July  9,  2021

AMBULANCE SCREAMING

 

The scream of an ambulance:
“Get out of my way!” as it keeps
rushing down Main Street.
Is someone dying – injured –
or hurt? They had a stroke –
a heart attack – a fall – and
they got to get to the hospital.
Who’s who here? What happened?
Life: we certainly need others.
 
We were taught to say a “Hail Mary”
when we hear an ambulance
screaming. I do that. But I also say
a prayer of thanks for that rescue
squad – and the hospital staff they
are rushing to – and I quietly wonder,
“What do they do in the middle of
Kansas – when this happens miles
and miles away for everyone?”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020

July  9,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die. Or when.  You can only decide how you’re going to live.”

 

Joan Baez

 July  8,  2021

INFIDELITY:

YOUR  STRANGE  HEART

 
We got to talk.
We have to learn.
We have to understand fire and desire.
We have come up with better questions.
We have to face the unravel of love.
We seek the gaze and grace of another.
We have to learn what death does to each other.
We need jolts – from mistakes and betrayals.
We need re-do’s.
We need to dig into the legacy of affairs.
We hurt others - as well as ourselves.
We need to become honest and loving.
We need to discover the real and the romantic.
We change – but hopefully for the better.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020

July  8,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread.”

 

Richard Wright

July 7, 2020

 

 A  GIFT  AT  TIMES 

Isn’t it nice …
Isn’t it neat …
when someone gives
you a gift - when you least
expect one?
A small white thin cardboard box
of specialty cookies –
a bottle of never heard of before wine –
a book of Mary Oliver’s poems –
and a compliment?
And you sit there sipping the wine,
eating two chocolate chip cookies –
reading a poem – but the sort of
sideways compliment – ends up
being the greatest gift you’ve
tasted in a long, long time.
Thank you.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020

July  7,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“To feel that one has a place in life solves half the problem of contentment.”

 

George Woodberry

 

TRIGGERED FEELINGS

  

The title of my homily is, “Triggered Feelings.”
 
I read the readings in the morning for a homily for this Tuesday day.
 
Like listening to a song – the words of the readings send me triggered feelings.
 
Like Jacob I’ve crossed rivers – and fords of rivers -  to get to where I am right now.
 
Sometimes I’m with family and friends; sometimes l feel left
alone at the shore.
 
I’ve think about the times I’ve wrestled with my unknowns – and as a result I have a wrenched hip bone at the socket – in my struggles – but to make the struggle worth while I say, “I will not let you go Struggle  until you bless me.”
 
I wait – await – for a blessing.
 
I’ve been asked, “What’s your name?”
 
I answer,  “Jacob.
 
My unknown struggle says, “You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel,  because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed.”
 
I ask my unknown struggle its name.
 
I get no answer – no reply - only a goodbye.
 
I name the place Penuel – Hebrew for – “Seeing God face to face.”
 
I move on with a limp – for the rest of my life. I have others only I can see.
 
I move on….
 
One day I realize I really can’t speak.
 
Some days are like that. Ever feel that way, “I don’t know what to say.”
 
I’m face to face with Jesus.
 
Someone – something – brought me to Jesus.
 
And Jesus drives out the demons that hold me back: fear, shame, dumb, the dumb things I do – addictive -  and at times - I don’t know why I do the things I do.  Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
 
Jesus walking around the world looks for people like me.
 
He proclaims the Gospel of the kingdom – curing every disease and illness.
 
He is moved with pity for someone like me – someone who feels troubled and abandoned at times.
 
I feel like a sheep without a shepherd.
 
I’m harvest for the master of the harvest.
 
I’m wheat. I’m flour. I’m bread.  Life! Others!  Take and eat me up.
 
I guess Jesus walks around hearing songs – the triggered feelings of people like me.