Translating a World on the Edge

I’ve known a few people in life who’ve given up hope. Desperate people who blame themselves, or worse blame others for the demolished state they’re in.

They don’t believe they can be fixed.

Not true.

God can fix anything or anyone.

What is required for that kind of fixing?

Surrender is required.

Acceptance is required.

An emptying of self is required.

EXCUSE: Those are words, and the accomplishing of them isn’t easy.

ANSWER: Strength will be given.

Unconditional love will be given.

A replenishing of self will take place.

God can fix us.

Try Him.

We are all hurt as we travel through life.  We often hold on to those hurts. The betrayal of a friend, the infidelity of a spouse, the abuse of a parent, and on and on–things that stay with us for years after they occurred.

Some of us go through life aching and sweating, beneath a heavy backpack of grievances that weigh us down. Oddly, we keep adding to the weight of that backpack with fistful after fistful of “what he/she did to me,” and thoughts like, “I’ll never forget it. In fact, I won’t let them get away with it. I will pay them back!”

When we’re hauling around a backpack like that, we’re usually grumpy, or at the very least, difficult to be around. We’re certainly not smiling, or happy, because grudges make us inherently anxious.

How can we get over our grudges?  How can we empty our backpack of all that disturbs us, and re-fill it with things that are worthwhile, things that do make us happy? (more…)

When we trust in God, He will surprise us. When we let go, like the small child standing on the pool’s edge, and jump into our Father’s arms; he will not only catch us, he will teach us to swim.

God’s surprises come in a myriad of ways, and at unexpected times. Sometimes He surprises us through people—especially after, in our narrow-mindedness, we judge a person to be only what we think they are, what they appear to be on the outside.

We have our own ways of judging someone—our first impressions: how they’re dressed, how attractive they are, how they speak, smell, or walk.  We don’t see a child of God, made in His image. We see someone who is different from our own image of what a person should be. And sometimes, we pompously see someone who’s ‘in our way.’ And so, we circumvent them, and never get to know what they may have had to offer–maybe the surprises God has in mind.

Jesus, Himself, tells us that there’s not much sense in this sort of response by people stuck in their own ideas. In Luke 7:31-35, He asks: “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:  “‘We played the pipe for you,   and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’  But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

True  wisdom is to TRUST in God. Trust is always the answer.

If Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, turned five loaves and two fishes into enough to feed five thousand, with leftovers; then we can trust him to surprise us again? Trust Him to surprise us personally? Trust Him to do much more than we can imagine?

Because we can only imagine the ways God will surprise us with His love. So, love Him. Trust Him. Let Him do His work in you.

Are you a fun-seeker? What is “Fun” to you?
Of course, it’s different for each of us. But sometimes the “Fun” we chase can bring us heartache—-or a headache at the very least.

Maybe we ought to take a second look at the things we call “Fun.” Are they constructive to us as an individual? Do they forward us along in relaxation, helping us to smile? Or do they hinder us, inhibit us, and ultimately put a frown on our faces?
The media will be glad to show you what fun is—-buy a romantic trip, buy a car or even a motorcycle, have a bottle of whiskey or beer, eat your fill at one of thousands of restaurants, and so on. Buy. Buy. Buy Fun.

Are we being sold a bill of goods that fun is the same thing as happiness? Are these things really ‘fun’ or just what our ever-greedy culture says we need to enjoy ourselves. We often fall for whatever ‘they’ think. We should think for ourselves.

Each of us absolutely needs fun in our lives. We need the release of enjoyment. We don’t need the stress that’s often produced by the manipulators of our culture. Fun ought to be very personal, something we do for ourselves, and not for the wallets of others.

My Publisher at Tuscany Press asked that I blog my remarks from the Tuscany/ Spring Hill College panel discussion on The Catholic Imagination and Fiction, September 10, at Spring Hill. The panel included Peter Mongeau, publisher, Tuscany Press; Joseph O’Brien, Editor, Tuscany Press; Fr. Chris Viscardi, Chair of the Theology Dept at Spring Hill; Dr. Matthew Bagot, Theology Dept.; Fr. Michael Williams, English Dept.; Dr. Ron O’Gorman, cardiac surgeon in Mobile and author at Tuscany Press, and myself.

Of course, I’ll do as my publisher asks because I love my publisher, I love my alma mater, I love the Jesuits—and hey, I want to get another book out! So here goes:

“I’ve been asked to talk about The Catholic Imagination—the spark that ignites Catholic Fiction.

But first I want to talk a little about my Spring Hill experience–my JESUIT experience. And then–maybe because I was an Art Major here–I’d like to talk about the color GRAY. (more…)