God Is Needed

I was very distressed today to hear about campus life at two Maryland universities in the metropolitan area. At the first a student was murdered after an escalating argument because of an iPod. At the second I think three female students reported that they woke up and discovered a strange man cuddling with them. Both stories left me wondering about the world that I live in, the world that is always in my prayers.

Strange and weird things happen each day. Senseless crimes happen each day. There is no explanation, no justification for uncontrolled anger. Logic teaches us for every action there is a reaction. Morality warns us for every action there is a consequence.

It is a strange violent world fueled by anger, rage, profanity. Where is reverence? Where is respect? Where is love? How many dreams were destroyed with the death of this Freshmen female student? How many lives were shattered?

As I think of this tragedy, this murder feels unreal, foreign, as if it was part of a heavy metal or gangsta rap music video. I can imagine the anger, I can imagine the rage. It is too often part of movies and television shows. Two lives ruined, two families in turmoil.

Young people making bold, brash decisions, young people rushing to be adults, young people behaving childishly, foolishly, callously now must face the consequences of their actions.

Where is religion in their lives? Where is love in their lives? Where is God in their lives?

God is missing from many lives. Morality is missing from many lives. The frontier mentality is encouraged, the rugged individual is glorified, the rebel outsider is canonized. Violence is glamorized. Cinematic death is beautiful, cinematic death is ambivalent, ambiguous. Cinematic murder is rationalized. In real life murder is messy. Lives are changed, devastated by murder.

Murder surprises many people when it occurs in their neighborhood, when it occurs on their campus. Murder surprises parents when their children are involved. Murder makes me yearn for God’s protection.

The only true security that we can ever have is the security that God provides. Man can neither protect us or offer true security. Only God can do that.

God is needed in this world.

Secular and Spiritual, July 26

Sunday morning arrived bringing an uneasy feeling in my stomach. An idea to return to bed and possibly miss Mass due to the possibility of an illness was very viable, very seductive. Reason however won the battle. Instead of attending a late Mass, the next available Mass became the only option.

After a quick check of Mass times, a 10:30 Mass was selected barely thirty minutes before the listed start time. The cell phone was left behind. The camera and iPod were taken instead. The iPod was chosen because a clock was needed to help with pacing. The camera was taken for purely creative reasons.

Normally, instrumental, orchestral music provided the soundtrack to most journeys to Mass.

Special songs were chosen which would be completed within the estimated time that it would take to walk to the church.

While listening to the songs, my imagination decided to listen to the lyrics and alter them to say something about God or my faith. Purely secular, upbeat, up tempo love songs were being altered, revised. The original meanings were put aside, were instantly revised.

Since all the songs were easily categorized as love songs, that made the basic premise easy in theory. The speaker in the songs could be God, or God could be the object of the lyrics. I felt like Shakespeare writing a play or Jowett translating an ancient Greek text. Using something not connected to church to my reflected God, the Liturgy, the Eucharist, or the Sacraments was a great way to prepare my mind for church. This was a stress free examination of conscience.

The exercise was intended to use something very secular to create a something spiritual.

My walking pace was improved, my observation of the surroundings was more directed. The natural beauty of the verdant leaves fueled my imagination. Here are an abridged list of the various modified lyrics.

The language of faith
encourages me to meditate
Virtue can be very victorious
when we remember to pray
We are not allegorical
remember that love is biblical
Look at all the beauty
Your faith does talk
when your mouth does not move

Now, these lyrics are not perfect, not refined. The concentrated thought on God made the walk more enjoyable. In many ways this could be seen as the beginning of a prayer, a discovery of buried thoughts and desires.

believe in your prayers
Remember to trust your vocation
believe in your prayers
Remember faith needs imagination
With work and sacrifice your hopes survive
Your fears and worries we will archive
I'll keep all your prayers alive
For your virtue

Going to Mass has many childhood associations and memories. As adults it is easy to tell ourselves that we are too busy to attend Mass. Each Mass contains some element which is unique to it within all the ritual. A simple phrase in a reading or an anecdote in a homily may touch your heart and soul in different ways. Attending Mass in unfamiliar surroundings may inspire greater understanding and hope.

The more a man opens his entire being up to the Mass the more he will receive from the Mass. Being present in body is good, but being there in body, mind, and soul is the ideal. Every part of the Mass should be inspiring prayers for all of mankind, not just our immediate spheres of connections and bonds. The Mass should inspire a desire to perform acts of charity, acts of goodness. When a man allows himself to be open, vulnerable before God, then this can occur naturally, easily.

Attending Mass is a simple way to stand before God and declare that you are his servant and that you want to do his work.

Sunday afternoon arrived with the thought of writing a series of essays beginning with the word beloved and with the thought of Saint Paul.