February 18, 2023
THE BISHOP
The bishop wore a coat,
a long dark black wool coat,
yet it was June
and it was warm.
The bishop wore a coat,
a long dark black wool coat
and as I was standing there
I was wondering what he was all about.
The bishop wore a coat,
a long dark black wool coat
and sweating there I simply said
I guess this is what he is all about.
© Reflections,
Andy Costello
February 17, 2023
Two jacks, then two aces,
Woo, wow, can it get better?
What will my next card be?
A jack or an ace, please, please ….
Life. I know the song….
Time. I have to learn how to keep
calm, cool – without giving away
that I might have a winning hand.
What are the odds of
getting one
of the two jacks or
aces that are left?
Surprise! I got the two of hearts.
So now it's what the others have and get.
© Reflections,
Andy Costello
February 16, 2023
SPOTLESS
We would like to arrive in heaven
wearing a spotless garment.
Sorry….
Table cloths get spaghetti stains.
Cars get dents.
Skin gets scars.
Mouths say the wrong things.
We do dumb at times.
What do you expect me to be?
A Pharisee or something like that.
© Reflections,
Andy Costello
February 16, 2023
Quote for Today
"Cultures have long heard wisdom in non-human voices: Apollo, god of music, medicine and knowledge, came to Delphi in the form of a dolphin. But dolphins, which fill the oceans with blipping and chirping, and whales, which mew and caw in ultramarine jazz - a true rhapsody in blue - are hunted to the edge of silence.
Jay Griffiths
GENESIS 8: 21: ”THE DESIRES OF THE HUMAN HEART ARE EVIL FROM THE START….”
The title of my homily is, Genesis 8:21: “The Desires of
the Human Heart Are Evil From The Start….”
It’s a sentence here in the 8th chapter of the
book of Genesis 8:21.
The Jerusalem Bible translates the Hebrew into English this
way, ”Because his heart contrives evil
from his infancy,”
The New Interpreter’s Bible is close to that, “The
inclination of the human heart is evil from youth.”
Each of us ought to look at that message – and be
challenged by it.
The Bible starts off with Creation and then Adam and Eve
and all is good – but soon Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit – they hide
from God – Cain kills Abel and on and on and on – evil, jealousy, lust, wars,
murders, the history of the world.
We can pick up the New York Post or The Daily News – turn
on the evening news and get the Bible in an earlier edition.
We know our heart. We know our growing up years. We know
the story of our sins and our crimes.
The Bible tells our story – chapter and verse.
Genesis 8:21: The Desires of the Human Heart Are Evil From
The Start….”
That’s the message of today’s first reading from Genesis
and now the Gospel message.
How blessed we are to have Christ arriving at our village
and helping us to see we are the Blind Man.
Jesus takes us by the hand –
takes us outside the village – puts his spit on our eyes.
He asks us what we see.
He asks us what we see.
We say everyone looks like walking trees .
He puts his hands on us again and restores our sight.
Once more Jesus asks us,
“Do you see anything.
We do. He heals us. And he sends us on our way - a healed us, a new us.
February 15, 2023
IF
If beds could talk ….
If kitchen tables could talk ….
If cars could talk ….
If church benches could talk ….
If confessionals could talk …..
If skin could talk ….
If human beings would talk,
then – then - what would they say?
What would they reveal?
We know the answer:
The real stories of
the years ….
© Reflections,
Andy Costello
February 15, 2023
"I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit. and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all children of one mother and father. And I saw that it was holy."
February 14, 2023
To love another is easy at first,
but as you get to know another
–
various “Uh oh’s!”
appear!
This takes time - time - time.
There are the
hesitations and the
wonderings - the choices
– that arrive.
Knock, knock, knock! Sometimes
a bang.
You’ll hear them on your
inner door.
Sit down with me twenty
years
from now and tell me
what happened
after that - whether
you’re still together –
whether you discovered the real big deep love.
© Reflections,
Andy Costello
February 13, 2023
SOUNDS
While I still have my hearing, I listen.
Trains – the North Jersey Coast tracks -
are only three streets away from here.
Ambulances – at least ten a day –
pass by our house – screeching:
“Move over. We need to get to
the hospital and get there right now."
We have boats going by, but they
are quiet - out
there in the ocean.
Helicopters fly by – just two a day –
up and down – along the coast.
People – still the most interesting.
Once by myself on a train – four
women were heading for a college
class reunion in New York City.
They were in four seats facing
each other – right across from me.
I had a spiral pad, two ball point pens –
and I listened and listened – jotting
down all I could get. It was better
than a newspaper or a novel. Great
sounds for an hour and a half trip -
and they had no idea I was there.
© Reflections, Andy Costello
February 13, 2023
Quote for Today
"It is one great purpose of the Park to supply to the hundreds of thousands of tired workers, who have no opportunity to spend their summers in the country, a specimen of God's handiwork that shall be to them, inexpensively, what a month or two in the White Mountains or the Adirondacks is at great cost, to those in easier circumstances."
Frederick Law Olmsted [1822-1903]
and Calvert Vaux, [1824-1895] in the
Report submitted with 'Greensward' Plan,
awarded first prize by the Board of
Commissioners of the Central Park
[April 28, 1858]
February 12, 2023
TITLE OF A SONG
I wish I could write it –
a great singing song.
Don’t we all? Don’t we all?
It would have to have grab!
It would have to have notice –
sing along - ability. Sing along
with me. More like rain – less
than like snow. It would have
to have plenty of rhythm –
no potholes - smooth,
smooth –
easy on the wooden floors where
it is being sung -
every time it is
being sung – and obviously I’d
want many sing alongs with my
song. Hey it’s my song. Oops!
What was its title once again?
© Reflections,
Andy Costello
