August 31, 2022

Reflection

HIBERNATE

It was winter.

I found myself saying, "I'm tired."

I found myself saying, "It's cold."

I found myself saying, "I need to hibernate."

Then I laughed  - trying to remember if the Latin word that sounds like "hibernate" means "winter".  It does. "Hibernare" is the Latin verb for "to pass the winter".

Do bears have it right? Even though they wear those big fur coats, do they know the importance of hibernation?

Does the human body know we must sleep more - bundle up - hide - get under the covers - in the cold weather?

I know I don't get enough sleep - but do I need more sleep - in the winter?

Living in a 4 season zone on the planet, I have learned to appreciate each season - so bring on the cold - bring on the chill - bring on the ice breaking Spring - the March winds, the April showers - the hot summer - the Autumn leaves - the Prima Nix [Latin for the first snow of winter].

Balance: the seasons teach me balance.

Variety: the seasons teach me variety.

Deja Vu: every year  the seasons teach me repetition.  I've been here before - a year older - hopefully knowing cycles, circles, that much better.

Variety - repetition - getting used to - the experience of learning by experience.

Sleep and dreaming - walking while figuring - working to  make my dreams come true.

My body ages - with the seasons - with the years - and I need to settle in at times for long winter naps - knowing  some night will be the long sleep.

Bears wake up.

All of us need to wake up.

We need to know that the Resurrection and new life - is always on the other side of the lake.

 

August 31, 2022

Thought for Today

"We cannot tear out a single page of our life,   but we can throw the whole book in the fire."

George Sand

[Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin,

Baronne Dudevant] 1804-1876

in Mauprat [1837]

 

DIFFICULT  SURGERY

VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE  REALITIES

 

The title of my thoughts for this 22 Tuesday in Ordinary Time  is: "Difficult Surgery - Visible and Invisible Realities."

 

Today’s readings are excellent because they both talk about the Spirit – the Spiritual – the deep inner invisible stuff inside all of us.

 

A surgeon, a MRI, a X-ray technician, or a sonar person in a hospital can see what’s inside a person. So too we can see what’s in a person’s wallet.

 

But, it’s the inner stuff – the invisible stuff – that’s tricky. We don’t see inner realities  till we spend some good time with each other.

 

St. Paul in today’s wonderful text from 1^st Corinthians – chapter 2 – talks about the Spirit of God. Listen to this sentence: “And we speak about them not with words taught by human wisdom, but with words taught by the Spirit, describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms.”

 

The Holy Spirit is the great teacher in the classroom called Life.

 

St. Paul says the natural man does not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God. Paul says that he sees that as foolishness, He cannot understand it.

 

In today’s gospel a man walks into the synagogue in Capernaum.

 

At first he’s part of the crowd. People can see him by his height, shape, clothes. They see the outer man.

 

Then the inner man starts screaming.  Luke tells us he has unclean demons inside of him.

 

Listen to this statement in today’s gospel from Luke: this man cries out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us. I know who you are – the Holy One of God.”

 

The Holy One of God – Jesus of Nazareth – sees what’s inside of us,  It’s the invisible stuff – our invisible realities. He can come to the inside of us and surgeon out the demons we have and enhance our gifts.

 

He has come to restore us – not destroy us.

 

What we need to do is to come into this synagogue – this upper room -  and let Jesus see and hear our spirits and our demons: a spirit of gratitude or the demon of ingratitude, a spirit of healthy anger or the demon of nasty anger about our everyday things we can’t control, the spirit of forgiveness and kindness or the demon of revenge and holding onto.

 

We need to let Jesus of Nazareth help us with envy, jealousy, pride, pain in the buttness, horses rear view mirrorness, etc., etc., etc.

 

In the last few years, I’ve heard politicians and others talk about giving our better angels the dance floor.

 

Last night I looked up who used and liked and proclaimed that image of better angels.  Lincoln gets big credit. But I read that he borrowed it from Dickens who used it in Barnaby Rudge.

 

So whoever, we need the grace to let our better angels dance inside us – and come out of us to fill the rooms we enter each day with the Peace and kindness of Jesus. Amen.

 August 30, 2022

Reflection

EXIT  SIGNS

Did people look for exit signs long before there were exit signs?  Long before they could read?

We get on the plane and there they are: Emergency Exits.

We go to a movie and there they are up front or off to the side, Exit signs.

We hope we never need them - but if there is a fire - or a crash - we want to be near one.

Sometimes the conversation is too long or too "itchy" or "whining" or "boring" and we start to look for exit signs. We look at our watch. We pick up our glass. We stretch. We stand up - if we were sitting.

We've been at the job - marriage - a relationship - too long. We want out.

Jesus left town at Nazareth - before they could throw him out of town.

Jesus forced people to drop rocks and leave the crowd of attackers.

Jesus told people whom he healed to go home and enjoy the rest of your lives with your families.

Jesus was always on the move - shaking dust from his feet - and the Pharisees and Scribes - saw his back and were filled with anger.

Jesus went out into the night - at the Last Supper.

Death is the last exit.

Is Resurrection the second best entrance?

We have to make an exit to hear and experience the answer to that question.

 August 30, 2022

Thought for Today

"There's only one real sin, and that is to persuade oneself that the second-best is anything but the second-best."

Doris Lessing [1919- ]

The Golden Notebook [1962]

 August 29, 2022

Reflection

CAR  RIDES

Car rides together became the main metaphor of his life - without knowing that it did.

He drove alone to work ....

Together with his girl friend in his first car - it cost just $1,ooo - an old Pinto - dark blue - noisy rattle inside - never did figure out what caused it.

Together on weekends after they got married - a better car of course - when going to see friends, parents, family ....

But the metaphor really rolled in when he and his wife and their four kids went together to parents - and he  yell out, "I need you. Is there a map there. I'm looking for Route 435.

And then when his parents were really getting older and sick - and they had to drive to Rhode Island - every other weekend - and their kids were gone.

She would be knitting - he thinking about their life time - and the times of their lives together.

Sometimes good silence together - sometimes good talks together - good understandings together - these car rides together.

They winked at each other - when other couples said thy hated car time together - she always yelling, "You're too close to the car in front of you."  He really hated her constant refrain, "Slow down!"

Car - a metaphor of freedom - that first car he had when he was off to college.

Car - a metaphor of time together - now a Volvo - their old age car together as retired folks.

Let the good times roll.

 August 29,  2022

Thought for Today

"I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance."

Socrates

in Diogenes Laertius, 

Lives of the Philosophers,

Book 2, section 32.