Earlier this week I blogged about worry (“why pray when you can worry,” oops, make that “why worry when you can pray?”) But worry goes hand in hand with patience. When our patience meters get out of whack, we tend to worry (at least I know this redhead does.)
Like this butterfly waiting patiently for someone to open the window.
Whatever we’re waiting for it’s easy to get caught up in angsty ‘it’s not happening yet” blues that push us into the realms of impatience. The challenge (I’m so still working on this) is to be present (& grateful) in this moment, something to consider this Lenten Saturday (& any day of the year.)
“Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are.” Henri Nouwen
Patience asks us to have (a little more) faith.
“Faith is the willingness to receive whatever God wants to give, or the willingness not to have what God does not want to give.” Elizabeth Elliot
When I think of New Zealand (as many folks here do) it’s of vast beauty from incredible scenery in the Lord of the Rings movies. The Kiwis I’ve known and worked with overseas have always been warm and hospitable (who love their rugby!)
We need more explosions of love (vs. hate!)
Last Friday an extremist turned the beautiful & hospitable country of New Zealand into a kill zone by gunning down 50+ people in the city of Christchurch during worship services at Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre.
The ages of the dead ranged from 2 to 71.
There’s a Tolkien line in The Two Towers, “So much death! What can men do against such reckless hate?” In the aftermath of this senseless violence (& similar such tragedies around the world) it’s a valid question.
What can we do? We can offer our sincere condolences (but that doesn’t bring back the lives of the people killed.) We can empty our pocketbooks to help families of the victims. (That might temporarily put a band-aid on things.)
We can light candles in honor of the dead.
We can remember them: their lives, their faith, their hopes & decimated dreams.
We can pray.
Maybe some of you may think what’s up with that? How can we believe in God when such senseless violence happens? But who knows, perhaps without prayer the perpetrator of this heinous crime may not have been stopped in 21 minutes (he was on his way to a 3rd location when caught.)
“You cannot reap what you have not sown. How are we going to reap love in our community, if we only sow hate?” St. Archbishop Óscar Romero
As a former relief & development worker who lived in conflict zones where bombs routinely blew up civilians and innocent people were sliced and diced into mass graves, I have seen the results of senseless violence and the cycle it perpetuates.
But, I have also seen (& know) beacons of Light in dark places. People of hope, who can still hope (despite multifaceted darkness) and continue building bridges of understanding one stone, however small, at a time.
These people of hope are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, wives, husbands, teachers, doctors, nurses, students, business people, religious leaders (I know imams & rabbis & priests who have risked much to build bridges of understanding in the Middle East) and even children who have done extraordinary things to bring fractured communities together.
What can we do against reckless hate?
We can seek to BE LOVE. Not talking hippie free power flower love…
(although you have to be looking to find roses in the rubble that’s strewn about globally and in our lives.)
No, I’m talking BE LOVE by tangibly doing things that affirm others, that slaps denigration with affirmation that we are all part of this big human family. Whether we are pink, purple, blue or green – whatever our faith, gender, orientation may be – we can extend our hands (& open our hearts) to everyone.
At the end of the day, love is stronger than hate, because love unites us – it doesn’t divide or denigrate. It lifts others up.
“I don’t want to be an anti, against anybody. I simply want to be the builder of great affirmation: the affirmation of God, Who loves us.” St. Archbishop Óscar Romero (murdered in El Salvador, 24 March 1980)
Here’s a powerful song that resonates today from Playing For Change, an organization that promotes world peace and social change by uniting musicians from around the world. (Email readers, you know the drill, link to the Roses website to view.)
grace, peace & united hearts
of AFFIRMING LOVE!
Virginia
p.s. Playing for Change unites musicians from all corners of the globe in their songs & videos. Pictured at one point in the United video, the Omagh Community Youth Choir from Northern Ireland was formed in 1998 to heal and unite after a tragic bombing in their town. Since then Catholic and Protestant children (& their parents) have come together united through music. On the Playing for Change CD in my collection (‘Songs Around the World’) the choir sings “Love Rescue Me.” A truly moving rendition!
On this Lenten Thursday (or any day of the year) how do we become acts of praise?
“Prayer is sitting in the silence until it silences us, choosing gratitude until we are grateful, praising God until we ourselves are an act of praise.” Richard Rohr, OFM
Sometimes worries grab our hearts by the throat (figuratively speaking) and push our peace into pieces. Why pray when we can worry? Maybe our peace meters would increase if we flip that to: ‘why worry when we can pray?’
