost hasn’t come for me yet.
Another time I wandered into my parents’ basement pantry and found endless jars of pickles and spaghetti sauce. I counted them……..60 jars of pickles, and about as many of spaghetti sauce! I was devastated and felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. It became apparent that every time the neighbor lady took my mother shopping, she didn’t know what to buy so always bought pickles and spaghetti sauce. Sadder yet, is when the neighbor stopped taking her shopping altogether.
Throughout all of this, I would see her lose friend after friend and most of the relatives stopped visiting. No one wanted to interact with a shell of a person they once knew, not even me. The depth and intensity of the sadness of all of this is indescribable. I did not have the best relationship with my mom, but to see someone you once knew become so completely helpless and unrecognizable was sheer anguish.
I always feel I should have done more, but what? My father also had health issues and was incapable of taking care of his wife and my brother moved out of state. I, myself, was the mother of triplets and then another child 2 years later, so my involvement was quite restricted. The solution became to hire a live-in caregiver. I still sometimes have guilt about all of this, especially since my mom devoted her life to taking care of her own mother, but that is just the way things played out.
In the end stages, when my mother stopped recognizing who I was, it was the worst feeling and sadly, I don’t think she ever fully realized she had four grandchildren. I have a few photos of her with my kids when they were babies, but she looks wretched and it scares all of us to look at them. There is one photo, however, of when my youngest was born and we brought her over to meet my parents for the first time. We placed the baby next to my mom and she reached out her frail, weathered hand to gently touch her granddaughter’s face. I have this photo framed because it reminds me that even when you don’t seem to have any kind of mind left, you can still instinctively reach out to another human being in love.
This all causes me to wonder how God deals with us when our minds are gone and we can no longer pray or acknowledge Him. Are we in some other realm where He is more present? Are we waiting to be birthed into the next life like an infant in the womb? Does God just interact with the heart? Do other people have to step in for us? Your mind and memories are who you are. Without them you are just a breathing blob of body. People would try to comfort me by telling me the sense of hearing is the last to go and so my mother could still hear…….I had to cling to that, although I was not good at speaking loving words.
Shortly before she died in a nursing home, she spoke to me, which was rare at this point. She was trying to get out of the bed and told me she “was going home”. I didn’t know which home she really meant, but turns out God did take her home not too long after that. I can only hope she is now made whole and that a cure for this mind-robbing disease be found quickly.
Dedicated to my grandmother, Anna and my mother, Elizabeth.
What does God have to do with curtains? Well, I’ll tell you.
I dropped the kids off at school, cleaned the bathroom, and decided to hang the gold curtain panels I had bought for our new home. I found the curtains in the clearance pile at Wal-Mart for $5.00 per panel! A steal! I needed 6 panels, which totaled $30.00 compared to a custom curtain quote of $1,600!
I wanted the floor length size and there were only 3 packs left but one pack was a shorter length. I figured I have 3 windows, for this price I’ll make it work. As it turns out it was a blessing in disguise because the shorter panels looked much better on the main window anyway. It was too good to be true. The color looked great with the barn red walls and the price was unbeatable. I felt like I was a good steward of our finances.
I was so excited, I whispered, “Gee Lord, it seems like you have blessed me with these curtains for some reason, why would you care about curtains?” And He immediately seemed to respond, “because you care about Me.” Whoa! I wasn’t really expecting an answer!
I used to watch Joyce Meyer, a television preacher and author, and she would speak about being “anointed to shop”. I always could relate to that. I sure was “anointed” to shop for those curtains!
The whole experience got me thinking about how we can find God in all the little things that happen each day and talk to Him as we go about whatever we are doing. Nothing is too insignificant for our Creator that loves us, not even curtains. He meets all our needs. God will come to us wherever we are. Drawing us to Himself, communing with us, loving us, blessing us, surprising us, filling us with joy. Yes, even furnishing us with curtains!
Further, it occurred to me there is even some significance to the curtains being gold. Gold is associated with riches, blessing. It’s a precious metal that’s been around through the centuries. The first place Olympic medal is gold. Gold is used in jewelry and wedding rings. It symbolizes royalty. One of the gifts the Christ child, the King of Kings, was given, was gold. I looked up “gold” in my small Bible concordance. Wow! There are more entries for “gold” than most other words! Starting in Genesis through to Revelation, gold is mentioned.
