Ending

The month ends today. We have had thirty-one days to journey toward God in which we have passed through some picturesque moments of faith, hope, love; we have seen the extreme discomfort of others grieving, in Haiti. We have questions about life and death, being human, and the solution is not easy when there are only thirty-one days to examine, prioritize, negotiate, compromise.

As Christians we can observe every moment of life, and then offer up the experience to God in prayer. We do not have to become unhappy bitter refugees from life, from heartache. We must remember that life will always involve a little suffering. We all will be wounded, will be asked to make a sacrifice. Hope and love will protect uss.

Each day we must learn humility, obedience, charity. We must learn from our temptations to avoid them, and to help others avoid them.

Splendid winter weather.

Believer and Philosopher

(Read, pray, Learn.)--Being Christian means being both a believer and a philosopher; we should use our lives like an artist and let our lives be the canvas of hopes, prayers, and good deeds done in honor and as a humble servant of God. We can use the ability to think and analyze life to produce a plethora of beautiful pleasing things that please God. Goodness resides in the details, in both why we are living our Faith and how we are living it. Do we believe in irony or providence? How do we approach truth? What is essential in our lives as Christians? We have the Word; we have prayers; we have rituals. Together this provides a wonderful religious sequence, a progression of thought into action. Truth affirms truth. Unity arrives. As Christians we have to handle the instruments of our faith confidently, patiently, delicately. The aim is never to possess or hoard our faith but simply to have and share it. We can be both gardener and geologist as our lives as Christians will at times ask us to do different things; we might have to nurture others as they learn how to cultivate their love of God; we might need to dig into Holy Scripture to understand it and how to be a servant of God doing his work. Being Christian asks us to move beyond simply superficial. Being Christian asks us to move beyond having a fragmentary existence into a fellowship of wholeness, goodness and holiness with God. We are asked to be literary, oratorical, visual artists in God’s loving service; each of us have our own unique personal philosophy on being Christian and loving God. We are pioneers for ourselves, each other, and new converts. We exist to give a living breathing smile face to the abstract word Christian.

Antidote

--Pray when you wake-up. Live your life based upon fairness, social justice and love. Make time to both read and reflect upon each book of the Bible. Let the teachings of Jesus Christ inspire you to revolt against all evil and injustice. Live your life with joyous expectation. Have hunger only for God’s love and mercy. Open your soul up to the idea of and responsibility for your own discernment to listen for and to answer God’s call. Seek the style and beauty of goodness and holiness. Allow yourself to be conscious of each impression of gentleness, softness, of hopefulness, of prayers, of reflection, caressing, encouraging—an emphasis, calm yet confident, contemplative and passionate, with serenity and loving humility. Sense the greatness of God’s love; allow all your labors to be an opportunity to praise and give thanks to God. Do not be obstinate and seek only definitions and answers; instead be mindful of your anxiety and nourish your questions; allow them to grow, to expand, to contract over time; let your questions change and mature with time, with prayer, with reflection. Seek silence. Seek forgiveness. Be compassion. Be Love. Pray, pray, pray and pray again.

--Pray the Rosary at least once a week. Find good faith inspiring books for reading and reflection. Create a life of humility, obedience, and charity. Concentrate only on improving the best qualities of your life; the love within your heart, the hope within your soul should be your guide. Be conscious of the presence of God within your life. Always show respect to God. Always show reverence for God. Keep good company. Pray, pray, pray. Remember the virtues.

Let the impression of your life be filled with the humility, obedience, charity of God’s loving humble servant.

Do not fear austerity; simplicity allows us to find and share our love for God. Let love be the emphasis of your life with him. Be conscious of every impression of charity, obedience, humility. Examine your philosophy, your ideas of self and community. Where do you position serving God?

The Mystery of Our Faith

The mystical aspect of being Christian pleases me, creates all types of ideas and answers. The mystery patiently asks us to both reaffirm and rediscover it in our busy modern daily lives. We must remember the birth, death, sacrifice, suffering, and life of Christ. We must remember and believe the entire package. With time we can refine and improve our understanding. But, we must work to keep the mystery fresh and alive in our hearts and minds. This will help us treat each other with more compassion and respect. We must always nurture and renew our good-fellowship as we live our lives. Our faith and belief in God provides us with a wondrous solidarity. We must remember the honor of being his humble servants. Each day of our lives can be filled with discernment, attempts to be better Christians; filled new thoughts about our vocations. One of the advantages of our situation is that we can, as it were, pray for both questions and answers. The one certainty of our lives is our belief in God’s love for each one us. We must always remember this and remember to share our love for him. We should remember to always give thanks and praise to God. As Christians we must do everything the temptation to want immediate results. We must have patience. Prayer does have an usefulness which must be remembered and treasured. A moment or two of silence may allow a profound thought or solution to enter your heart or mind. As Christians we are part of a community; we must not forget this community in our prayers or our actions. Each moment of our lives should inspire us to be more devoted humble servants of the Lord. We are all here to support and to love one another. We must share our goodness and holiness with each other. Within each of us there is both God’s bounty and God’s splendor waiting to be shared. Within each of there is part of God’s mystery to be rediscovered and renewed.