“Worry does not empty today of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” Corrie Ten Boom
“Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but doesn’t get you anywhere.” (Anonymous)
During our journeys through Lent (& life) however frenetically our stress overwhelms, maybe we should take a few moments to decrease our worry meters by increasing our prayer meters.
Just sayin’. A little more prayin’ might keep us from cavin’.
“Give your troubles to God: He’s up all night anyway.” Anonymous
grace, peace & prayer (vs. worries)
Virginia : )
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life… Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:25-27)
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of Mary. In one of his first homilies as Pope, Pope Francis spoke of St. Joseph’s role as protector of Mary and Jesus (especially while fleeing from Herod to Egypt) but also taking his example to heart as an inspiration for us to consider what needs protecting around us.
“The vocation of being a “protector”, however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about. It means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time, protect their parents. It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness.
In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts!” Pope Francis, (19 March 2013)
Here’s to giving up everything to God during Lent (& always…)
“Lord, help me to glorify You; I am poor, help me to glorify You by contentment; I am sick, help me to give You honour by patience; I have talents, help me to extol You by spending them for You; I have time, Lord, help me to redeem it, that I may serve You; I have a heart to feel, Lord, let that heart feel no love but Yours, and glow with no flame but affection for You; I have a head to think, Lord, help me to think of You and for You;
You have put me in this world for something, Lord, show me what that is, and help me to work out my life-purpose: I cannot do much, but as the widow put in her two mites, which were all her living, so, Lord, I cast my time and eternity too into Your treasury; I am all Thine; take me, and enable me to glorify You now, in all that I say, in all that I do, and with all that I have.” Charles H. Spurgeon
grace, peace & eternal savings
Virginia : )
p.s. My heart & prayers go out to the people of New Zealand & all those recovering from the recent senseless violence there. May God comfort terrorized hearts & stamp out hate with armies of love & understanding. 🌟🙏🌟
Here we are again, and this time it’s Sunday, so no worrying about special dispensation if you’ve given up drinkies for Lent.
Hoo needs luck – VIRGINIA- when you’re a Wahoo?
This Virginia (& maybe a few of you) may need a bit more than luck on this Saint Patrick’s Day. How ‘bout a bit of Heavenly help with this prayer from Saint Patrick?
March is a month of memory milestones for our family: March 8th is the memorial of Papa’s passing, March 15th (today) is my mother’s birthday, and March 17th is my parents’ anniversary. We were so blessed to celebrate Mama’s 80th before she passed…
@ Mama’s 80th celebration (with my sis, Shere)
(Hopefully there’s a big celebration going on in Heaven today with Papa involving lots of Heavenly chocolate.)
How we miss Mama – she left a huge legacy of love behind in our hearts and the lives of many she touched with her example of faithfulness. My parents were married 58 years, 28 of which Papa suffered from a debilitating disease that left him a bedfast quadriplegic. Mama looked after him tirelessly. Papa called her his ‘care lover.’ You wouldn’t believe how mushy they could get, whispering sweet everythings to each other & holding hands (even after 50+ years of marriage.)
So today in honor of Mama’s birthday, here’s a post written a few years ago about their love. Seems relevant on this Lenten Friday as something we can all aspire to.
LOVE IS A FUNNY THING…
Love is a funny thing.
We think we want it, but all the work that goes in it, not so much.
Because love is about commitment. Not just butterflies in our tummies and hormone rushes, but the decision to love day in and day out.
Washing up together, forever? Through tough stains, crusted plates, and cracks that come. Perhaps a few shattered glasses?
Love continues despite it all – mending, tending, fending for one another. At times sparkling, at other times barely holding on.
Love keeps working at it, despite the strains that inevitably come.
Love keeps trying: making an effort, taking initiative, offering sponges of forgiveness when needed (and necessary.)
Love is not always easy, not by a long shot.
Letting go of me to become we.
But love, funny thing that it is, makes the world of our hearts go around and around. And keeps it spinning through ups and downs.
Love can take us to the highest peaks of our miserly existence, filling us with a sparkling joy that inspires, ignites and empowers us to do and be more, more, more.
For others. For ourselves. For Love.
Love can also leave us desolate and despairing when our loved ones are gone.
But joy, the joy of loving and being loved, this joy is a spark that makes life worth living. A spark that keeps our hearts alive in the afterglow when distant memories fill the treasure chests of our lives.
Love is a funny thing. It is. Indeed.
Pass that next dish. I’ll get the soap, you do the rinse.
Like this butterfly waiting patiently for someone to open the window.
Roses in the Rubble 