So it was as if God gave me a golden gift of curtains, but even better, the gift of Himself and His presence in my day. Reminding me that each one of us, our faith, our Jesus, are all infinitely more precious than gold.
I’ll never look at those curtains the same way again. And it’s 2022 as I edit and post this, and those curtains are still hanging there, as gold as ever!
I used to always say, “Mother feels best when everyone’s in the nest.” Well, nowadays the nest has been mostly empty which is mostly good, but there are still lots of times when I am restless and worry about all of my “birdies”.
My youngest used to sit on the backyard swing for hours at a time. She helped her dad rebuild the swing section of the outdoor play set because she has loved to swing and rock since Day One, plus these days she likes to build things and use power tools. When she was little, she had a green plastic rocking horse we had to take everywhere she went for the first few years of her life until she no longer fit on it. Now, swinging is still her comfort but also her thinking and alone time (and even sing-on-the-swing time).
It would often aggravate me how much time she would spend out on that swing, even in the cold and rain, even during her college summers. But recently when I looked at that swing from my kitchen window, I was sad to see it sitting idle and I thought of the song, “Puff the Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul and Mary and it melted me to tears. How I wished she was still sitting out there. Memories of days gone by flooded over me.
Jackie Paper, the boy in the song, visits Puff the Magic Dragon by the sea and they have imaginary adventures together until one day, “Jackie Paper came no more”. He grew up. The dragon was sad, just like this mama. But alas, as necessary, I did my job.
Mama may feel best when everyone is in the nest, but they can’t stay there. There is an entire world to explore. They fly away as they should.
By the looks of that empty swing, it appears my youngest birdie has successfully flown out of the nest, soon to graduate from college. It’s a bittersweet time that moves me to tears and emotion as I write this. But all mamas have been there, in the land of Honah Lee, just like Puff.
I find it interesting the way different people receive gifts. Maybe this stems from my grandmother sobbing whenever she received a present. She would insist, “I don’t need anything for my last three days.” As a child, this always confused and frightened me. I felt dejected because she did not receive my gifts happily. Perhaps she felt unworthy. Sadly, as the years went by, we all just stopped giving her gifts.
I used to make a lot of handmade gifts for family and friends. It was very disappointing that after spending many hours on these projects, they often were not fully appreciated. I could have used that time in other ways or at least made myself something.
Some people have the nerve to return gifts back to the giver or criticize the gift! I have even been told to stop giving gifts! (I don’t think my gifts were that terrible?!)
Others always have to be “even”. Isn’t the purpose of a “gift” to expect nothing in return?
Still others have a sense of entitlement while some are completely ungrateful, never even thinking to send a thank you. On the other hand, there are those that are meticulous about always sending a thank you in the mail, which is becoming increasingly rare.
Some receive gifts graciously and without emotion so you can never tell if they like the gift or not. Not much fun to give these types a gift.
The most ideal gift-receiving style is reflected in those that love to receive gifts and can’t hold back their excitement, no matter what kind of gift, whether material, or gifts of time or talent. Just observe a child at their birthday party or at Christmas! They love being the center of attention and opening all those gifts! No feelings of unworthiness there. It reminds me of when the sinful woman poured expensive perfume on Jesus. (Luke 7:36-47) He graciously received her gift and forgave her sins, admonishing the Pharisees.
Also, when Jesus was born the Magi brought him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. (Matt 2:11) Later, at the Last Supper, Jesus broke bread and gave thanks. (Mark 14:22-24)
In order to instill a sense of gratitude in our children, we teach them to say “thank you” when they receive a gift and then to send a handwritten note.
I vividly remember the time my Catholic school nun read the Bible story of the ten lepers to us. (Luke 17:11-19) It really struck me that ONLY ONE, returned to say thank you to Jesus for being healed. How tragic. What a tremendous gift they were given, yet only ONE expressed his gratitude!
I think most of us would rather give gifts to the people that are open to receiving them and get excited and show some form of gratitude.