We Can Pray

In our daily lives we are over stimulated, provided with too much information, and not given enough time to either digest or process it. Knowledge without rigorous contemplation can create anxiety, uneasiness. So we all need some attention, we want some semblance of morality and decency. We often edit our thoughts, censor our statements.

In our spiritual lives we must always make time to read the Bible or another good book. When there is prayer in our lives there is also calmness and peace. Allow yourself to be quiet, to be patient. Believing in God and being Christian is magnificent as we all breathe hope, love ourselves and all of our neighbors. We can pray during Mass, after Mass, in our homes and offices and our prayers can make any situation feel better. We must remember to always be faithful and humble. We must respect God by making choices based upon fairness and social justice. This may not always be easy but we must strive to develop the courage and confidence to based our lives on God’s moral teachings. Our lives are better when we remember and incorporate God’s plan in them. We must nourish and encourage the goodness and holiness within ourselves and within our neighbors. Simply we must love.

Prayers, Prayers, Prayers

Are we so pampered that we are blind to the despair that hides just beneath our savage comfort zones? When someone on the street asks for money, how do we respond? Do you ever allow yourself to be hungry? to miss a meal? Would you give a cold destitute person the new coat that you are wearing? What is important to you simply going to Mass or being involved in the Mass?

As Catholics we are called to use Christ as a guide for us in our daily lives; we should have love and respect for everyone. Poverty should not scare us. Death should not scare us.

We must train ourselves to look beyond the simply visible

Prayers, prayers, prayers, prayers,—These are my first days of consciousness of faith, full of hope, but searching for signs of goodness and holiness in others. The Bible and other inspirational books wait to be read. I actually feel sanguine right now.

I am in a state of great nervous enthusiasm because of the desire to be a humble servant of the Lord and the examples of that behavior which I have seen in others. I lead the life of a journalist. I observe everything with my eyes, I record and save each moment within my mind as I search for the best examples of serving God.

What I observe and remember is beautiful, in each of us both goodness and holiness are present and sometimes visible in the little things that we naturally do in our daily lives.

Goodness and Holiness

I have been writing, for two or three hours without stopping; writing and revising and thinking. Should I add a quote from the Psalms? Should I mention Saint John Viannay or Saint Francis de Sales? What is my theme going to be. I must admit a very strong attraction and affection toward goodness and holiness, and a deep interest being a faithful, humble servant of God, but I understand my limitations and that I have many lessons to learn. I must accept both the mystery and the logic of being Christian. There are guiding principles. There is a definite philosophical foundation to Christianity. Faith provides a way to organize our scattered and fragmentary thoughts and ideas. Faith suggests that we use our reason power to further understand and to serve God. Faith provides us with the vigor to do what is right, to be righteous, to develop an exquisite sensibility filled with obedience, charity, and humility. Our philosophy is neither modern or popular but without fail it directs us to do the right thing, to be better people. Being Christian is a twenty-four hour , three hundred sixty-five day a year vocation. We must remember this and live our lives accordingly. We have intelligence. We have creativity. Our Faith offers compassion and continuity. Our Faith reminds us that we each have a limitless capacity for goodness and holiness which we have to develop, nourish, maintain and protect. We must remember to make time for prayer in our lives. We all need time for silent contemplation in our busy imperfect chaotic noisy lives.

Thoughts on a Controversial Subject

I am happy to be able to have a rational calm discussion about the moral and ethical implications of abortion without and violent measures or unacceptable speech. How I have lived as a gentle invalid to avoid direct discourse on this issue. How easy it is to talk about freedom, political rights. How much more difficult it is to contemplate and then respect the life span of each human being from conception to natural death. Science does not provide answers for us; science creates new questions. I must oppose abortion with the same fervor that I oppose the death penalty; they both deny another human being the opportunity to live their lives. There is no reason that we should ever sanction the killing of another human being. We must discipline ourselves to a routine of regular prayer and peaceful civil protest to help with the strengthening of our position with other like minded people. We must work for the ultimate restoration of the organic respect and reverence for life instead of corporate commodity view. Our society needs to be reminded the truth about the fragility and beauty of life. Each of our actions cause reactions. We must remember this. It is time to demand that our elected officials provide us with moral, ethical, and just leadership. Instead of chasing polls and campaign contributions, they should be chasing social justice and social responsibility. Although we are an affluent society, we are not a responsible society. That abortion is legal points to a callousness, a coarseness which does not respect life or God. Each time there is an abortion we all are affected in a small subtle way. Since Roe vs Wade the country has been soothed and tranquillized by that Supreme Court decision; others have been proposing new laws and restrictions, organizing protest marches, and praying outside abortion clinics. We must keep our spirits up and filled with God’s love and mercy. We do not have to be quiet. This is an outrage, a dangerous, immoral outrage. This is a time for prayer and action; and we must remember and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. We must be stronger, louder, and brisker in our movements and efforts to free our country from this social injustice. This entry is, perhaps, too political, and will appear so to you when you think about it, as I am afraid you must, our gaze must shine the spotlight on the dirty little secret, the dirty reality that abortion kills unborn babies. But we must remember to keep both the unborn babies and their mothers in our prayers; both need our hope and our love. I am not sanguine about the chances of legally removing abortion as a choice in the immediate future but the struggle must continue. We must avoid the temptation to judge the women who are considering or have had abortions. Treat them gently with fairness and respect. Keep them in your prayers. Let God, and God alone to judge them. Keep mercy in your heart and be willing to hope, be ready to hope: though really, without being too simplistic, open your heart, allow yourself to love life with all the beauty, respect, reverence that you can that your actions may inspire others to think like you think, to act as you think. We can all be a witness of Christ’s love; we can all follow him.

