Friday, March 27, 2020

March  27,  2020



STILL  BREATHING


God You breathed life into me,
when you moved me out of my 
mummy’s tummy, more than 80 years ago -
and I’m still breathing ….

God You breathed life into me
when  I was a kid running
in Brooklyn - in parks - on streets -
and I’m still breathing ….

God You breathed life into me,
learning reading, writing,
not ‘rithmatic - and then life,
and I’m still breathing ….

God You breathed life into me
while dreaming sermons and poetry,
while driving Routes 80, 95, 97, 195,
and I’m still breathing….

God You breathed life into me
as I journeyed into a thousand
places and a thousand lives,
and I’m still breathing ….

God You breathed life into me
as I stand here on the edge
of the Atlantic for a second time
and I’m still breathing ….


© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020



March  27,  2020



Thought  for  Today

 “Speak  kind  words and you will hear kind echoes.”

Someone, 
hopefully 
everyone. 

Thursday, March 26, 2020


UPPITY

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 4th Thursday in Lent  is, “Uppity.”

U P P I T Y – uppity.

It’s not a word that appears in today’s two readings: Exodus 32: 7-14  and John 5: 31-47.

It’s not a word or a theme or an issue that appears in our scriptures, but in another way, “It’s appears all over the place.”

I think a weekday homily – especially when talking to each other – and who we are – is a chance to just throw some meat – not to get some growls – but to trigger some thoughts – from something to chew on – cook up – maybe get some nourishment from.

Hope that doesn’t sound “uppity”.

EXODUS

It’s a long road from Egypt to the promised land.

It’s a long Lent – those 40 years in the desert – for the sand blasting conversion of the Israelites.

In today’s scene from Exodus the people have turned away again from God and started to worship the Golden Calf.

And God describes them as stiff-necked.

In looking up the word “stiff-necked,” I spotted the word “uppity”.

I also found the words inflated, snobby, ignoring, arrogant, pompous, condescending, smug, egocentric, patronizing.

I liked “uppity” the most – with snooty in second place.

We can slip into those attitudes – about and with others.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

In today’s gospel Jesus is sort of in the same situation as Moses is in – in the first reading.

Verbal arguing – nit picking conversations – conflict  is going on. Who and how God is – is pulled into both conversations and verbal wrestling.

In today’s Gospel it’s  Jesus and the Jews.  In today’s First reading it’s  Moses and the People in the desert with the golden calf gleaming.

UPPITY

Uppity behavior takes place especially neck upwards – starting with stiff necks.

Noses go up in the air.

Eyes are closed.

Heads shake.

Jaws tighten.

Minds get closed.

Ears don’t work.

When we have a good case of  uppityness – we have stopped listening. We look down on others as wrong, stupid, stuck in positions,  atrophied, unread, low IQ, etc. etc.

Thinking about this I have never in my life wanted to be someone else. I have heard that some people wish they were someone else. Nope, not me, but  I would like to have a better musical ear – not for the sake of contributing to the choir – but just to not hear digs for having  a poor ear for music.

Thinking about this I realized, “Okay I don’t want to be anyone else – but there are people  whom I know I don’t want to be.

Now that might be the best learning in these first  draft thoughts about the theme of “uppity”.

That’s where  sins of pride can poison me and I then use my tongue to put down others.

I assume I would do that to make myself look taller – not to others out there – but to myself  in my inner conversations.

But I’m not sure about this yet.  I only started thinking about uppity last night.

I have thought about sins of pride – modern Pharisaic thinking.

I have never had any desire to wash other’s feet or have my feet washed by them.

So, there are people I have practiced social distance from – for years now.

CONCLUSION

I don’t like myself when I put others down in my mind.

I suppose the goal should be some learnings from the John the Baptist and Jesus Christ interplays in the gospels.

I need to decrease and Christ must increase.

The Father needs to increase.

John can be difficult, but I notice Jesus is often referring to the  Father -  this One – this other Presence whom Jesus is always pondering about.

Go back and read today’s gospel from John and notice the Other.

Then there are the others – all these other people I know – some of whom I write off. I need to change and accept  others who  have lights – who have tassels I need to touch -  I need to get some of their light to bop off on me – like the light that jumped off John the Baptist – in today’s gospel which others delighted in for a while.   

March  26,  2020


IN  THE  AIR

Still there is a chill in the air …
But this year there is more:
the bug – C19 – causing great
frustration and inconvenience.

But still there is more:
Hopes. Spring. Rain. Buds.
Green. Birds. Flowers, Warmth….
And  April is coming. Slowly ….

Then there is the mystery
of how to deal with God
with closed churches and
this long dark tunnel.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020


 March   26,  2020

Thought  for  Today

"Phyllis McGinley in her poem, The Day after Sunday, comments of the perception of God she's given by sermons coming from the pulpits of the land every Sunday.  She says, 'Always on Monday morning the press reports, "God is revealed to his vicarage in his various guises, benevolent, stormy, patient, or out of sorts.  God knows which God is the God God recognizes."'"


Eric Butterworth
Phylllis McGinley,
1905-1978, in The

Day after Sunday


Wednesday, March 25, 2020

March   25, 2020


ANNUNCIATION

What’s new?
How about you?
What’s new?

What’s  new?
This dang bug.
That’s new?

And watching the
different ways people
deal with inconvenience.

And patience -
and how folks don’t like
loss of control.

Yeah. Mark me
down for that one
especially.

And Mary …. Her way?
Questions and then,
“Okay God.  Let’s do this.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020

Painting: The Annunciation
by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1898

March  25,  2020


Thought  for  Today

“At the bottom of his shaft the Mexican Miner has a shrine of the Blessed Virgin, dressed usually in overall with a miner’s hat cocked over her head. Here, when he goes to work, he prays for a day free from accident; and before leaving, many a peon prays again, this time that the high-grade ore he has stolen and hidden about himself will not be discovered.” 

John van Steen 
Tolman in “Travel”