January 8, 2022

 

SHAME  VS. THE REAL THING

 

God, to be honest, I do too many things out of shame.
 
Shame seems to be my predominant motive.
 
I don’t sin, because if I was caught, I’d be ashamed.
 
Too many times I’m here – not because I want to be here – but because I’d be ashamed not to be here.
 
Shame! Shame on me!
 
God what a façade I’m hiding behind.
 
Shame! Fear! Guilt!
 
These are pilots and co-pilots.
 
What should be my pilots and co-pilots are: Faith! Hope! and Charity!
 
They ought to hi-jack my plane.
 
But I don’t have the courage of my commitments and convictions
 
Better:  I’m not following my commitments or convictions.  I am following my fears.  I’m filled with guilt. I’m ashamed of my very motives – my basic being.
 
Do I then walk out?
 
Do I walk away?
 
Do I leave all?
 
I can’t.
 
Even though I’m here for the wrong reasons, people depend on me for the right reasons.
 
I told you this.
 
I’m admitting this.
 
Shame runs the engine in me.
 
God is that why you keep calling me into the desert?
 
Is that why you want me to make an Exodus?
 
Is that why you want me to cross the river – to climb the mountain – to retreat?
 
Sabbath, Exile, Exodus, are all so real, when I get right down to it.
 
40 years – 40 days – 4 days – 4 hours – 4 minutes – to let go – to be emptied.
 
Then to come out – as “Beloved” – doing all things - for all for the Lord’s reasons – the Lord’s way – clean and clear of shame.
 
Being ... doing... without shame... now that's the tricky trick ... how to be ... how to do that.
 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

 January  8,  2022

 

Thought for Today

 

“Two possibilities exist …
Either we are alone in the universe
or we are not.
Both are equally terrifying.”

 

Arthur C. Clarke

January 7, 2022

IMPLICATIONS

 
 
They are below the ice.
 
Everything we say has implications dripping from its words.
 
Everything we do is loaded with implications.
 
Life moves too fast – most of the time – for us to take the time – to become aware of the ocean of implications we need to navigate.
 
We speak.  We do. We remain silent. We make a phone call. Sometimes we have a sense of the implications involved in our behaviors.  We want others to respond to our words, our gifts, our actions, our signals.
 
Prayer is a great chance to listen to our heart – to stop – to hear our neediness, our poverty, our hungers, our thirsts – for recognition, for acceptance,  for inclusion, for love.
 
Prayer is a great opportunity to listen to God and his implications.
 
We were given the gift of life.
 
Our parents gave us the gift of life.
 
God gives life.
 
Implications.
 
Don’t neglect or miss them.
 
Implications: live life to the full.
 
A funeral passes by.  We see a row of cars with headlights on – following a hearse.
 
Implications: some day it will be my turn – just as it was my turn years ago – to be born – to come out of my mom – into the light of day.
 
A job – being given a job …. What are the implications, the designs, the hopes, the dreams of the boss?
 
A family – what does that imply?  Time with? Time for?  Listening?
 
Prayers:– my God, prayers are loaded with implications.
·       To forgive as I am forgiven;
·       To make sure all have daily bread;
·       To be an instrument of God’s peace.
 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

January  7,  2022

 

Thought for Today

“It’s easy to halve the potato where there’s love.”

 

Irish proverb

January 6, 2022

IMPLICATIONS

 

They are below the ice.

Everything we say has implications dripping from its words.

Everything we do is loaded with implications.

Life moves too fast – most of the time – for us to take the time – be become aware of the ocean of implications we are navigating.

We speak.  We do. We remain silent. We make a phone call. We want others to respond to our words, our gifts, our actions, our signals.

Prayer is a great chance to listen to our heart – to stop – to hear our neediness, our poverty, our hungers, our thirsts – for recognition, for acceptance for inclusion, for love.

Prayer is a great opportunity to listen to God and his implications.

We were given the gift of life.

God gives life.

Implications.

Don’t kill them.

Implications: give life.

Implications: live life to the full.

A funeral passes by.  We see a row of cars with headlights on – following a hearse.  Implications: some day it will be my turn – just as it was my turn years ago – to be born – to come out of my mom – into the light of day.

A job – being given a job …. What are the implications, the designs, the hope, the dreams of the boss.

A family – what does that imply?  Time with? Time for?  Listening?

Prayers – My God, they are loaded with implications.

    ·       To forgive as I am forgiven,
·       To make sure all have daily bread,
·       To be an instrument of his peace.
 
 
  
 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

January  6,  2022

 

Thought for Today

 

“People who cough incessantly never seem to go to the doctor.  They go to banquets, concerts and churches.”

 

CONVICTIONS

 
Prayer – moments of prayer – help us to get in touch with our convictions.
 
Too often we’re rootless – like an autumn leaf – dead, dried up, fallen on a hard sidewalk – blowing in the direction of the prevailing wind.
 
Prayer – better moments of prayer, moments of listening to God roots us, connects us to the human community – like grapes on the vine.
 
We become young again, green again, alive again.
 
Resurrection.
 
In the silence of prayer, we hear the call of God.
 
We discover that all are called to be prophets – people who have convictions.
 
Prayer lets us know what’s right and what’s wrong.
 
Prayers convict people.
 