Moral Relativity

I woke up thinking of moral relativity and the relation of the strange conflict between thought and action, and I allowed my imagination to drift toward a bizarre confluence, which appears to have something of the twilight anxiously splashing around it: Action is violent, vulgar, rough thought; thought is a flickering, dreamy, abstract, questioning and somewhat and somehow independent. If we are going to lead lives of goodness and holiness is it not necessary and important for us to understand our own individual thought and action process as we proceed with our daily ritual of trivial and trifling actions, of seeing, talking, and
resting. As Christians we believe in a beautiful mystery which provides a wonderful foundation of truths and thoughts, and that the beauty of our faith encourages us to involve the entirety of our being in actions that are loving, altruistic, ethical, moral. Our lives should contain a fairness and respect for all in both thought and action (as our thoughts develop and encourage us to be more active servants for God, the deeper our love universal becomes). Being Christian surrounds and clothes us with a mystery, the greatest of all mysteries in which we are called to remember, respect God’s love and sacrifice for each one of us. All that we do in our daily lives should reflect our reverence for this mystery.

We have intelligence. We can produce great metaphors and analogies. We must always be conscious of our behavior and the effects of our behavior. As Christians there must be just, intelligent moral actions in our daily lives. Do not try and hide behind individual thought; instead rejoice in prayer to God.

A Long Afternoon Walk

Fresh and delicious thoughts and daydreams. A long afternoon walk. Thinking of dogwood and magnolia trees in the spring. A moment of reflection as I walk on the sidewalk away from my house. The sky is vague
preparing for night. My mind silently says little prayers; my mind is fringed with hope. There is something dazzling about Mass before dinner. Spiritual hunger can lead us to exquisite insights into love, charity, obedience; questions about virtue and goodness can lead to delicate revelations about how to be a humble servant of the Lord’s. Honest, simple prayer is necessary. Morality is necessary; decency is necessary. How wonderful some of the lawns with their hedges do appear. How wonderful it is to have the leisure to offer prayer to the Lord! How peaceful prayer can make us feel once we learn how to pray, how to meditate, how to be patient. Learn to avoid anxiety. Learn to pray with the simplicity and enthusiasm of faithful children. Contentment may follow such prayers when both the mind and soul are open and when both are clean and pure. God’s love for each one of us is boundless. Because of our own private individual sins we must simply confront our unworthiness and beg for forgiveness; no matter how good or holy we may believe we are, there is always some little stray thought or comment which keeps us human, keeps sin alive in all of us. We must pray for the wisdom to discover and understand this subtle obstacle to loving ourselves, our neighbors and our God. My mind remembers fields stretching for miles in each, fields on gently rolling hills, fields with wooden fences, fields alive and green. Sometimes our lives contain a hidden softness. And we can share delightful anecdotes about warm donuts, cold orange juice, missing buttons on wool coats. And we can always find time to pray to God. There is always work to be done; always volunteer work to be done. God’s love for us is boundless. In our hearts there is a desire to please God, to find our true vocation, to be a humble servant for God. All humans need a moment of silence, to reflect and to pray. How peaceful the moment is. The weather cold and crisp pleases me. And are you willing to proclaim your love for God. This January morning my mind allows me to see verdant meadows and blossoming orchards; to rest my eyes on the Gospels written on the clouds in the blue sky; to have Jesus Christ with me; to listen to his preaching, his parables; to be filled with a calm goodness. How wonderful the grass and trees are! How much gratitude and love I do feel, I do have. The days of trouble and uncertainty are too frequent but prayer teaches how to calmly accept each moment of chaos and difficulty. Prayer sometimes provides a second of blissful presentiment when we imagine the world to be peaceful, loving and fair. We must remember that it is our actions, our thoughts, our words which can create our happiness and peace. There is much goodness and innocence in the world to enchant and inspire our humility and charity. There is much grief in the world that needs our compassion, love, and prayers. We must not hide the miserable or ignoble things which life does present to us. We must accept them and offer them to God.

Prayers and Patience

It is time to develop relationships with a common sympathy and interest in fairness and social justice. Mercy and forgiveness should be easily and honestly shared. We should move towards being loving and compassionate. Our hope should be extended beyond any slef-serving goals. Envy and greed, uncontrolled, can lead us away from God. Any separation can lead to all types of afflictions and fears. We must always remember decency and morality. Our lives require a foundation of love, peace, compassion, and hope. Even I cannot know all things that need our prayers; but God knows, and it does please Him to hear our prayers for each other. We must always remember and respect all the blessings that He gave. And we must make time to read and understand the Bible; we must make our lives be right since we are all his servants! Indeed we must expect both great grief and magnificent contentment! Prayer can help us to be better Christians and better human beings when we allow ourselves to believe in the majesty and beauty of God. Love often surrounds me; prayers help me feel closer to God; but I should not then deny the consolation of praying and then remembering to pray for all those in need of God’s mercy and love.

