Reading, thinking, and sharing . . .
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Dear <<First Name>>,
I read a lot of things early in the morning, right after exercise and morning prayer. Many thought-provoking daily emails are sent by various organizations in the middle of the night and are dependably in my email inbox when I first fire up my newly charged iPad. The sources of these range from secular to sacred, technical to newsy, political to spiritual, practical to philosophical and theological, embracing perspectives that might be considered "liberal/leftist" all the way through to "conservative/right-wing."
(How I hate those labels! They are so often used by intellectually lazy and morally shallow folks to label people as enemies just because they are perceived as disagreeing with them. "Well of course you say that because you are [choose your label]." or "You can't reason with those [choose your label] because they won't listen." Maybe a good New Year's resolution might be to try to check our use of pejorative labeling of others in our conversation. And don't say that it's "the other guy" who should be making that resolution.)
Early in the New Year, I'd like to take you on a tour of my reading material with, of course, a running commentary which will be alternately cooing and cranky. Maybe I'll make that one of my New Year's resolutions -- although that might the kiss of death.
As we come to the end of 2020 and, if we're honest, approach 2021 with a mixture of hope and deep dark dread, I'd like to share a few thoughts with you, courtesy of Fr. Medard Laz and his "Treats for the Soul", which I highly recommend.
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I can resonate with this . . .
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ME IN 2019: “If I could just have a week or two with nothing to do and nowhere to go, I could finally get this house cleaned up and get my life organized.”
ME IN 2020: “Nope, the pandemic showed me that wasn’t the problem.”
ME IN 2021: “I’d better figure out what my real problem is!”
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A handy way of praying . . .
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At the beginning of this New Year, Jesus takes your hand and invites you to pray….
The thumb – Pray for those who are the closest to you.
The pointing finger – Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal.
The tallest finger – Pray for our leaders, no matter how much you might despise some of them.
The ring finger – Pray for those who are married and for families to stay strong.
The little finger – Pray for yourself, your own needs, “the least shall become the greatest.”
Do pray the Hand Prayer today and throughout the coming New Year.
YOU MAY BE THE ONLY JESUS SOME PEOPLE WILL EVER SEE!
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I can't resist an obvious and irreverent aside: Is it by accident that the "tallest finger" is for "our leaders"? Just askin'. . .
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Another good resolution . . .
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Here's today's "Treat for the Soul". It kind of continues the "non-labeling" resolution I mentioned above.
At the beginning of a New Year, a high school principal decided to post his teachers’ New Year’s resolutions on the bulletin board.
As the teachers gathered around the bulletin board, a great commotion started. One of the teachers was complaining. “Why weren’t my resolutions posted?” She was throwing such a temper tantrum that the principal hurried back to his office to see if he had overlooked her resolutions.
Sure enough, he had mislaid them on his desk. As he read her resolutions he was astounded. This teacher’s first resolution was not to let little things upset her in the New Year.
When I’m really honest with myself, I find that I’m very much like that teacher. I tell myself, I even make a resolution, that I’m not going to let little things upset me. Then someone starts talking about a political figure I strongly disagree with and I get upset and speak my mind. I tell myself that it’s okay because these are not “little things.”
I have to admit that the people I admire the most are those who can stay above the fray. Jesus was one of them. When his disciples were arguing about who was the greatest, he put a little child in their midst. When confronted with paying the tax, he called for a coin and asked whose face was on it?
“You are most powerful when you are most silent. People never expect silence. People expect words, motion, defense, offense, back and forth. People expect you to leap into the fray. They are ready, fists up, words leaping from their mouths. But silence? NO.” (Alison McGhee)
Am I going to be any different in 2021 in talking about politics and political figures? People who stay above the fray listen, stay silent, contribute and keep their cool. Above the fray people help others to move forward with their lives.
WAKE UP EACH MORNING IN 2021 WITH THE THOUGHT THAT SOMETHING WONDERFUL IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN…..GOD DOES!
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A few months ago, Fr. Medard Laz published a book, The Gathering: Jesus and Abortion, a Story for Our Time. It promises to reflect on what might be Jesus' plan to overcome the anger and contempt of both sides in addressing this most polarizing of issues. I bought it as soon as it was available, but haven't actually read more than the first few pages. So, I have another New Year's resolution: to read it ASAP and report back to you about it.
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I've decided in 2021 to discontinue a separate "Smiles" section. That doesn't mean I won't include humor (as I did above), but I think it's better that humor infuses our thoughts and our lives rather than be relegated to a special category. However, If you want the complete collections of humor that I compiled a few years back -- from which I've drawn most of the "Smiles", you can easily read and download them as PDF files here. They are free too. And I invite you to share these links with your friends.
https://archive.org/details/TonOfSmiles
https://archive.org/details/chuckles-non-stop |
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Blessings, Peace, and Love,
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