THE  BACK  OF  YOU

Be careful when you find yourself

wanting to see the back of another -

when you want this other to disappear,

so you can have it all to yourself.

Surprise! It’s  then you might discover -

when this other is long gone - it’s you

who are the problem. It’s you, you have

to face - without anyone else to blame.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July  13, 2019 - 

Thought for today: 

“Some folk who would be horrified to think themselves saintly live in an almost continuous consciousness of God.”  

John W.  Lynch,  

Hourglass, 1952

July 12, 2019

A  MOMENT’S  PRAYER

It’s good for our gut,

it’s good for our brains.

it’s good for our self-awareness,

to take a moment each day -

to stop everything -

and to simply say to God,

“Hi” or “Hello!”

To breathe, to feel one’s pulse,

to be aware of being alive -

and then to love the Lord, our God,

with our whole heart, mind, soul

and strength and ask God for help

to  love our neighbor as ourselves today

and then to move on down the street.

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

C. Matthew 22: 34-40

July 12, 2019

Thought for today: 

“Fight your own sins, not the sins of others.” 

Confucius, Analects.

 5^th Century B.C.

July 11, 2019

MONTE  CASSINO

81 miles - southeast of Rome - is Monte

Cassino.  If you ever get to Rome, get to

Cassino. Go to the mountain!

If you do, you’ll be standing on history.

It’s been the place of religion and power

through the centuries: BC and  AD.

It’s been bombed and blasted - sacked

and rebuilt - over and over again. It’s the

place Benedict and monks praised God.

People died here, cried here, worshiped

and watched from here - and waves of

soldiers climbed and clawed to the top.

Monte Cassino - if you get there, wonder

there, get what happened here, you’ll say

“I’ve been to the mountain!” in a new way.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July  11, 2019

Thought for today:


“Theology is an incubus that a humanist can never shake off.  He may seek refuge from theism in atheism or from animism in materialism.  But after each desperate twist and turn he will find himself committed to some theological position or other. Theology is inescapable, and it is dynamite.”   

A.J.  Toynbee, A Study of History, 

Volume XII, Reconsiderations, 1961

July 10, 2019

SANDBOX

Who was the first person who came up

with a sandbox as a way to keep kids busy?

All that is needed is sand and water,

a small shovel and a small pail.

It’s perfect for kids learning  

to play together and to be creative.

Dig, hide, build, to prepare them for

bigger projects at the summer beach.

Wait! Take pictures - watch what they

are doing - you’re seeing their future.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July 10, 2019

Thought for today:

“Hatred for Judaism is at bottom hatred for Christianity.”  

Sigmund Freud, 

Moses and Monotheism, 1939

July 9, 2019

SWING

Who was the first person who came up

with a swing as a way to keep kids busy?

Was it just a rope or a vine? Did the kid

just swing back and forth imitating Tarzan?

Was it with a piece of wood - a swing -

to sit on and sail through the air on?

The face tells everything whether or not

we’re enjoying the back and forth called "Life."

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July  9, 2019

Thought for today:

“The only sin which we never forgive in each other is a difference of opinion.”  

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Clubs 1877

July  8, 2019 -

Thought for today:

“I am the vessel.  The  draft is God’s.  And God is  the  thirsty  one.”  

Dag Hammarskjold,  

Markings, 1964

July 8, 2019

SEESAW

Who was the first person who set up

a plank as a seesaw to keep kids busy?

Did they realize it would bring laughter

and joy - besides great teaching?

Life: it calls for balance if you

want to keep things fair and funny.

Life: it has its ups and downs and

the biggest kid can stop the game.

Life: how you see and what you see

depends on where you’re seeing from.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July 7, 2019

INCOMPETENCE

Passing by a full length mirror

I stopped to look and saw only

myself: Framed Incompetence.

“Oooooh!” That hurt! Big time.

But to be self-honest, I spotted

in the mirror broken promises

and a lot of unfinished business.

“Oooooh!” That hurt! Big time.

I looked away from the mirror

to look at others - to see their

faults - their incompetences.

“Oooooh!” They too hurt! Big time.

I went back to the mirror.

I went back to myself.

I realized that’s where I must begin.

“Oooooh!”  Where I hurt.

Looking in a mirror is judgment time

and it’s where I hurt I must retell love

into myself - in the places where I hurt.

“Oooooh! Lord. That  feels right.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

July  7, 2019 

Thought for today: 

“Fanaticism is … overcompensation for doubt.”  

Robertson Davies, 

in The Manicore, 

Viking, 1972