It is both reasonable and acceptable to speak now of our prayers, and circumstances which have been compelled us to pray. We must believe that God’s responses will arrive unquestionably at the appropriate moment according to God’s precepts; the responses will correspond to his plan, his idea of what we need; we must wait patiently, obediently and accept his responses with humility and grace; above all we must believe that his responses are filled with love, compassion, and mercy. We are all his children. We are all alive and well. Our hopes, our dreams have been composed by God—our Father is quietly supporting us with his own forgiveness, his own love, his own patience. He asks that we develop loving fortitude. He asks for our humility, charity, and obedience. He waits for our response. His love and concern for us is an inexpressible comfort to many who bear witness to his goodness and wisdom. God is our comfort. God offers salvation if we simply, lovingly obey him.

I cannot say that being obedient shall always be easy for us; obedience will be very difficult for us at times and we will be filled with all types of rationalizations, justifications and other shoddy reasons and fallacies allowing all types of resistance thoughts and actions. God knows and expects this; we must learn it if we are to follow in Christ’s footsteps. Always remember that God is always glad to see you, to hear your prayers. The weather is never too dreary or too humid for him to listen and we are never too far from him: and when you pray, be honest as you open your heart and soul to him; enjoy your prayers; enjoy the silence; pray often; and listen with calmness and quiet in your mind. God’s answer can take many forms and can occur at any moment. Perhaps we are ready to hear and understand it; perhaps we are not. We must have patience. It might be better if we were less concerned with earthly temporal matters which can make us selfish, distract and divert our love, goodness, and holiness. Within each of us is the capacity for being humble, loving, forgiving like God if we are able to overcome our insecurities and fears long enough to do what he asks—but we must always pray! Words cannot adequately express the regard and esteem that God presents to us each day of our lives. We receive his tenderness, his watchfulness. I can never forget God’s love for us or how unworthy I do feel because of my selfishness, my pettiness. I believe that I have felt God’s presence every hour and minute of my life—my memory is filled with reading and reciting Bible verses, hearing and saying prayers, seeing the wonders and beauty of nature. Building a good relationship with God is more precious to me than any earthly blessing; I have prayed for myself and I have prayed for others and I remind myself not to worry, not to want an immediate response; and yet, what I should feel, and how I should pray, remain as sweet variables, sweet daily lessons teaching me humility, obedience, charity; but I did just now remember that I have so much left learn about how to love as God wants us to love.

Service to God

. . . Vanities, vanities, vanities, it is certain that we live in a time where it is natural to want everything, to covet things which should be avoided; desire is viewed as natural and everyone is encouraged to gaze upon an object longingly with lust in the heart, mind, and soul. Such is the mission of most advertisements on billboards, in magazines and newspapers, and commercials on television. It is yet only a question of distractions and definitions. Are you content with your life? Are you pleased with your spiritual life? Are you being the best person that you can be? Are you serving God? following the Ten Commandments? living the Beattitudes? following in the footsteps of Christ? Our lives must have a purpose and that purpose should always be humbly and obediently serving God and doing his work.

. . . In this crazy world each day can present all types of difficulties and crises, but with prayer and patience we can endure. Do not fear sacrifice. Do not fear suffering. God’s love and mercy will protect us.

It is easy to be rude, to be selfish in our society. Bad behavior and bad choices are both the trademark and hallmark of many movies and television programs. As Christians we must not accept this Modern confluence of ideologies and greed leading us away from morality, decency, social justice. We must be prudent. We must create reverent lives. We must find and cherish humility. Each day we must prepare for our journey to heaven. Each day we must remember and pray for all the goodness, holiness, and love that we have received throughout our lives. I can only repeat to you how important and necessary prayer, reflection, and patience are. I can only repeat to you to use each day of your life to prepare for your journey to the Kingdom of Heaven. Do not waste time worrying or speculating about vague eventualities, simply live your life filled with love, mercy, and forgiveness for everyone; remember to give God thanks and praise for each person, each moment of your life; remember and share both your sadness and happiness with God. I am resolved to consider myself a sinner, and I know how difficult examining my conscience can be at times, but after confession, joy returns to my mind and soul, and I am ready and willing to give thanks and praise to God and be humble before him. My strength, my talents are nothing without his grace and love. Each day I am learning how to love, honor, and serve God more!

In the midst of my life each day there is a moment when I think of humility, charity, and obedience, when I am quiet, simply observing, thinking of goodness, thinking of holiness. Life in obedient and humble service to God can create an august significance.

