Friday, July 10, 2020


July 10, 2020

SILENT  HOME

It is a silent home. Some of
them are like that, Open any
drawer. Look under any bed.
Check every closet. Sit in any
soft,  stuffed, overweight chair.
You’ll hear silence everywhere.

So when grandkids show up,
the whole house celebrates.
It listens loudly to kids running 
up and down stairs  - playing,
laughing, screaming, pounding
on polished mahogany floors.

Wait. It’s for the moment - after
the kids leave - that the old house
waits for - when mom - who is
all alone, calls up her other
kids and tells them who was
just here and invites them and
their kids to come home too.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020

July  10,  2020



Thought  for  Today

 “I fish: therefore I  lie.”

Various  people 
Painting by 
Leonid Afremov 

Thursday, July 9, 2020





PANDEMIC   PRAYER


Lord, this virus is
too much and too long with us.

The only corona  - crown - it 
deserves is "crown of thorns"
and you know all about that.

We pray for an end to all of this.

In the meanwhile,  we pray
a prayer of thanks for those
caring for the sick up front –
as well as those back stage - 
for their feet, for their shoulders
for their whole being.

We pray for researchers –
searching for a vaccine –
and insights into the mysteries
of this devious demon of a virus.

We pray for and with the sick,
give them joy, faith and patience.

We pray for those who have died –
and their people unable to do all
the necessaries for mourning and memory.

And lastly, Lord, give us patience
with each other and with ourselves.
Remind us to be Gospel, Good News,
to each other today. Amen.



© Prayers, Andy Costello, CSSR
Picture found on line -
listed Arlington Catholic Herald

July 9, 2020


SOUNDS

I know phones, piano
binks and bursts, and
barks of dogs and trains
in the distance,  but I
wish I could hear, “Sorry,
I forgot it was your life.
I was next to and I
missed most of it.”

Yet, I need to hear my
own soul saying, “I under-
stand.  We’re not God.
Get that. Grasp that. 
And if and when I do 
that, there is a chance 
for peace and the sound 
of the down deep, “Aha! God!"


© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020
Painting by  Gary Bunt


July   9,   2020



Thought  for  Today

“Talking  to  you is like walking through a minefield.  I never know when you’re going to blow up.”
Someone

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

July  8,  2020


HEARING  AID

He was getting much older – 
and his hearing was getting much worse – 
but what I wondered about was: 
what would he be hearing if he heard? 

I was hearing that he was losing it. 
I was hearing that he was getting older. 
And this was before his hearing was going – 
before he needed a hearing aid. 

He heard words. He said, “Yeah …. Yeah!” 
But he was a literalist. He didn’t get under 
words – behind words. He missed nuances – 
symbols - but he showed up like Willy Loman …. 

Like Willy Loman he had a right to be here.
He had a right to be heard – to be asked. 
He was with us – and he has a vote. 
By the way, “Who the heck  is Willy Loman?” 



© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020






July   8,   2020



Unconscious   - Thought   for  Today

 “95% of what we’re working out is unconscious.”

Someone