Daily Living – When time stands still

Catholic

WWJD

Posted on July 30, 2021July 30, 2021

WWJD AUDIO

My new take on WWJD: What Would Joseph Do? I haven’t created a new wristband or anything. It’s just that I’m identifying with him in ways previously unexplored. It started with Pope Francis announcing a Year for St. Joseph on Dec. 8, 2020, and creating an accompanying prayer. If the Vatican website isn’t in your list of Favorites, here’s a shortcut to it:

Hail Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

To you God entrusted his only Son; in you Mary placed her trust; with you Christ became man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a father and guide us in the path of life.

Obtain for us grace, mercy, and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.

Three words spoke to me. First was trust. God entrusted His only Son to Joseph’s care. When God the Father trusts someone with His most precious beloved Son, from his most vulnerable moments as an infant to his growth and development as a young boy to his maturity into manhood – that gets my attention.

We’re Losing It

Posted on May 31, 2021May 31, 2021

We’re Losing It AUDIO

Memory loss is a tragic condition. My 94 year old mother’s amnesia is a product of her Alzheimer’s Disease. She has just enough awareness to mourn the loss of virtually a lifetime of memories. “I’m sorry honey, I just can’t remember. It seems that’s all I say anymore.” It’s painful to see her so disconnected from such a full life lived, trapped within the confines of the day at hand – or sometimes just the present moment. Yet her daily life in the dementia unit could be compared to a growing trend in American society.

Groundhog Day (again)

Posted on September 21, 2020October 23, 2020

Groundhog Day (again) audio

Bill Murray in the 1993 film, Groundhog Day.

“In the Lord’s eyes, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years are as a day.”
2 Peter 3:8

COVID-19 has created a hardscrabble daily life for almost all of us. And for many, those days have begun to blend together in a kind of monopoly of monotony. Some have said it’s like having the same day over and over again, as in the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. In that story, the main character finds himself in a kind of time warp where he wakes up every morning on February 2 and has to live that day again and again until he gets it right. In the process, he is changed from an egotistical self-serving boor to a kind and compassionate town hero. That’s not a bad analogy for living the Christian life. Each day is a chance to be transformed to more fully reflect the person of Christ.

Fifty Things

Posted on August 24, 2020October 23, 2020

Fifty Things audio

On the occasion of my fiftieth birthday, I took a cue from Andy Rooney, famous writer, humorist, and commentator on the CBS television program, 60 Minutes. As he did on his sixtieth birthday, I sat down to write fifty things I had learned during my fifty years on the planet. Dusting them off recently, I decided they contained truths worth sharing with you. The original source for a statement is noted when known; some are simply attributed to the proverbial “Unknown”. The rest are my own musings – unless, of course, they’re not.

What If?

Posted on May 11, 2020July 21, 2020

What If – audio version

One of my sons lives in Seattle with his wife and three children. On a recent phone call with his 9 year old son, Judah, I asked him to tell me about his favorite home school activity during the pandemic. He introduced me to a You Tube Channel with 3.78 million subscribers called “What If?”. Each episode highlights a hypothetical question about some aspect of science in our universe to stir the imagination. His favorite was “What if we dumped our trash into volcanoes?” That drew 13 million other viewers. Naturally the imagination of his grandfather, whose blog “views life and the world through a different lens,” was stoked by this channel, too. Not sufficiently, mind you, to watch his 4:26 video. Though I was able to carve out 6:47 to watch the “What If We Never Aged?” episode. Go figure.