My Vocation: Being Christian

It is singularly touching to approach the spiritual with sense of humor; being Christian is a serious vocation which for many will include a lifelong discernment of how to serve God, how to be humble and how to love everyone; being Christian does not mean greeting the world with grave, dour and downcast eyes and stern reproving speeches about morality and charity and humility; being Christian is finding the religious temper and fervor of Jesus Christ and tirelessly praying and loving and serving everyone in the name of God; being Christian means finding your individual affinity to both goodness and holiness which is natural, organic, and true. It is not enough to simply go to Mass just on the Sabbath. Our entire lives must contain and reflect the spirit of God. Each decision we make and each word we speak has the ability to lead many others to God. We are not here to judge each other; remember how to love each other. It is no longer important being the first; desire only knowledge on how to serve well and love universally, impartially. Hope is written in every heart. During our lifetime, there will be times with endless months of winter with cold wind attacking our faces and mud or snow attacking our feet; we must remember to protect our hearts and souls from the frost despair; from the moment of our birth each day we have been in the daily sight of death; do not be afraid of death, do not run from death, do not run toward death, live each day of your life in humble service to the Lord; keep your heart filled with hope, love, and prayers of thanks and praise. Keep your thoughts directed toward goodness and holiness. Each day live each moment for Christ, follow in his footsteps.

Do not worry about death arriving with a random computer generated list of names of men, women, and children who will fall into their deep, long sleep. Allow only your prayers to seal their eyes as you pray for their souls and their salvation. Death is not the enemy. Our vision should always be set toward heaven, each breath and each step should move us closer to that goal and to God. We want to develop deeper insights into being good, faithful, and humble. We want to find keener feelings of forgiveness and love. We want to find the full strength of hope, mercy, and love in our lives.

It is wisdom that we seek; it is heaven that we seek. Our lives belong to God; our lives were planned by him. We have the duty and responsibility to listen and to obey.

Avatar

. . . Saw the movie Avatar, it is certain that it is a creative endeavor but I could not decide whether it was science fiction or science fantasy but there were enough elements borrowed from other films that on a very superficial level it could be classified as entertaining; however, it is a film of spectacle not substance, mood not meaning. There is no message in this film. The content of the film is all in the visual look of the film not in the dialogue spoken by the characters. That the film has mad a lot of money is certain and announced with each new dollar collected.

. . . The science of the movie luckily is not completely described; the morality of the movie is definitely muddled. The mechanics of creating this film are more interesting and impressive than the mechanics of this film.

There is no plot. There is no story. There is wonderful special effects. There is a wonderful attempt by a member of the Western Industrialized world to recreate a simple, nature based spirituality and connection to a make-believe world. It looks beautiful but falls flat. The Lion King was better at this and had a far superior soundtrack.

Avatar in the end is just a movie and for some people it is a source of entertainment. For me it is just another indication of hype and hoopla hiding a lack of substance. As members of the movie attending public, we must ask ourselves what do the movies we see say about ourselves, about our morality, about our sense of decency. What do we want our movies to reflect? What do we stand for?

Reality

. . . My little life, it is certain that I both did pray and attend Mass yesterday and did at sometime commit some sin or offense against God which I must do penance for, it is only a question left for an examination of conscience. There are no specific offenses to share but I must review my actions, my thoughts, my statements, my hesitations and ask if they are pleasing to God. I am again approaching confession for things said and left unsaid, for the content of my life lived to this moment, the hopes, dreams, prayers, and personal crises and disasters which influence my spiritual development.

. . . Sometimes I try not to talk too much, not to say too much for concern of saying the wrong thing which might encourage someone else to say or do the wrong thing. Humility and obedience do not welcome the spotlight for too much attention can lead to selfishness and badness.

I must accept that my life as a Christian requires that I honestly be prepared for all eventualities, and that nothing can undo the love and mercy of God. I am resolved to live a life of goodness and holiness and to consider myself a humble servant, and I desire the joy of prayer and reflection, but I am ready to examine my conscience and ask for God’s forgiveness. My life is not my life; my life is his life. I must make it pleasing for him.

In the midst of all this examination of conscience I somehow feel secure and blessed; how wonderful my life as a Christian is; God’s love and grace allows us to live through magnificent hours, when the Gospels and all of the prayers on an august significance.

There is something beautiful in longing for a simple life based upon the Gospel teachings of love and obedience.

Desire for Goodness

Each day I learn more about the Mother of the Church,—I am happy by praying the Hail Mary, and understanding her role and the beauty of her intercession on our behalf, which deepens in every detail my spirituality, my desire for goodness that I now feel.

My daily life as a Christian does contain some failures, but also I am learning the power and glory of prayer by observing men and women of divine energy, among whom I dare not yet count myself, but with whom I hope to become one day. The major thought of the day involves attending Mass and praying, but I attend Mass to find courage to deal with the unpredictable craziness of life; being in the Cathedral allows my mind a moment of quiet, a moment of calm when I may practice the goodness and holiness taught in the Gospels with the hope of extending the goodness and holiness into my life beyond these beautiful marble walls; Mass allows me to quietly listen to the Word of God.