If we are open to the gifts around us, in all their forms, it can attract more gifts to come our way. People who feel unworthy or ungrateful miss a lot of gifts and opportunities like my grandmother did.
But none of this compares with the ultimate gift of Jesus dying on the cross for us. He gave the gift of Himself, so that we could have eternal life even though none of us are worthy of this immense gift.
How many of us would give up our very lives for another? How do we thank Jesus for this most precious gift?
So let us be more aware of the gifts we receive each day. From waking up in the morning, to the food we eat and the people we love, living life with an openness to the gifts around us, never forgetting to give thanks.
Today I learned that people are fragile, just like kites. Easily torn and broken.
It was an unseasonably warm, almost spring kind of day. The wind was fairly strong, as is typical in March. My youngest daughter, who seemed to have a flair for physics, had been constructing homemade kites out of tissue paper, popsicle sticks and tin foil. Her artistic side added beautiful ribbons and bows for tails, but the kites didn’t really fly all too well, even when she stood on the picnic table to help them along. So alas, I journeyed to the store in search of kites.
I found some colorful kites of varying shapes and sizes in the toy department at the store, and my four kids were excited to try them out right away. Unfortunately, we were so impatient we made the mistake of trying to fly them in front of the house where there were lots of trees.
My youngest had the grand idea of flying her kite while riding her bike. That turned into a big tangled mess in the bike spokes, chain and handlebars resulting in her crying and running into the house.
Meanwhile, one of her older sisters and my son were doing a pretty good job navigating their kites around the trees, when my other daughter got hers stuck so badly in the tree that it took a ladder and a pole saw to chop off the entire branch the kite was stuck in! And so another child ran into the house crying!
What a nightmare it was! I was left feeling like the worst ogre mother in the universe because needless to say, I was not taking all of this very well. Who knew kites could provoke so much emotion!
Just like kites, life can become a tangled mess. We can easily become torn and broken. We can get stuck, waiting for someone to rescue us like a kite out of a tree. We must hold the kite tightly to anchor it or it will blow off into the wind like a loose balloon with no destiny.
So the question becomes, what is our anchor when life gets all tangled up and messy? Is it in Christ who holds us tightly if we let Him? Or do we run to something else that is not lasting or another flawed human who cannot possibly fill all our needs?
With a lot of patience and no obstructions, a kite will soar and fly beautifully, but that can only happen if it is anchored in someone’s skilled hand.
To this day, many years later, I still feel sad about how badly I handled that March day. It didn’t turn out all happy and delightful like the song, “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” in the movie Mary Poppins, but it is important to learn from our mistakes and move on and fly high, just like kites are supposed to do.
I was gazing out my kitchen window as I was eating breakfast one morning after a summer rainfall. The window didn’t have a screen at the time, but I decided to open it anyway. I was amazed at the difference in the clarity of the view without the screen or the window glass! The trees appeared clearer, the greens more vivid and bold. Everything looked better and fresher after the cleansing rain.
From time to time in our lives we should “open a window” so to speak. All too often we view the world through our particular screen and view life through our clouded experiences. We screen out the things we don’t like and maybe even pull down the window shade! Screens definitely have a purpose, they provide a filter against unwanted pests, but the trade-off is they can skew the clarity of the view.
It’s like rearranging the furniture in a room, we get a new perspective. Maybe a chair is in a new place in front of a different window view. We see things in a new way from a new angle. It’s good to do the same in our lives once in a while. Open the “window” and check out the view with an open mind. Maybe we will see something we didn’t before and will learn something new.
As it turned out, we spent extra money on a new screen for that window which provided a more “natural” view with less visual interference. I highly recommend it!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5
Having been on pregnancy bedrest with triplets, I have had to trust God like never before. I could eat nutritiously, follow the doctor’s orders, pray, but I really had no control over the outcome.
My constant prayer for myself and the three fragile lives inside me was, “Every breath is from you, O Lord.”
Fortunately, I had a happy ending to this story and my triplets just turned 25! Yet I often wonder, what if things had not turned out so well? Would I have been able to continue to trust in God’s goodness? And do I choose to humbly trust Him still? Back then I didn’t have much choice…….the babies were going to come out of my body in some way or another. But trusting God didn’t stop there. It is a constant struggle and in fulfilling my call to motherhood, I have had plenty of opportunities to learn to trust God over the years!
