Thorns and Mud

Paraphrased from a Facebook post by Andy Reyes, sent from Cuba …

Each receives according to what is given. 
If you give hatred and indifference, you will receive the same. 
But if you give attention and affection, you will receive affection and love. 
No one gets close to the thorns, because of what they represent.

No one gets close to the mud, because of what it represents. 
But everyone appreciates flowers, because they give beauty and fragrance. 
Each receives according to what is given. 

Just another way of saying you reap what you sow, but interesting to think about the thorns and the mud in our life. They are there, even if we look to avoid them. And as children of God, that is only part of our task … it is our responsibility to change them if we can, so that others don’t fall into the thorns or the mud. I pray that I can see the thorns and mud for what they are … opportunities to learn and teach.

Remember Me

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

So said the thief on the cross beside Him that day in Calvary. So sing we at Mass, in a hymn that resonates with me. What a hopeful phrase, one that we can all live by and hopefully live up to.

Will Jesus remember us? If we don’t let Him into our lives, should we expect Him to? Those are big questions. As believers, we want to believe that He will … but we have to work hard to assure it. In my mind, it is not a given. Whether you believe in heaven or not, if there is an afterlife, it will be a joy to be a part of it … it will be true grace to be remembered when the time comes. And we have daily chances to create lives and legacies that will be worth remembering … both here on earth and at the gates to heaven.

I pray that I always keep in mind what it will take to be remembered … 

Changed for Good

Went to see the play Wicked recently … enjoyed it immensely and could see it again and again. There is one song that stuck with me, so I looked up the lyrics … deep meaning there … here is a section of the song that moved me …

It well may be, that we will never meet again

In this lifetime, so let me say before we part:

So much of me is made of what I learned from you,

You’ll be with me, like a handprint on my heart.

And now, whatever way our stories end,

I know you have rewritten mine, by being my friend.

Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?

But, because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

That song is a wonderful reminder to me of how people can change our lives, of how I can be a force for good with others. There are so many ways we help people all day long and it’s good to be reminded that even chance encounters offer us a chance to leave handprints on hearts. Think about how you can touch a heart today … there is always a need, if only you and I reflect on how we can best use our handprints.

One other thing I think … if Jesus is your friend, your life has in fact been rewritten. And you have in fact been changed for the better … and for good.

Why Are We Here?

I was flipping through a little book called Success: Quotes for Achievers and saw this from Woodrow Wilson, a US President we don’t hear much about … “You are not here to make a living. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget that errand.”

Great message, simply put. We have a choice but if we veer away from our life’s responsibility, we indeed do sell ourselves short. And God by extension. Remember your errand … it is an awesome responsibility, and such a positive for the world. Jesus will help you achieve your destiny and enrich the world ... trust Him.

Run Home

Jennifer Hudson, the singer, on 20/20 a couple of weeks ago … “So often we get lost by other people’s opinion and you lose yourself, but I don’t want to lose me. Music is like home, for me … it’s that base. And anytime you’re lost, anytime you’re trying to find your way, anytime you’re scared … you run home.”

When we were children, that was so true. Home was the safe place, no matter what. It was where comfort was, whether that was our room, our parents, our favorite foods, our blankie or stuffed animals. Home was the center.

For us as adults, home is still our safe place, where we often feel most comfortable. Home is where we are truly ourselves, where we find the time to think and prepare, where we are most happy and probably most sad, when we face challenges. And when we are “lost” or trying to find a new way after a disappointment or when we fear, home is a place that can re-center us and give us the time we need.

Jesus too is like home for us … He is a safe place to turn to. If we get lost in the world or in ourselves, He is there. If we listen too much to others, we may fail to listen to Him. But He is home, our true center. I pray we know that we can run to Him in faith, knowing we are indeed home. And at the end, home at last.

Hungry for Meaning

From a fellow writer who is finding her new voice and purpose more every day, this is a quote she uses in her email signature … "Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth or power.  Those rewards create almost as many problems as they solve.  Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will at least be a little bit different for our having passed through it." – Harold Kushner

Now THAT is a powerful statement, one that should resonate with us all …

First of all, life is in fact about our souls. Not fame or comfort. Not wealth or power. Those are important to many people, but they are secular and fleeting, and they can be lost. Or taken away from you, as happened to our family when we left Cuba behind and started our lives over in America. They are not the things that matter, in the end. And never forget … it is in fact about the end.