I do understand and believe that I must always be concerned about my own moral and physical state, which is often under attack by the consumerism which dominates our society. True decency, true morality no longer are virtues of our society. Our society has become so permissive that goodness and holiness have been conquered by all types of vice and sin. The great sadness that I feel for those people who are confused by the chaos and the glamor of sin leads me to God and I pray for the souls of all men and women, those who believe in God and those who do not believe in God that they learn of his love and follow his teachings.

I do not completely isolate myself from the outside world as much as I wish, and I am sometimes affected, from the intellectual point of view. Besides, the atmosphere of the modern life is a confluence of hopes and ideas and intellectual and spiritual people seeking to define goodness, decency, and morality for this moment, this current time: the trouble is that the internet and media is constant moving and changing meanings and definitions from place to place, moment to moment and confidence often whithers before the perpetual uncertainty of polls.

Being Christian allows me to have a belief in the mercy and love of God; it also allows us to believe in and work for our salvation.

I am happy to hear about prelapsarian moments.

Devotion

A another thought about devotion to God, instead of modern compromise, it requires action and obedience. I had the joy of seeing many members of the parish kneel and pray during the liturgy of the Eucharist; I had the joy of hearing the prayers spoken by the priests; and yet, the expressions on some of the faces, expectant, anticipating, reverent, as the words “Body of Christ” were spoken which were both beautiful and inspiring. All of this happened in front of me. I had a feeling that I was unworthy.

It is the most delicate of hours; the love of God continues to flourish, but our deliverance will be guaranteed only by the price of our efforts when we feel and share our charity, humility, and obedience.

I wish my devotion was covered with flowers, and singing. My greatest consolation is that I understand the necessity of goodness and holiness; in small increments my life is changing to include them; being a humble servant of God is a complete way of life.It was a deep consolation to be together till the end.

It is fine of Jesus Christ to have saved this drowning disciple by providing the Beatittudes. We don't always realize and understand the reserve and beauty of heroism there is in being Christian, and among the young spiritual followers who believe in and understand the principles of fairness and social justice.

In regard to our Faith, I may tell you that daily prayer and weekly attendance are important. But what is in our hearts and souls are equally important. Please pray and strive to keep your hearts clean and pure.

As for my state of Faith, my devotion is increasing, my love of God does give me strength and hope, my desire is to be a patient, humble servant. Each day I learn a little more about obedience. As a Christian I must always understand that my duty is to love everyone as I love myself and to be a willing, loving, humble servant of God. I must always be ready to suffer and sacrifice in the name of God. I must always work to have a clean undefiled conscience and an enthusiastic spirit willing to offer praise and glory to God through all of the actions of my life.

Devotion, Compromises, Questions and Prayer

Since modern life is filled with so many compromises, this morning I began thinking of the dangers of a lukewarm devotion to God. As Christians we are called to live lives filled with love and to follow in the footsteps of Christ by proclaiming the Word of God by our actions and in our conversations. Although it is easy for us to affirm our belief during Mass, how difficult it is for us to do this in our daily lives. We are all capable of living lives that filled with humility, charity, and obedience. I sometimes wonder what does it mean to “bear witness” or to “proclaim” the Word of God. Should we pepper are sentences with, “I was the reading the Bible last night,” or “Scripture says,” or “In his homily Father Hamilton said.” There is no correct answer to the question; each situation in which we find ourselves as Christians will create a unique and appropriate response. Being a faithful Christian is already a daily struggle. The choices in our lives should reflect our love for and obedience to the teachings of God. Our lives should be filled with forgiveness, mercy, and goodness which will inspire hope in ourselves and others. Each day we should make decisions with the complete certainty that our actions and thoughts will be pleasing to God. Our lives should be filled with prayers for peace, love, salvation. We must remember to always praise God and to give him thanks. We should always be willing to share our happiness as faithful, servants of God.

Prayer is necessary, and, above all, prayer does have the power to change our lives and our ideas about our Faith and how we express our Faith.

We all have inspirational stories about meeting someone filled with such beautiful, inspirational goodness and holiness that there is always a sweet feeling in the heart when I think of them. I can only pray to grow into my faith in a similar way. My spiritual growth requires examples of all of God’s humble servants, presenting ways to be holy and good, ways to be the best Christian that I can.

. . . Goodness and holiness are patient, quiet

Questions about how we believe, why we believe should stir up fervent feelings within our hearts and souls. Christ is not dead; he is alive within each one of us. Our lives must reflect his love, sacrifice, and suffering; with courage our existence could adapt and be filled with charity, humility, and obedience.

I am now trying to be more vigilant in my life to avoid anything that will endanger the goodness, holiness and love in my life, but I understand the need to frequently examine my conscience. Goodness and holiness might occur naturally in each of us, but maintaining them requires diligence.

Lessons

The monotony of modern life annoys me sometimes, pleases me sometimes. Each day there are somethings to be rediscovered, an old anecdote retold, an old prayer to be taught. With patience and understanding there are many grave thoughts of sacrifice and obedience to be shared, discussed. I must always remember that I am a Christian. I must always be humble.