During the recent pandemic I have been further challenged to trust God in all things and found myself going back to my prayer from over 25 years ago, “Every breath is from you, O Lord”. While the world around me lived in fear, for the most part I was trusting God and not worried about illness. I was much more worried about the loss of freedom, the tyranny and all the economic and psychological damage from the promotion of fear over faith, shockingly even from most churches. It was as if fear had become a virtue which is not truth. God is in charge of every breath we take, from the first to the last, not any human being, the government or the church.
I don’t know what new challenges lie ahead for me in life, but my struggle to trust God is difficult and ongoing. All too often I find myself choosing fear over faith. Sometimes we have done all we can or know how to do and need to give the rest to God. I am glad His goodness and love is unchanging. And so I conclude with the words on the Divine Mercy image of Jesus as seen through the eyes of St. Faustina, “Jesus, I trust in You.”
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7
When my son was a little boy he would find money almost everywhere he went. He even had a small collection of foreign coins. Part of the reason was that he was looking! He looked under store shelves, in vending machines, in the dirt and sand at playgrounds. Sometimes he didn’t even have to look very far, money was on the ground right in front of him!
One day I noticed his piggy-bank was full of pennies and I said, “See how all those pennies add up.” He responded, “I know, I know.” Guess I wasn’t telling him anything new, but the incident made me realize I had found many pennies in my life but I had stopped picking them up. Suddenly those pennies reflected the lost opportunities in my life. How sad to think I could have not only been a bit richer financially, but more importantly, richer in opportunities.
I now pick up those pennies and let them remind me to take the opportunities that come along in life. I encourage you to do the same. And as for my son, not surprisingly, he now has a job in finance!
“I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,” is a line from a song entitled “Shout to the Lord” by Darlene Zschech. I was listening to it one summer day as I was gazing out the bedroom window of our new home. I was enjoying the bright blue sky and the view of tall pines when those words suddenly jumped out at me and I was filled with such wonder and awe at God’s marvelous creation that I could barely stand it!
More often I fail to see the ordinary beauty around me because I long for the spectacular experiences I’ve had like staring down into the Grand Canyon or hiking to a mountaintop in Yellowstone National Park to see the sunrise. But all moments of life are spectacular in their own way, and the challenge is to see the miracle in the mundane. To see the world around us like an infant discovering it for the first time. Babies get so excited! Everything has a name–a language learned. Tree, flower, sun, bird! How spectacular! How do we busy, burdened adults recapture the wonder of an infant? I should like to keep trying!
One reason I went back to the Catholic Church is because it is often a beacon of light in a dark world. But to my dismay, when Bergoglio was at the helm, it was anything but.
He was a man who appeared more concerned with saving the planet than souls. He pandered to false religions and gods rather than Jesus Christ alone. He often pleased the globalists and Marxists, rather than God. Frequently he sowed confusion rather than unity.
Since he is viewed across the world stage and supposed to be a representative of Jesus Christ on this earth, he is held to higher standards than the average Christian partly due to his greater visibility and influence.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, since you know that we will be judged more severely. (James 3:1)
What alerted me to Bergoglio’s “un-popely” behavior was his acceptance of the Pachamama (goddess of fertility and nature) at the Vatican, and his involvement with the Amazon Synod. This allowed idols and false gods to be present at the Vatican!
Shouldn’t he be trying to lead people to the truth of Jesus Christ? And things kept getting worse. A drag performance was held at the Vatican as part of a children’s event.
Bergoglio also promoted (false) climate change ideologies. He was not a scientist, but he was a globalist/Marxist. Yes, we are to be stewards of the earth, but we do not hold the earth over human life, play into the hands of the globalists or partake in climate fear-mongering. This also served as a distraction from what he should be promoting, which is the faith.
The people he appointed to powerful and top positions were not the most godly choices. Archbishop Victor Manuel “Tucho” Fernandez was appointed as head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and wrote the book, Heal Me with Your Mouth – The Art of Kissing. A VERY disturbing book. It is scary to think of this person as head of doctrine! And in January 2025 the Pope appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy to lead the archdiocese of Washington, D.C., a very controversial choice.
