November 30,  2019

SPINNING OR CENTERED?

Am I the spinning rim

or am I at the center still?

Can I stop in the middle

of it all and still know?

Am I the button or the thread,

the needle  or the hole?

Can I know the answers to my

questions or do I need another?

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

November 30, 2019 - 

Thought for today: 

“There  is  hardly  any enterprise which is started with such tremendous hopes and expectations, and yet, which fails so regularly, as love.”  

Erich Fromm, 

in The Art of Loving.

November 29,  2019

DIDN’T  READ  THE  SCRIPT

I didn't know there was a program ....

I didn't know there were steps ....

I didn’t read the script …

In fact I didn’t even know

it was in my top drawer ….

I just thought all was paradise …

I had my genesis - family, parents,

grandparents - spouse - children -

fruit trees - delicious - days with

red, red juicy apples. I didn’t know

there was forbidden fruit.

I didn’t read that part of the story.

I woke up from time to time

on the other side of paradise.

It was then that I refused grace.

I was hearing the banging

of garbage cans on hard sidewalks,

when I wanted to hear only music.

I found myself going down wrong roads

with fields of anxiety on both sides of me.

I didn’t know if I was in May or November ….

Then I found amazing grace ….

Then I found my exodus.

Then I realized there was a third volume

and a fourth and who knows how many more?

Then I realized there were others

who knew my story - because it was theirs.

It was then I began my recovery.

More ….

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

        
        

November 29, 2019 -

Thought for today: 

“Who dares, who can, preach, knowing what preaching is?”  

Karl Barth

November 28, 2019

“THANK  YOU”

It’s nice to hear those two words.

Easy does it: just slide them out -

like a “God bless you” when another

sneezes - and the other says back,

“Thank you!” Oh we have so much

to be thankful for: “Thank You God.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

November 28, 2019

Thought for today:  

“I confess that sometimes I wish they weren’t listening.  I can tell you, as a preacher, that I bear a terrible burden when people listen, really listen, from the depths of their souls.”  

William H. Willimon, 

What’s Right With The 

Church,  page 107, Harper, 

San Francisco, 1985

November  27,  2019

INNER  ROOM

My inner room isn’t that great.

I wish it was, but it just isn’t.

I’m not that neat out here,

and inwardly I’m worse.

I go in there from time to time,

to read, to pray, to think, to cry.

It’s not a garden. It’s not a temple.

It’s not a cave. It’s not a cathedral.

It’s not a mountain top. It’s not

calvary. It’s me - the deepest me.

So here I am from time to time.

Reading…. Praying …. Thinking…. Laughing….

©  Reflections  Andrew Costello

November 27, 2019 - 


Thought for today: 


“In His will is our peace: it is the peace into which all currents and streams empty themselves, for all eternity.” 

Dante

November 26, 2019

DRIFTWOOD

“driftwood” - I would never have put

those two words together - till I saw

a piece of driftwood - that had drifted

onto shore - all alone after - well I don’t

know how long you have had drifted out to sea.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

November 26, 2019 

Thought for today:

“We dance round in a ring and suppose, / 
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.”  

Robert Frost 

November 25, 2019

DROP  OUT

[Luke 15: 11-32

The Story of the

Prodigal Son]

Looking back now, 

it was the best thing

that ever happened to me.

But back then,

it was a disaster.

Didn’t you ever fall on your face?

Wandering the streets

alone … puzzled …

rejected … a drop out.

Then the decision

to get out of the Pig Pen

and go back home ….

It was a selfish move.

It was a survival move.

It was a smart move.

My brother …. now he has

another story. Some day I hope

he’ll make my move to come home.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

November 25, 2019 

Thought for today: 

“When we understand, we are at the center of the circle, and there we sit while YES and NO chase each other around the circumference.”  

Chuang-Tzu [c. 369-286 BCE]

November 24  2019

THREE  WORD  SPEECH EXERCISES

[Using a rosary, or if you prefer haphazard, calmly and clearly, practice saying one of these 3 word short sentences each day, till they are yours.]

I was wrong.

I hurt  you.

I need you.

I am sorry.

I forgive you.

I thank you.

I like you.

I love you.

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2019

November 24, 2019 - 

Thought for today: 

“Each  of  us is  the  accumulation  of  our memories.” 

Someone