The ordinary good-fellowship of the Mass and of those moments when we are following the teachings of Christ and using our lives to serve God, we can experience a moment of a finer solidarity and goodness. One of the advantages of our situation is that we can, as it were, learn both goodness and holiness by observing and imitating it in others as we spend time doing God’s work. Charity, humility, and obedience require diligence and patience for our minds and our society encourage us to be independent individuals; when we reflect upon obedience, humility, and charity their usefulness can restore calm to our minds. I try to avoid getting caught in the madcap race of the immediate and instant gratification, instant resolution. Time is not the enemy; anxiety often is. Both goodness and wisdom require patience and silence. Our society allows and encourages us to be childish and selfish. As Christians we must remember that prayer can soothe our nerves, provide answers to the problems within our lives if we make time to pray and allow ourselves time to reflect, and to wait patiently for God’s guidance and assistance. Each of us are capable of making profound, inspirational statements about goodness, holiness, love, mercy, humility, obedience, charity, being Christian. Each of us has felt a moment of discomfort when we did not act appropriately with mercy, forgiveness and love; and yet, our hearts and souls still lead us toward God, still encourage us to be devoted disciples, believing in and living a life filled with love based upon the teachings of Jesus Christ.

A Glimpse of Eden

It was the intention of a modern artist, poet, photographer, essayist, with timid and sometimes turbulent reserves of youth lived within a prelapsarian world of natural forests, irregular hillsides, shallow yet swift brooks and streams leading to the deep and wide river. These were days of Bible verses and blue skies and fluffy white clouds and climbing trees and getting lost in the woods, and wishing that the sun would never go down and running around lost in some beautiful game of make-believe, running around laughing, laughing and hoping. How wonderful those moments were! Surrounding this time was a beautiful envelop of admonishments to be Christ-like, to be good. This instruction was delicate, gentle served with warm freshly baked cookies and glasses of milk. Here were examples of both Christ’s goodness and holiness to observe and to learn. This time was never lost, the power and the grace of those days continue to burn, to keep the darkness, emptiness, and loneliness of sin away. And life pulls us away and then pushes us into God. Those lessons from our youth will return to us as we try to translate current thoughts and concerns. Here lives and grows both the tenderness and gentleness of the heart and soul. Here is a fervent love for social justice and mercy! Here is a mystical sense of trust beyond the immediate and concrete. Here whispers the eternal language of love and salvation!

Each day I encounter hope and sadness, witness despair and kindness; urban living presents the human condition completely unvarnished without sentimentality or generosity. The pain and suffering of our neighbors is often displayed as if for the amusement and entertainment of others. My heart rejects this view but is sometimes overwhelmed by all that is seen and heard, but the fatigue I actually feel directs me to prayer.

Hushed

In the Cathedral just before Mass when there is that hushed silence, rushed quiet as people find seats, genuflect, and then pray that is a moment of great peace and great hope. And amid the pews beneath the murals and lights upon which hope and goodness within our hearts have traced the forms of prayers, I have felt, a gentleness and generosity, which recall Jesus Christ and the Beattitudes. Reverence is beautiful and inspiring to behold. How wonderful is this silent presence—I was not always aware of the beauty and serenity of being in the presence of God and observing the manner of mind and behavior that expresses itself in the faces and actions of the faithful—revisiting this place: the mind and soul are surely made to travel far abroad accompanied by humility, obedience, charity and love and inspire goodness and hope within the hearts and minds of all men, women, and children.

The Photographer's Prayers

The thoughts that follow are those of a writer photographer who views life as a soldier at the front observing and preserving different details from each day; discovering the significence of each day, each moment as he tries to live a life filled with love and mercy like Christ’s. There are moments when I have felt like a soldier lost during a major battle, between two opposing sides slowly approaching my location; a decision must be made. Are we to speak of Jesus Christ’s teachings in the present tense or in the past? We know of his birth, his ministry, his death: since each of us have attended Mass we have heard about the star, the shepherds, the manger, swaddling clothes, his baptism in the Jordan, his temptation, the parables, his curing the sick, his miracles, his prayers, his persecution, the crown of thorns, the cross, his death, his resurrection. And each day I strive for goodness, hope for a little more wisdom and holiness than I had the previous day; remembering that all floors can be mud-stained because of outside forces, I remember charity, humility, and obedience. I endeavor to live obedience, humility, charity each day but there are moments when I fail, when I am selfish and completely self-centered, forgetting the beauty of mud-stained envelopes protecting old photographs and handwritten letters. Humility reminds me that each life contains days and moments of tear-stained eyes, announcing the advance of love, mercy, and hope; being Christian implies working to protect and encourage goodness in yourself and others by creating a foundation of charity, humility, and obedience within each of our lives. We must understand that temptation and sin will not completely vanish from our lives, what a neighbor they do attempt to become with all types of glittering, seductive lights and scents; but we must remember the weight of the forty days, patience, silence and the necessity and beauty of daily prayer and reflection. Each day should be lived with humility and self examination as we learn how to allow more goodness to develop and be shared within our daily lives. For those who are humble, patient, and silent before the Lord if their hearts are clean and pure will learn wisdom and holiness naturally! But for me now, each day, is a moment to look for God’s goodness and mercy in the world around me, and to patiently look for hints of holiness in others!

