February 27,  2021

THE  EDGE  OF THE  WATER

 

At least once a week
walk along the edge of
a river, a lake, or if you’re
blessed like me – along
the edge of the ocean.
 
Go down and touch the water -
renew your baptism – thank
God for the gift of this water
on this planet – otherwise
there would be no life.
 
Every day – drink at least
7 glasses of this precious
water. Lift it up in consecration.
Toast God.  Thank God for it – this
the first of the 7 sacraments of creation.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

February  27,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“Great books write themselves, only bad books have to be written.”

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald

 February  26, 2021

HONESTY 

To me the key
when it comes to honesty –
is the pause in the brain –
when I hear myself say,
“Wait a minute. That’s not true.”
Then what do I do?
Do I tell the truth – or do I tell the lie?
It’s that moment that’s key to my future -
to who I am and whom I am to become.
Honestly: it’s small and subtle at first –
but it’s at each of those moments
I am sculpting myself.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

February  26,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“It’s a great advantage not to drink among hard drinking people.”

 

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald

February  25,  2021

REDEMPTORISTINES

 

And you thought nuns wore just black and blue?
Nope. Not all.
And you thought nuns just prayed and taught?
Nope.  Not all.
And you thought nuns just took care of the sick and the poor?
Nope. Not all.
And you never thought they might just sing and dance.
Nope. Not all.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

February  25,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“Can’t repeat the past? … Why of course you can!”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

 February  24,  2021

 

“LET’S GO TO THE VIDEOTAPE?”

Imagine if everything we did was on videotape?
 
Would that make a difference in what we say and do?
 
Imagine if the other said, “Let’s go to the videotape?”
 
We can banter. We can lie. We can deny, deny, deny.
 
But if we went to the videotape, we might  cry, cry, cry.

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

 February  24,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

“Family quarrels are bitter things.  They don’t go according to any rules. They’re not like aches or wounds, they’re more like splits in the skin that won’t heal because there’s not enough material.” 

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald 

 February  23, 2021

February 23,  2021

 BUMPER  CARS

 
What makes bumper cars so much fun?
 
Is it that an 80-year-old lady can bump
a teenager – and laugh and love  it?
 
Is it so a teenage girl can flirt with a
teenage boy – with a “not-me” face?
 
Is it so little kids can have the wheel
and drive and laugh and crash with joy?
 
What makes bumper cars so much fun?

 

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

 

 

 February 23,  2021

Thought for the Day

 

“Life cracked like ice!”

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

 February  22,  2021

 LIMITS

 

Is that one of life’s biggest lessons:
limits.  There are limits. Cliffs have
guard rails. Most roads have signs
telling us how fast we  can drive.
 
The new born baby is not going to
last for 130 years.  Lungs have only
so many ins and outs.  So too heart
beats. So too tires and soles of shoes.
 
The owner of the restaurant needs
the table for more customers. So
too the roller coaster or the merry-go-
round. In other words, I am not God.

 

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

February 22,  2021

Thought for the Day

 

“At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look;  at forty-five they are caves in which we hide.”

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald

February  21, 2021

UNPACKING  A   LIFE

 

Growing up there were 4 black and white
photographs hanging on their living
room wall: his parents wedding portrait,
a family photo of a family picnic,
a grandfather in a baseball uniform,
and 4 cousins as kids in a playpen.
 
It was that baseball player who was the icon –
the key photograph. It was his grandfather
who almost made it to the major leagues.
He was the only one in his generation who went
to college and went to war. And he brought his
mom’s generation – 3 daughters – into the story.
 
For some reason – in his 40’s – he began to
unpack his grandpa’s - the baseball player’s story.
We could do this for anyone – but in this story
it was done for the baseball player’s story.
He found out that his grandfather had thoughts
of becoming a priest, a piano player, or a sculptor.
 
His grandfather – he found out – was an introvert –
who left lots of poetry, lots of photos, 5 books of
journals – stories about  visiting the aged in 2 nursing
homes, raising a family – but  there was nothing about his job as an executive in an insurance company.  
“Wow, that’s a whole lifetime  to unpack.”
 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

February  21,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“To write it,  it took three months;  to conceive it three minutes;  to collect the data in it,  all my life.”

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald