January 18, 2015

FOUR SHORT WORDS:

“THY WILL BE DONE.”

We say, we pray, those 4 words

so flippantly, so easily, without

thinking, without realizing, without

knowing, what we’re really saying.

“Father forgive us, because

we don’t know what we’re doing.”

What we’re actually saying,

what we’re actually wanting,

is that our will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

“Father forgive us, because we

don’t know what we’re doing.”

And what happens as a result, is

our nailing ourselves to a cross –

to a life of wanting our way - to be

done – and that’s why we hurt.

“Father forgive us, because

We don’t know what we’re doing.”

Resurrection, Easter for us, happens

when we get off this deadly way of dying.

Living is when we let go of and are

freed from these nails that control us.

Living is when we get off that cross

and say to God and those around us,

those 4 short words: “Thy will be done.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2015

January 17, 2015

12 WAKE UP CALLS

To be aware of those who are hurting;

To share what I have with others who don't have what I have;

To close my mouth so I can open my ears;

To sit or stand and be with the lonely;

To forgive seven times seventy times;

To believe God is present and that makes a big difference;

To hope – and not give up on others and God;
To smile;

To compliment;

To walk and feel with gratitude one's feet touching the earth;

To plan and then work for peace and fairness;

To get enough sleep so I can wake up to do all of the above.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2015

January 16, 2015

INTENTION

Oh my God, we think we know

why another said, did, what they said,

or what they did.

Oh my God, we think we know

why we did what we did and why -

and then we do a number on ourselves.

Oh my God, we think we know

why God did, let happen, what happened

and then we do a number on God.

Oh my God, we think we know

why we get our headaches and backaches

and tummy aches and our agita.

Oh my God, we think we know,

but down deep we really know

we know nothing and never did.

© Andy Costello Reflections 2015

January 15,  2015

CRUNCH

Ice;

Glass;

Cereal;

Gravel;

Fender;

Gossip;

Sarcasm;

Heart;
Crunch;
Hurt.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2014

January 14, 2015

THE GREATEST SIN

Someone said the greatest sin in the world is to bore God.

Is that true?

How about the refusal to accept God’s love or forgiveness?

Is that true?

Someone said that the greatest sin is our inability to acceptance the otherness of the other person.

Agree ____ Disagree ____  Undecided _______

C.S. Lewis thought the greatest sin is pride.

Any comments about that?

Would the following comment by Walter Lippmann strengthen that opinion about pride? He wrote, "There is no arguing with the pretenders to a divine knowledge and to a divine mission.  They are possessed with the sin of pride, they have yielded to the perennial temptation." 

Joyce Meyer wrote, "There is a deceptive sin that can keep us from walking in love: pride.  It's deceptive because when you have pride, you're usually too proud to admit it. I know this because when I used to have teachings on pride and they didn't sell well."   

Agree ____ Disagree ____  Undecided _______

Pope Francis uses a qualifier when talking about the greatest sin. He uses the word “one” as in, “One of the greatest sins is being a divider instead of being a welcomer.”

Is that your experience or observation about people?

Someone asked, “Is non-belief in God, the greatest sin?”

Agree ______ Disagree______ Undecided _______

George Bernard Shaw sees the greatest sin towards our neighbor is indifference.

Agree ______ Disagree _______ Undecided _______

Norma McCorvey – the Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade fame said, " The holocaust against the unborn is the greatest sin they could ever do or even ever participate in." 

Agree or disagree?

Any comments about this comment of  Ellen G. White? "The sin which is indulged to the greatest extent, which separates us from God and produces so many spiritual disorders, and which are contagious, is selfishness."   

Any comments about this statement from Pope Francis: " Vanity, showing off, is an attitude that reduces spirituality to a wordly thing, which is the worst sin that could be committed in the church."

Anthony Hopkins said, “We're all caught up in circumstances, and we're all good and evil. When you're really hungry, for instance, you'll do anything to survive. I think the most evil thing - well, maybe that's too strong - but certainly a very evil thing is judgment, the sin of ignorance.”

Pearl Bailey said, "The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat one's self. All sin is easy after that." 

Any response to this comment from Carson McCullers: "The theme is the theme of humiliation, which is the square root of sin, as opposed to the freedom from humiliation, and love, which is the square root of wonderful."  

Henry L. Stimson said, “The only deadly sin I know is cynicism."  Agree _____ Disagree _____ Undecided _______ 

Do you agree with Bertrand Russell that “Sin is geographical."  Is the answer to all of the above, “It all depends?”  Or would you shout loud and clear for one sin being the greatest and it’s _________?

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2014

January 13, 2015

COME HOLY SPIRIT

As Leonardo Boff put it:

It’s the nature of the Holy Spirit

to bring about the “eruption

of the unexpected.” Well, if

that’s the way the Spirit works,

then I pray, “Come Holy Spirit!”

Shake this house called me.

Shake this parish. Shake this Church.

Shake this state. Shake this country.

Shake this world. Shake us all.

Erupt good surprises because

there are too many bad surprises:

earthquakes, disasters, storms,

killings, terrorist attacks.

Come Holy Spirit. Erupt us with

unexpected changes – like

Berlin Walls coming down –

the Cuban Embargo lifted,
the South African Apartheid
ending without bloodshead,

peace talks that become

peace actions and forgiveness.

Amen.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2015

January 12, 2015

QUIET WATERS

They say quiet water runs deep –

like pain, like death, like memories.

They say quiet water soothes the soul,

like a good friend, ice cream, or a sleeping child.

They say Quiet Waters Park is the place to walk,

to talk to each other, to get away from it all.

They say Quiet Waters Park is the place 

to remember those we miss, those deep in the ocean of our grief.

They say Quiet Waters Park is the place to sit,

on a bench in memory of the one we love.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2015