We discover that we are convicts, imprisoned by food, television, money, public opinion.
 
We discover in prayer that God wants to free us- to break our shackles, to pardon us, to release us from prison, to lead us to promised lands.
 
Prayer helps u to see, to hear, to know the truth.
 
And the truth will set us free.
 
Prayer brings us face to face with the convictions of God:
 
·       Human rights,
·       Social justice,
·       Love one another,
·       Protect the children,
·       Protect the environment we all live in,            the air, the water,
·       Visit the sick,
·       Visit the  imprisoned,
·       Comfort those in sorrow or mourning.
 
Moments of prayer bring us face to face with God – the God of truth – and slowly we become convinced of his convictions.
 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

January  5,  2022

Thought for Today

“Growing older is not upsetting; being perceived as old is.”

 Kenny Rogers

January 4, 2022

FIND  THEM  EVERYWHERE

 

 You find them everywhere.
 
It is natural for us humans to build places of prayer.
 
Temples, mosques, churches, chapels dot the globe.
 
These “upper rooms” get us in touch with God in the upper room of our mind as well as in our inner center: our heart.
 
Holy Places help us to be holy – to be whole.
 
Holy Places help us to see the holiness of all places.
 
Holy Places help us to enter into heaven, into eternity, to be one with God – to be one with all people who have gone before us and those who are going to come after us.
 
Holy Places are the eye of the needle. We can’t fit in without letting go of our burdens – those inner burdens that bloat us, that fill us, that sap our energy.
 
Holy Places are the great equalizers.   We are all one when we are all in the same room together.
 
Chartres, Sancta Sophia, the Wailing Wall, Mecca, Sagrada Familia, the local church, the hospital chapel, the secret garden, are all there to help us get and be centered.
 
When Moses had his great revelation of god, he heard the sacred words, “Take off your shoes.  You are standing on Holy Ground.
 
Holy Places are Holy Ground – places where God Speaks to us, places where we can question God, places where God reveals who God is slowly, “I Am Who Am.”
 
Holy Places are Holy Ground – places where God missions us - where God sends us to others – where God tells us about a shut-in down the road from us or a teenager whom we tend to neglect.
 
Holy Places are places we only got to - but places we come from – filled with God. 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

January  4,  2022

 

Thought for Today

 

“There are two types of people – those who come into a room and say, ‘Well, here I am!’ and those who come in and say, ‘Ah, there you are.’”

 

Frederick L. Collins

January 3, 2022

 

 

THERE IS A GOD!

 

Our family is a family of card players!

 

It beats TV every time – especially if you win the most games that evening.

 

Down through the years, having played so many game, our family has a list of stories, memories, sayings, traditions sand customs.

 

One of our sayings is, “There is a God!”

 

Whenever someone says THAT, you know you’re about to lose the hand you’re playing.

 

“There is a God!”

 

It’s a saying usually used when someone draws a joker, or the winning card – and then they put their hand down on the table.

 

The tension – the inner tension – had mounted.  Everyone figured someone else has their card – or the card they need is already down and covered. Surprise we draw a joker or someone discards our card – and we can pick it up to win the game.

 

“There is a God!”

 

“Rummy!”

 

“There is a God!”

 

What a great prayer.

 

We’re in the supermarket.  We turn into a new aisle. We see a beautiful 18 pound baby sitting up in a shopping cart – staring at us – with a supermarket smile.

 

Without pausing we say, “There is a God!”

 

We’re on vacation at the beach.  We get up early and walk down to the ocean say and look out into the Eastern sky. It’s just as the sun is rising and we automatically say,  “There is a God!”

 

We’re out walking the dog at night.  We pause as the dog does his business. We look up into the heavens – something he hadn’t done in weeks. The night sky is filled with stars  - the moon is a bright flashlight – and we say, “There is a God!”

 

“There is a God!”

 

“What a great prayer!”

 

 

 

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

 January 3, 2022

 

Thought for Today

“The important thing in life is not to have a good hand but to play it well.”

 

Louis-N. Fortin

Penses, Proverbs, Maxims

 January 2, 2022

100  BLESSINGS  A  DAY

 

 

According to the Menachot (43 b), a Jew is to recite 100 bendictions every day.

 

What a great idea.

 

What a great practice to practice.

 

It would make us more and more aware of all the blessings we receive each day.

 

Start counting.

 

We wake up in the morning – alive – filled with the gift of life.  We open up our eyes.  We say, “Another day. Thank You God.”

 

We just made our first prayer of thanks – our first benediction - of the day.

 

99 to go.

 

We stand under the shower. The water showering on our neck and the top of our shoulders feels so good. “Thank You God! Water! A shower. Hot and cold water combined in such a way to make it all feel so comforting.”

 

98 to go.

 

Orange juice … cereal … coffee … cold butter and peanut butter on toasted English muffins … and also strawberry jam sometimes. “Praise You God.”

 

97 to go.

....

 

It’s 11:30 P.M. and we’re falling asleep.  “Thank You God for a great day and for this comfortable bed.”

 

0 to go.

 

“Wow, God, did 100 benedictions today. Thank You.”

 

“Ooooops…. That was 101. Thank You.”

 

“There’s another. 102!”

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

January  2,  2022

 

Thought for Today

“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass.   
It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”