October 2,  2021

THE SURROUND OF  ANGELS

 
There is so much that surrounds us:
memories, the hopes and wishes of
those people who love us, our dreams,
God, angels, and a billion other lingering’s,
and the invisible of God – Father, Son
and Holy Spirit…. They are with us –
as simple as those childhood pictures –
of us walking through the woods –
crossing a bridge – with our angels.

October    2,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“Nobody’s perfect. We’re all just one step up from the beast and one step down from the angels.”

Jeannette Wells

October 1,  2021

OCTOBER

Wonderful month.
It’s either Spring
or Fall all around
the world – the in-between month –
cool – but not too hot –
warm – but not too cold.
I’ll enjoy it – this time –
in between the birds
coming or going –
with leaves dying or budding,
death and resurrection –
all around the world.

 

 

                                                                                                      © Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

October    1,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

“A lie has speed, but truth has endurance."

 

Edgar J. Mohn

September 30, 2021

 

DISCOMFORT

 
Nobody has “Discomfort”
as their middle name – but
that’s just what they are -
when they walk into a room.
 
They are like a noisy shoe
or a cold cup of coffee – just
not what you want - first thing
in the morning - or late at night.
 
If they are lucky enough to
realize how they are – some
can change – and become like
seeing home after a long trip.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

September   30,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

“An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.” 

Victor Hugo

 

ANGELS

 
[Using today’s two readings –
one from Daniel – the gospel from John –
on this feast of the three angels –
Michael, Gabriel and Raphael –
let me engage you with
a tiny bit of imagination.]
 
When we die,
will we see thousands
and thousands and thousands
of angels surrounding
those who have just died – those
who have died from Covid
and from accidents – from all
the mysterious  ways life here ends –
unique to each of us?
Will we find ourselves becoming one
with vast clouds and crowds –
of those who have gone before us
flying forward to meeting God –
the Ancient One on his throne
in the next phase of life – His clothing bright as snow,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;
His throne flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire –
ministered by angels – messengers -
angels  - flocks of them – like birds –
like birds – flying over an autumn corn fields –
angels guiding and guarding us – 

Michael, Gabriel, Raphael –
as well as our guardian angel – with a unique smile
on his face - winging us to eternal life?
Our mind – excited – however minds 

make it into eternity –
wondering what’s next – and hopefully  like Nathanael
under the fig tree – we’ll hear Jesus say,
“You will see greater things than this.”
“You will see heaven opened and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
“Wooooooooh!”

September 29,  2021

 

    YOU  GOTTA  LAUGH

 
Sometimes you gotta laugh,
especially when things go wrong.
 
Sometimes how we handle
mix-ups shows what we’re made of.
 
Sometimes that’s the bigger message
than the one we planned on.
 
Sometimes that’s the message everyone
remembers – so laugh:  it’s much more fun.

 

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

September   29,  2021

 

 

 Thought for the Day

 

“Success is often the result of taking a misstep in the right direction.”

 

Al Bernstein

September 28,  2021

WITH  AWE

 
There are many things to pause
for a moment with – like before doing:
opening up a can of paint before painting
a room, tasting a cold glass of water
with ice cubes, showing your kid how
to “walk the dog” with a yo yo, flying a kite
with your daughter, going on your first
plane flight, hearing the pouring of cold
ginger ale into a tall glass – on a hot day,
and many more. There are many more
moments like that …. Don't miss them ….

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

September  28,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“The marriages  we regard as the happiest  are those in which each of the partners believes that he or she got the best of it.”

Sydney Harris

 September 27, 2021

O  MY  GOD!

 

Sometimes
when  something
amazing happens
we say, "Oh my God!"

I'd rather think
that God loves it
when we do something
extraordinary and amazing!

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

September   27,  2021 

 

Thought for the Day

 “Last night I spent an hour in the dark transept of St. Patrick’s Cathedral where I go now and then in my more lonely moods. An old argument with me is that the true religious force in the world is not the church but the world itself: the mysterious callings of Nature and our responses. What incessant murmurs fill that ever-laboring tireless church!  But to-day in my walk I thought that after all there is no conflict but rather a contrast. In the cathedral I felt one presence; on the highway I felt another.  Two different deities presented themselves: and, though I have only cloudy visions of either, yet I now feel the distinction between them.  The priest in me worshipped one God at one shrine; the poet another God at another shrine. The priest worshipped Mercy and Love; the poet, Beauty and Might.  In the shadows of the church I could hear the prayers of men and women;  in the shadows of the trees nothing human mingled with Divinity.  As I sat dreaming with the Congregation I felt how the glittering altar worked on my senses stimulating and consoling them; and as I went tramping through the fields and woods I beheld every leaf and blade of grass revealing or rather betokening the Invisible.”

 

Wallace Stevens, Journal

September 26, 2021 

WHENEVER

 
I enjoy who I am,
therefore I enjoy
wherever I am,
whenever I am.
 
How about you?
Do you like
who you are,
wherever you are?
 
If not, sit down
and I’ll listen.

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

September   26,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“The almost religious reverence for wood is, fortunately for us, among the many traditions that have stood the test of time.  A tree, like other natural phenomena, is believed to possess a spirit, and a carpenter,  when he cuts down a tree, incurs a moral debt.  One of the themes that runs throughout Japanese culture is the belief that nature exacts from man a price for coexistence. A carpenter must put a tree to uses that assure  its continued existence, preferably as a thing of beauty to be treasured for centuries.  There is a prayer that Nishioka recites before laying a saw to a standing tree.  It goes in part,  “I vow to commit no act that will extinguish the life of this tree.”

 

S. Azby Brown,

The Genius of Japanese Carpentry