Translating a World on the Edge

Each of us have gifts, God-given talents. The gifts of some may seem more apparent than others. For example, in those who appear on our televisions, in our movie theatres, on our radios—the so-called “stars.” But the value to God of each individual’s gift is the same, because God does not discriminate.

Early on, when I lived in Birmingham, my neighbor and I shared a babysitter, an older woman we’d met at a nearby Garden Nursery. Her name was Mrs. Hays. Anything she put into the ground, grew. There wasn’t a plant or flower or tree she didn’t seem to completely understand. She knew what each needed to flourish. And she handled our young children the same way. Whenever she came, they did indeed flourish. The gift she gave our children, and my neighbor and I as mothers, cannot be measured. Mrs. Hays wasn’t on the big screen, or the radio, or newspaper, but she made a lasting imprint on four young children. She had a gift and quietly used it. No fanfare, just solid intention driven by a love for all things growing.

Sometimes those—not all, but some–in the spotlight seem to want only that—-the spotlight. Is this the purpose of their gift?
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Last week was wonderful! From The Daughters of Mary meeting at St. Ignatius in Mobile, to the Spring Hill College panel discussion on The Catholic Imagination and Fiction, to The Stories of Faith Workshop on Saturday at St. Columba, Dothan–it was all good, all successful, I think.

And then?

On Saturday afternoon, my computer screen turned to stripes and I could retrieve nothing!! I panicked, of course. Dismissing all the good things that had happened in the last few days, I fell into negativity: there was a Bad Moon on the Rise. And I reacted too quickly–an unfortunate trait I have.

The next morning I went directly to Office Depot where I ended up buying a new computer. That would have been fine if the computer had not had Windows Eight installed on it. Oh, I do not like it! I don’t like to adjust. I don’t like the unfamiliar. And I became worse than before. I became Chicken Little–the sky was falling!

Late yesterday afternoon, I was still trying to understand Windows Eight, download Word, even to find out how to get out of a page, when one of my little granddaughters came over to stay a while. I got her busy setting the table and then went back to deciphering Windows Eight. Suddenly, I totally lost it. In my frustration, tears came. My granddaughter (she’ll be four next month) came running. She put an arm around my shoulder, “Grandmommy, don’t cry,” she said. “It’s only a computer.” Wow, did I feel immature in the presence of a three year-old!

Lesson learned. It is only a computer. Only a glitch, and a small one at that. I’d forgotten to look at the big picture, and instead let the little things bug the heck out of me. Never again. After all, it IS only a computer.

Negativity does no good at all. Why concentrate on “the bad” when there’s a beautifully full moon within reach.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken their toll. Not only in the death and injury to so many service men and women, but they have also taken a toll on our trust; the trust of the American people in our own government.

Now, we are facing another war in Syria. Is this the right thing to do? I must say I don’t know.

On the one hand are pictures of precious people, many children, lying dead from poisonous gas. How Syria’s government could do this to its own citizens is beyond belief. That it is evil, is a gross understatement. Think back to WWII and Hitler’s gas chambers.

On the other hand is the question that has become a sad reality: Is our own government being truthful with us, or is this a political play? If so, gross evil is present here in our own country as well.

But again, I don’t know.

From the perspective of a Christian, I do know that God loves every single human being involved in this crisis on all sides. People on all sides are going to do what they’re going to do, first of all, because they have the free will to do it, and secondly because there have always been those who selfishly put ‘might’ above ‘right.’

As we enter this unfortunate and very open-ended phase of America’s involvement in Syria, we need much prayer that God will instill His grace in all of us. That our “stand” against chemical weapons will do the trick, be only that, and not more.

We need to pray as much for America as for the countries in the Middle East, that we haven’t lost our way. That we are still a honorable country. That we resume our status as a beacon to the world. We need to pray that God will bring us home to Himself, in every way.