While Bergoglio promoted shady players, he had no problem with faithful shepherds being relieved of their duties, among them: Father James Altman, a priest in the LaCrosse, Wisconsin Diocese, Father Frank Pavone, a pro-life activist and National Director of Priests for Life, and the beloved and faithful shepherd, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas. Now relieved of their duties, these priests are actually able to do more for the church.
Bergoglio also cracked down hard on the Latin Mass rite. The Novus Ordo mass is the current rite since Vatican II which was held in the 1960’s, but there are still some who enjoy the beauty and tradition of worshipping through the Latin Mass. These are often very faithful Catholics. Of course Marxists don’t like faithful Catholics. They get in the way of nefarious agendas.
Bergoglio also pushed the evil, experimental mRNA injections under the false guise of caring for others. No person, Pope or otherwise, has the right to tell people what to do with their bodies and healthcare or use guilt tactics against them.
Each person’s health needs are different, there is no one-size-fits-all. The Pope is not a medical doctor. He leads a church, not medical facilities. It is just more proof he was in bed with the globalists, not respecting the God-given freedom of each person. (Interestingly, famous and powerful public figures always seem to get the best healthcare.)
His stands on the priest abuse scandal were weak or lacking. His endorsement of same-sex blessings was out of line with doctrine and Scripture. Anyone can go to a priest for a blessing, but by singling out same sex couples, he appears to validate their choices thus giving them license to sin. This also creates confusion among the faithful of what the real stance on these issues is by the Catholic Church.
A Pope or Christian leader needs to be clear on issues of morality, not wishy-washy or pandering to the current culture. They need to point out consequences to sinful behavior, not minimize or encourage it. The church is to change the culture, not allow the culture to change the church.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
Bergoglio has even seemed to be heretical at times. This is not acceptable behavior for a Pope. He wished hell would be empty and supposedly said sinful people don’t end up in hell they just “disappear”. Eric Sammons, the editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine puts it well, “Hoping that hell is empty will do much to fill it up.”
He has made the statement that all religions are paths to God and proclaimed on national television, that people are fundamentally good. Neither of these is true and against Catholic Church teaching. We are all sinners. There is nothing “good” about sin.
Speaking these kinds of things adds to the confusion and leads people astray while downplaying the seriousness of sin and its consequences.
I wish I didn’t have to call attention to some of these things, but I cannot in good conscience, remain silent. It is our duty to call out heresy and evil lest more people be led down the path of destruction. If we blindly accept evil, sinfulness and lies from our leaders, thinking they can do no wrong, we are complicit.
A Pope is a mere man. We follow God, not man.
But one man does not a church make. There have been good and bad Popes throughout history and there will continue to be. There are FAR more laity than hierarchy so we have the power to spread the Gospel in our own little corner of the world. We don’t need permission from a Pope, church leader or any other person to do God’s work on this earth.
No one is perfect, but Bergoglio made errors, that appeared purposeful. He certainly should have known better. This can have serious and widespread consequences.
This current conclave is made up of imperfect men with 80% appointed by Bergoglio to try to stack the odds in order to continue his evil momentum. The Holy Spirit guides these gatherings, but men still have the free will to make either a good, or bad choice. They can unfortunately choose to follow the world rather than God. We pray this won’t be the case.
Yet we have nothing to fear for God has promised His church will prevail until the end.
In Conclusion
Ultimately, we must be concerned with the state of our own soul. We can help others try to see the truth and pray that they do, but each person has free will and must make their own choices.
We must not sabotage our own salvation because of another human being, a church, or the culture.
The church can and must do better in the future.
In the end, I currently still make the choice for Catholicism. It makes the most sense historically and is rich in tradition, truth and beauty.
We will all stand in judgment one day so we must seek God and try to follow His truth as proclaimed in the Scripture as best we can, trying not to follow an errant Pope, preacher, pastor, politician, or friend. So that when we get to the finish line we can hear these words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matt. 25:23)
Now, more than ever, we must try to be a light in a dark world.
