Translating a World on the Edge

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween evokes many memories of my children growing up. I probably shouldn’t admit this particular memory, but when ONE of my girls was a tyrannical toddler, I gave the little thing a nickname–“Witchy Woman.” Believe me, at the time it suited her well. All she needed was a miniature broom.

Of course today, she’s anything but witchy–I mean I’m certain her husband and children would never call her such!!

But hey, aren’t we all a little ‘witchy’ at times. Look at some of the characteristics of these tiny, toddling  people:

They discover they can walk on two legs and so are “into everything.”
They are stubborn about ME, MINE, and MY.
They are in love with the word NO.
They become easily frustrated.
They like to build, knock down, put in, and take out.
They have very short attention spans.
They imitate almost everything they see.

And then there are:

The big smiles when they wake up from a nap or in the morning (Despite the load in their diapers)
The sloppy kisses.
The arms around your neck.
The squeals of laughter.
The “help Mommy make dinner” pans on the floor.
The colorful scribbles.
The heads of hair full of paste, or spaghetti, or you name it.
The fall, the get-up, the tears and the “I want Mommy!”

Today, my little ‘witchy woman’ is one of whom I’m very proud. Her witchy-ness propelled her, and may even have been the key to her great success as a woman. I am amazed at how high she flies!

More than 70 percent of all religious communities report having new members (both men and women) in formation. But this is less than the large number of entrants in the 1950’s and 1960’s. So we come to the conclusion that the church is losing vocations.

The reasons for this are many, not the least, our very material world.  Yet everyday, there are extraordinary people who discover within themselves a love for God so great that nothing but the religious life will do. (If you are a parent and your child expresses a desire to explore a religious or priestly vocation, please listen to them.)

Have you heard of the Nun who kissed Elvis? In 1963, Delores Hart who starred with Elvis and other stars  in many movies, gave up her promising career as a movie starlet to go into the convent.

Here are some of her  thoughts  about helping to discern a vocation to the religious life. It is aimed at young people, like she was, when she entered.

“How do you know if you are being called? Start by reflecting on these questions:

Do I find myself wondering if there is more to life?

Do I have a desire to know God more deeply and give my whole self to him?

Am I drawn to pray and participate in the liturgy?

Do I take an active role in the life of the Church?

Do I feel called to live out the Gospel?  Do I desire to live a simple lifestyle?  Do I feel called to share life, ministry and faith with others?

Do I value the multicultural abundance in our world?  Am I concerned with the unmet needs of others, especially the poor and those treated unjustly?

Do I believe I can live the life of a religious sister or nun? Do I think I can live a life of continual conversion? Do I believe we can do more together than alone?

Do I want a challenging life lived with deep satisfaction and love?

If you answer “yes” to many of these questions, God may be calling you to religious life.”

What follows is an HBO documentary, longer than most of my videos. But it is well worth your time. Mother Delores’s wise words hit home!

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My husband and I are “fixing up” our house.  We allotted ourselves a budget, so I looked through magazines for ideas to modernize and make our house prettier, and then I showed my husband the pictures. He wasn’t impressed.

“We have to start with the innards,” he said. “Those things that are not working correctly and really need to be fixed–like the AC, the hot water heater, the sprinkler system, better insulation, etc.”

Innards are the interior workings of a thing, the insides or guts. Innards don’t sound exciting, let alone beautiful. Often, they are hidden, so we don’t even notice them, and they don’t make a house prettier— they do, however, make a house last.

Not many of us want to look at the innards of things–especially the interior innards of our own ‘selves.’ One reason might be out of shame, because we know we could do better, and haven’t.

Another reason is that inner things are often harder to fix. It’s easier to spruce ourselves up on the outside with new clothes, hair-cuts, or make-up. We want the world to see a pretty outside, rather than do the harder work of BEING a better person inside.

How do we get to be a better person? We first have to take a good look at ourselves—especially the way we treat others. We have to be able to stand in the other person’s shoes in order to feel compassion for him or her.  If we have compassion, it’s easier not to get angry with another.  It’s also easier to forgive if we try to understand the person who’s hurt us.

These inner qualities can only be seen through the actions we take toward others—and ourselves, because we’re meant to love ourselves as well,  and to forgive ourselves, too.

Do we want to be just another prettied up face in the crowd?   Or do we want to be a person who matters in the lives of others?

Before we concentrate on our superficial looks, let’s first see if our innards need fixing.  and  start there.

Trunk, leaves, and branches, are important parts of what it means to be a tree.

Stem, petals, and stamen, are important parts of what it means to be a flower.

Bones, skin,  and muscle are important parts of what it means to be an animal.

Language, decision-making, and love are crucial to what it means to be a human being.

Those are only a few of the attributes that give these living things their meanings. And each of their meanings is different as it pertains to the world it lives in. (more…)