Second, it is an inherent truth that we are hungry for meaning. We want our lives to matter, and it is heroic to have that inborn perspective. But only if we recognize and accept that responsibility. Some people are very visible heroes but all people can be palpable heroes, if only they choose to. Some people are what I call “loud and proud” but most of the real heroes in life are hidden in the wings, not on stage but there just outside the periphery, helping others play their parts.

Third, we CAN make the world a little different. It is in our power, if only in the corner of the world that we influence or live in. And isn’t that the most important corner for each of us? In our industry which is based on sponsoring people, we say “each one, reach one” … isn’t that what we should all be looking to do, every chance we get.

Don’t just pass through. Think more and you will know how best to make a difference … God will lead you.

True Health

From a Facebook post about nutrition … "The greatest wealth is health, so invest accordingly. For most people, medical care contributes 5% to 15% to good health. So being healthy is more reliant on self care, not medical care. Persistence and a real focus on health can add years to your life. Thirty minutes of mild exercise per day has been shown to cut heart attacks and strokes in half, and exercise is more potent in depression than any antidepressant. Take a walk today.”

I see this and I also think spiritual health. If the greatest wealth is spiritual health, then how do we best invest? Spiritual health is definitely reliant on “self care”, though our churches can provide us with the community that can provide that 5% to 15% or more of spiritual care. But the fact is that persistence and a real focus on spiritual health … through prayer … can in fact add years to our life, and bring us to eternal life. Talk about adding time.

Thirty minutes of prayer is indeed potent in more ways than we can ever imagine. I have seen that in my own life, having lived through a significant depression with the grace of Jesus and prayer. Taking a walk today, a walk with Jesus, is always an awesome antidote, to most of life’s travails and challenges.

His Light

A Facebook post from a friend touched me … “Turn your eyes upon Jesus … Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of the earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

I am a wordsmith and I love the pace of those words, the way they make me think and feel. I can sense myself making that turn and realizing He is there, right there.

It is His light that fights the darkness we sometimes see. And too, it fights the bright lights of purely material and secular things of the earth. There is no comparison, none at all. Maybe that’s the attraction I feel for this post … I don’t know where those words came from but they are on point and memorable. Pray today that we have a chance to see His glory and grace, up close and personal.

Failed Solitude

From Sherry Turkle, an MIT professor and author of Alone Together, a book about technology and the self … “If you get into these online Facebook thumbs-up/thumbs-down settings, a paradoxical thing happens: even though you're alone, you get into this situation where you're continually looking for your next message, so you can have a sense of approval and validation. You're alone but looking for approval as though you were in fact together, the little red light going off on the Blackberry to see if you have somebody's validation. I make a statement in the book that if you don't learn how to be alone, you'll always be lonely, because loneliness is failed solitude. We're now raising a generation that has grown up with constant connection, and only knows how to be lonely when not connected. The capacity for generative solitude is very important for the creative process, but if you grow up thinking it's your right and due to be tweeted and re-tweeted, to have thumbs up on Facebook … that is losing your personal capacity for autonomy, both intellectual and emotional.”

What folly it is, living and dying by what others say to us or about us. Perhaps it is more the purview of the young, but it is of no use whether it is driven by technology or psychology … there is simply less value in “waiting by the phone” than in doing something productive and learning, even if alone.

I have not heard of the concept of “failed solitude” but it hit a nerve with me, as a writer and a bit of a loner. Thinking about it, it is a scary concept … it is a failure of resolve and of the self. It is unnecessary, even for an extrovert. To me, it feels like a lack of interest … and for some, a waste of valuable time and energy.

Happy Day

‎"May the strength of God pilot us, may the wisdom of God instruct us, may the hand of God protect us, may the word of God direct us. Be always ours this day and forever more." - St. Patrick 

Let us rejoice in St. Patrick and all the saints today … they are our guiding lights, and always will be.