Choices

Today reviewed some photographs taken inside the Cathedral. Handsome and inspiring with calm, peaceful, unobtrusive lighting.

In these troubled times making ethical and moral choices requires diligence and patience. We are still without complete protection from sin and sinful behavior, but we have the teachings of Jesus Christ as a template. We also have to remember the Ten Commandments and all of the parables, psalms, and lessons within the Bible which help to create our spiritual landscape, notwithstanding the creation of our social justice beliefs. Within our social justice beliefs reside the best of us, the ability to love, to show mercy, to forgive, and to be humble; the best impression of the human heart, mind, and soul begins here with thoughts which hopefully will transform into actions called moral. Great hope will be made upon our desire for fairness and goodness. We must always remember that our lives as Christians require fortitude, sacrifice, obedience, patience. We must remember fortitude.

vigilant

I must always remember that sin and sinfulness are always around and so I must always remember to be vigilant as I live my life to develop and display only those behaviors which are pleasing to God; my soul will work to create a vigorous development of obedience, humility and love within my entire being.

The silence after Mass is magnificent, and all breathes hope and love. We think of those who are praying and those in need of prayer, and this thought makes our own situation seem fragile. There is nothing more beautiful than watching faithful people kneel down and pray. In their faces is a reverence so beautiful that words can not adequately describe it.

Reasons

How wonderful yesterday was,—I went to Mass and listened to the Archbishop’s homily, full of hope, but both goodness and holiness are to be cherished, protected, and encouraged. We all are born with them but we must not allow our hearts, minds, and souls to become fatigued by either carnal or secular thoughts and desires which can cloud or confuse our judgement.

I am in a state of returning inspiration because of the desire to write and photograph. I feel the need to be of service to God, to help. I am happiest when I am in the Cathedral, silently praying to God. I like the moments when I am silent and my mind is directed toward God, and my destiny is his destiny, his desire for me. I want to make myself available to him without questions, without hesitation, without doubt.

I want to live a life that is completely obedient to God.

What I have is hope; there are always reasons to pray to God.

A New Walk in A New Year

Today a walk along Connecticut Avenue. Rigorous weather after a the snow. A pleasant interlude in these troubled times. I am still learning about prayer, trying to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, but I have happily a few close friends filled with love and patience. I have wanted to go outside with the camera and photograph the landscape, to see the beauty and serenity of God’s creation. These fine trees and clouds suggest the best in natural serenity, natural law of composition. Their are moral and ethical questions to consider, the impression of life in stillness leads me toward questions about how to be more good, more holy. I hope that in time I am able to develop my fortitude and patience.

The camaraderie of Church volunteer life energizes me, but I can't explain how. There is something to be learned each time I do anything for the Cathedral. Hope, Love, and Faith are rediscovered again and again, with prayer and devotion. Right now I truly want to learn how to be a better servant of God, a better servant filled with grace and obedience.

The good-fellowship of the Mass has been replaced by a finer solidarity and a praiseworthy community of believers sharing both the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. One of the advantages of my situation is that I can, as it were, observe others in their states of goodness and holiness; how wonderful it is to see such fine inspiring behavior. All the readings and the prayers, which are important to hear and important to understand, provide both spiritual formation and inspiration. Attending Mass regularly can help us all improve both our goodness and holiness as we allow ourselves to become humble servants of the Lord. Then the great power of the Mass occurs when we allow ourselves to forget our earthly trials and tribulations and look for ways to serve God which sometimes creates a profound, feeling of brotherhood which turns all hearts towards humility, obedience, love and mercy.

Attending Mass provides me with an additional time when God is the true focal point in my mind. Each time that I walk into the Cathedral I do feel unworthy of being there; then I remember my reason for being there and I feel better. Each time I attend Mass I learn more about what God is asking me to do, how he wants me to live my life.

There must always be time for prayer. There must always be time for sacrifice. There must always be hope. There must always be love.

2010 Arrives

New Year’s Eve has departed,—These are my first hours of my life in movement, full of hope, full of faith but the impression of goodness and holiness I actually seek is very different from what I first imagined. 2010 has arrived.

I am in a state of great creative tension because of the unending march of answers and questions within my heart, mind, and soul. I lead the life of a calculus problem. I long to be a servant of God, to do what is needed without hesitation or question, I hope to live a life of complete obedience to God filled with effort and prayer, and destined eventually to please God as I proclaim his grace, goodness, and love through both my actions and words.

What I keep learning can be described simply as how to love and want nothing in return except to love more and to help more. It is the simplicity of silence and of prayer which moves me now.

And I am happy to be alive. And I am happy to be learning about the trinitarian, Christological, and ecclesiological foundations of the Church.

I am filled with hopes and prayers, and soon it will be time for Mass, the Archbishop will be the celebrant.

Now life is quiet, calm. The weather is cold yet magnificent, and all sounds peaceful and confident. I think of those who are sick or suffering or hungry or lost or without God in their hearts and I say a prayer, and I wish that there was something more immediate, more expedient that I could do to change the situation, make everyone feel better if only briefly. The spirit always searches for goodness, holiness.

Looking