Sunset - July

A lucky person lives life filled with sharing and receiving love.

Optimism

City life is chaotic, frenzied, topsy-turvy, hectic, anxiety driven, and an unlimited list of other descriptive phrases. But city life can be very beautiful.

July 31

Be thankful for both the dusk and the dawn; for both night and day. Be thankful for both friends and foes. Remember that life is a miracle. Struggle and sacrifice might color eyes with fear and uneasiness. Remember that our vulnerabilities often cloak our greatest strength.

Appreciate the Moment

In the distance voices cheering and applauding could be heard. Sitting alone watching tiny aircraft descend against the sky, my mind is filled with all types of thoughts.

My ears can hear the growl of a lone motorcycle on the street. My eyes can see various street lamps shining. My skin can feel the breeze. My mind can appreciate the beauty of this moment.

Quiet moments are great for being quiet.

In the stillness, wait reflections and understanding. In the still grows patience. Difficult for us being still is.

I can see the red light flashing in the Washington Monument. I can hear the fans of the big rooftop air conditioning units on the nearby building. I can remember walking across the River Thames on a bridge near the Tate. I can remember being thankful for being alive and for having a beautiful, accepting, caring group of friends.

My friends are one of my blessings.

Silent I am. Reflecting I am. At peace and filled with hope and love I am.

Weariness too much worry creates.

Remember that you are always in my thoughts and my prayers.

Please remember to have a laugh for me.

Once upon a time, there were a group of friends, who used to get together for dinner and drinks. And they each discovered living in the city can be hazardous to their sanity. But I took them away from all that. Now, they relax and laugh with me. I hope you remember my name. I remember yours.

Pugilistic Hope

Young hearts want to believe.

Algebraic symbols are good for certain types of modern discourse, especially for the lower forms of monologues which can be heard in bars, restaurants, parks, grocery stores. It is apparent that many people were never encouraged to stumble into a library, look at books, listen to the music.

Walk down any street and you will hear the adopted jargon of the mass media and see the anxiety which is incessantly encouraged. Distrust rules, reason hides.

Thinking about modern life is easy. Writing about it is challenging yet pleasant.

Different things capture our attention, capture our imagination. We live for sensation and interaction. The sky at twilight is beautiful, words can not adequately describe the calm, the sense of serenity that passes through my mind as my eyes glance upward to the moon surrounded by clouds, slowly disappearing. Words can not express the majesty of the sun, a round orb reclining against a cushion of clouds in a bouquet of muted colors.

Looking at the cityscape as a gentle breeze touches my body, a sense of peace moves through my mind.

In the distance, almost on the horizon, dark smoke rises up, without a zoom camera lens the dark, black smoke appears to rise just in front of the dark green treetops. With a lens, the smoke is further away, actually behind the trees.

One of the best things about the Catholic Church is its pugilistic attitude. The Catholic Church continues to argue for social justice, for fairness, for peace, for life. The Catholic Church never takes a holiday, opens its doors everyday to those in need. The Catholic Church asks us to think before we act. Is that how Jesus would have behaved? Are our lives reflections of Jesus' life? How do we love unconditionally and universally?

The church offers hope and a voice for those unable or afraid to speak.

Young hearts need faith.

Books By My Bedside

This morning when my eyes opened, my imagination led me to the bookshelf closest to the bed. For about a minute my mind entertained an idea of writing a very dramatic piece filled with passion and suspense. It was going to be written in the style of a generic, great religious orator.

The idea was replaced with a different idea. Describing a person is always difficult, a modern adult presents only selected views of their lives to the world. It is a given that there are secrets.

Underlying most healthy relationships is a sense of faith.

All human lives are composed of the seen and unseen, stories told and stories untold. Life contains a wonderful collection of trivialities which often interest biographers and gossips. Favorite pop songs and orchestral pieces play in our minds, favorite movie or television scenes provide stylized, controlled conversations. All thoughts are hidden, protected.

Moral education is often hidden, protected with juvenile thoughts. It is in youth that most personalities are created, fortified.

Baptism encourages us to change, to view life through a special lens. Baptism asks us to be compassionate, humble, gentle. Baptism asks us to be merciful, giving. Baptism reminds us to be contemplative, to reflect upon the life of Jesus Christ.

Being a good Catholic in America can be very hard because of individualism which stresses a self reliance and independence which make sense in a rustic, isolated landscape but which causes all types of problems in an urban environment where interaction and interdependence are necessary for security and survival.

Throughout our lives, an unasked question that passes through the minds of friends and family and other acquaintances is just who is writing his/her life.

In an attempt to present one of the hidden parts of my life, I am presenting a list of titles of books have been or are planned to be reference materials for my writing. These books were on a bookshelf in my bedroom. They are all paperback books.

This list is not in any particular order. Please enjoy.

The American, Henry James
Mythology, Edith Hamilton
Great Dialogues of Plato
A History of American History
The Purple Decades, A Reader, Tom Wolfe
The Immoralist, Andre Gide
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Edward Albee
Ogden Nash, Pocket Book
Brief Encounter, Noel Coward
The Oxford Book of Late Medieval Verse & Prose
The Rhymers Club: Poets of the Tragic Generation, Norman Alford
Lexicon of Intentionally Ambiguous Recommendations, Robert Thornton
A Book of Love Poetry, edited by Jon Stallworthy
The Lawrenceville Stories, Owen Johnson
Personality Types-Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery
The Same Door, John Updike
Present Concerns Essays, C.S. Lewis
Collected Poems 1928- 1985, Stephen Spender
Believing is Seeing-Creating the Culture, Mary Anne Staniszewski

That list of books have been alive within me for years, since my first exposure. That this list is presented completely out of context is both unplanned and yet a brilliant event. The list will not be explained beyond the titles. To historical data will be provided. These books like so many items in our lives influence us, influence our thoughts, conversations, and prayers.

Some of the books are in good condition others are not.

The words on those pages worked hard to keep my interest, to encourage additional my mental and spiritual exploration, to inspire my writing.

Many other books were not included in the list. The most important books are not mentioned. This is no representative of anything other than proximity. This is just a view of something hidden. This is just a touchstone of literary reference points.

Here, within these pages my imagination was nurtured. Here within these pages my imagination discovered unasked questions. Here within these pages are the unanswered arguments which convinced me to become Catholic.

Reading books can be hard on the eyes. But, carrying a stack of books can be hard on the back.

A prayer from Somewhere Beyond Yesterday.

This is my prayer.
It is my private prayer.
I prayed it.
I prayed for clear blue skies with a hint of heat.
Happiness was mine until my mind got into the act.
Then, I prayed for gray skies with thunder and lightning.
Now, I am all drenched, each raindrop is fightning.

July 29

Each day should begin with a request for the forgiveness of your sins. A recognition of stray thoughts, stray sentences, stray moments when we do not behave in a way that is pleasing to God may help us to improve our actions today and tomorrow.