The End of Tomorrow

Sitting in an examination room, thinking about the weather. Sitting in my doctor's examination room, thinking about how vulnerable I feel wearing this silly thin cotton gown. 

On a Saturday afternoon, thinking about blogging. On a Saturday afternoon, thinking about being what I want to share, thinking about what I want to write.

And so I asked a friend for ideas. I was very vague. I hadn't decided upon a name or a voice or a theme. And so I asked a friend for ideas. I was enjoying the moment of creation. I was enjoying the moment of inspiration. 

And so I try to be serious. And so I try to be humorous.

And on this Sunday, the sky is overcast. Stray raindrops find my face as I walk around. The colorless sky and cool December breeze help me remember the flowers and laughter of long, warm summer days.

December is fresh with events upon which to focus our attention. Each day provides a moment for preparation, a moment for reflection, a moment for sacrifice. Lucky are those who sacrifice without realizing that they are sacrificing.

December is fresh with love and meditation. As winter arrives, memories of summer create collages in our hearts and minds. For now is the time to remember all those things done, all those things undone. It is a time to celebrate our lives. It is a time to learn from our weaknesses. It is a time to learn how to avoid sin. 

The collage of my life leads me to wonder about goodness, kindness, and holiness. Love - subtle, sublime, surprising - arranges the hopes and aspirations and inspirations within my heart, within my mind. Each day I pray for mercy, each day I hope I am able to share mercy.

The magic of love, is the magic of morning with gentle, warm sunlight teasing and retreating against a blue sky with white clouds. The montage of life is the mystery of belief, the beauty of faith.

A Little Calcium and Vitamin D

In my quiet moments, sometimes when I reflect upon the saints, my imagination creates a world of squirrels and streams of clear, cold water and stone churches. My imagination creates a world vivid yet sterile with simplistic ideas of good and bad. How easy it is for me to downplay the struggles and hardships the saints endured.

Each saint found an unique way to serve God. Each saint provides an unique path to encounter and to serve God. Each Christian is encouraged to have an unique, personal relationship with God. Our prayers help to create this bond.

In my quiet moments, sometimes, as I reflect upon my daily obstacles, my imagination creates a world of vengeful speeches and a stereophonic soundtrack of cold despair and stony, steep stairs leading away from goodness, away from kindness, away from holiness. My imagination creates a world of brittle pomposity, brittle insincerity where good and bad trade places, stand side by side, joined as friends, allies in a world of selfishness and avarice.

Luckily I live in the real world, with friends, whose actions, honesty, struggles offer me glimpses of peace, glimpses of love, glimpses of living, breathing, praying saints moving toward God, moving closer to heaven.

These Boots

Each day presents new opportunities for prayer and reflection. Each person moves through life in unique ways with unique insights and perspectives. There is often a desire to simplify life, to simplify our description of our place in the world. It is often easier to hide behind a generality than to uncover and to share the truth of what we are really thinking, really feeling.

And so with hope and the occasional grammatical and/or spelling error, I return to the world of words, thought, contemplated, typed, reviewed, deleted. Such an amazing process is writing and living life.

It all begins with what we see, what we imagine, what we perceive.

If our aim is goodness, then each thought, each word, each action must lead us to our goal. Our direction, our path must always be consistent. It is not enough to talk love if our deeds do not support it.

If our aim is righteousness, then each moment of our lives must be filled with forgiveness and love. Our goal is a sense of understanding, a sense of purpose, a sense of being. Being righteous is hard and filled with many earthly obstacles and temptations. Being righteous is about being accepting, compassionate, open to hope, open to mercy, open to charity.