February  6,  2021

 

YOU   GOTTA   LAUGH!

 
Sometimes you gotta laugh.
 
Sometimes you have to know
they were not laughing at you.
 
Sometimes you have to give a bit
to give the others a lot of laughing joy.
 
Sometimes you have to discover
that Mary is not the only one full of Grace.
 
Sometimes you’ll know this life is just
the beginnings of the laughter to come.
 
Some time in the future we’ll be in the third day:
pregnancy – birth – then death and resurrection.
 
Then we’ll know that all these little laughs were
preparing us for the Great Laugh: Eternity With God.
 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

 February 5,  2021

 

STANDING OVATION

 

 

Have you ever had a standing ovation?

 

Have you ever thought  you did something

that deserved a standing ovation?

 

Have you ever stood up for someone

you thought deserved a standing ovation?

 

Did everyone else stand up as well?

 

How about your mom and dad

at their 25^th or 50^th wedding anniversary?

 

How about your spouse - if you’re married -

walking out of a hospital after a big operation?

 

How about God – as you stood  there

watching a sun rising at the ocean?

 

When were the moments in your life

that you burst out with, “Oh my God!”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

February  5,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“I suppose all we can really share with people is a taste for the same kinds of weather.”

 

 

Zelda Fitzgerald

February  4,  2021

 

INNER  CHATTERING  WORDS

 

Do my words,
perhaps puzzles,
take you to places
inside of you that
you have stopped visiting?

Do they make you laugh?
Do they made you cry?
Do they make you wonder
how you ever got to where
you are in the first place?  

Oh - oh – oh - I’m hoping,
I’m wondering if you know
that we love you - but

more importantly - if you
know - you are so loveable?

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

February  4,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“People are like almanacs, Bonnie – you never can find the information you’re looking for,  but the casual reading is well worth the trouble.”

 

 Zelda Fitzgerald

 February  3,  2021

 

WHAT  WERE  YOU  NOT  THINKING?

 

 

“Hey God,” an angel came flying to God, and asked: “What were you not thinking when you made humans?”

 

“What are you talking about?” said God.

 

“Well, I’ve been noticing an interesting quirk they have.”

 

“Pray, tell?” said God.

 

“It’s this thing called ‘illusion’.”

 

“What are you talking about?  What do you mean ‘Illusion?’”

 

“They think a piece of fruit – say an apple – that it will last forever.”

 

“Interesting. Tell me more.”

 

“Apples fall. There’s such a thing as gravity!”

 

“Tell me more!”

 

“And they age. They rot. A fruit tree – and a garden – is loaded down with knowledge.”

 

“For example.”

 

“Illusion.  I’m telling you that the place is loaded – life – apples, peaches, pears and plums …. People are filled with illusions – and they have to fall  before they can rise.”

 

“Oh, okay,” said God. "I guess time will tell a lot more."

 

[A moment of quiet….]

 

“Wait a minute,” said God. “Who thinks who is the smarter?  The man or the woman?”

 

And the angel said with a smile, “Oh, that’s an illusion - if there ever was an illusion.”

  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

Painting on Top:

Louis Delsarte,

Adam and Eve, 

a scene in his mosaic,

"Transitions".

February  3,  2021

 

Thought for the Day 

 

“Youth doesn’t need friends – it only needs crowds.”

 

Zelda Fitzgerald

 February  2,  2021

THREE  CHOICES

 

You have 3 choices:

rock, water, or wood?

 

I choose water:

the journey is much more interesting.

 

Especially in the form of rain or river

but hugging an ocean liner isn’t too bad.

 

Or water in an oasis – waiting –

just waiting to refresh a thirsty traveler.

 

But as an ice cube at a party

is a chance to listen, really listen.

 

A glacier – now that could mean

a waiting, waiting, waiting for a thousand years.

 

And laugh – and God laughed and spoke:

“I did well and interesting  with H2O, didn’t I?”

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

February  2,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“It is the loose ends with which men hang themselves.”

 

 Zelda Fitzgerald

 February  1,  2021

 

IF  YOU  HAD  A  CHOICE?

 

If you had a choice, which would choose to be?
 
A bird, but what kind of a bird?
 
A cat: tiger, house pet, which?
 
An ape: chimpanzee, gorilla, which one?
 
A dog: pug, terrier, St. Bernard, choose one?
 
A fish: shark, whale, salmon, gold fish, choose one?
 
A human: mother, father, new born baby?

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

 

February  1,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“Emptying the ashtrays was very expressive of myself. i just lump everything in a great heap which i have labeled ‘the past,’ and having thus emptied this deep reservoir that was once myself, i am ready to continue.”

 

Zelda Fitzgerald

January 31,  2021

 

GOD – ARE YOU LISTENING?

 

If there is nothing after this,

then a lot of people are going to be

really angry with You, God.

 

If there is nothing after this,

then all these people

who were murdered – all these

people at Auschwitz and Buchenwald,

Babiy Yar and Hiroshima and September 11^th,

they are going to be really angry with You God.

 

If there is nothing after this, 

then all these babies who were killed,

all these kids who never got a chance

to live some life on this planet,

while others had so much just handed to them,

then a lot of people 

are going to be really angry with You, God.

 

And, it there is no hell, 

if there is no - some kind of punishment -

for all these people who abused and 

made life horrible for others  - 

then that might be another big group of people 

who will be angry with You, God.

 

And if there is a heaven,

if we arrive there with a memory,

God, how the hell are You 

going to figure and straighten all this out?

 

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

January  31,  2021 

Thought for the Day 

“It’s terrible to allow conventional habits to gain a hold on a whole household; to eat, sleep and live by clock ticks.”

 Zelda Fitzgerald