Death

Death is most likely the most important moment of our life, outside of the fact that we were born.

Moments in nature can be prepared for.   Giving birth is a natural process and we have discovered ways that a woman and her husband can prepare for the giving of birth, to make it easier. . . .   I am discovering that death, too, can be prepared for.  People who have had a “near-death experience” can tell us some of the first things to expect when dying.  I am a neophyte in this.  I have not thought about the natural process of dying, so I am embarking on a research venture, asking God to lead me.  Do you know anything about this?

Sisters Marguerite Barbein and Leonette Bursch have just died.  I will pray to them to help me in this venture.

Desire

I feel like I’m swimming in an ocean of desire. 

The huge upheaval in Egypt swept up out of an aching desire on the part of the Egyptian people for their freedom from a corrupt regime.  Desire, freedom, want, longing for, seeking, are words that attempt to describe the human heart.

The 33 miners who had been trapped for over two months and then were rescued still seek healing from their horrible experience.  Many returning veterans long for their former life of innocence from the horrors of war.

Wherever I look, there is desire.  Today is Valentine’s Day.  Love is desire.  The translation of “I love you” in Spanish is: “te quiero”, or “I want you”.    Someone recently reminded me that a vacuum always seeks to be filled.  Desire is like a vacuum which attracts the loved one and the union with God and with others for which we were created. 

The choice to live in poverty “without anything of one’s own” by Saint Francis was indeed the desire to be open for love in God, who is love.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Caged

Did you ever watch a bee that’s caught between a screen and a window?  It’s a pitiful sight as it desperately searches for a way to freedom.  Nowadays we try not to crush a honey bee because it is so precious and we will help it to find its way out.

On Monday of this week I visited a prisoner in jail.  He was jailed because he was caught a second time driving without a license.  Of course, he can’t get a license to drive because he is from a different country and can’t get documentation.  He told me that he has worked in our area for seven years, and that the owner depends on him if he has to leave for awhile.   This prisoner has a wife and three-month old baby.

I wondered how this man feels there in jail.

Little Kids

Saint Francis just “blows me away” sometimes.  Yesterday I read one of his admonitions in which he wrote:  “There is no one who does good.  Not even one.”

My take on that spontaneously is:  but I do good sometimes, and I even compliment others when they do good.   Oh, Rose Mae, how far you are from full faith!

Francis had preceded the above statement with a reference to something Saint Paul had said:  “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.”  What is this mystery that only God is good and that any good we see in creation comes from God?

Is it like a little kid who is learning for the first time to hit a ball with a bat?

The little kid’s father holds the bat with the little kid and when the ball comes near, the father (with the little kid holding on) swings the bat and hits the ball.  I dare say that the little kid thinks that he was the one who made the ball go!

It seems that God tolerates our misconceptions that we are the ones doing good.  I would guess that God would prefer an openness on our part to give credit where credit is due.  Our union with God is there but we are still like little kids.

Splendid Differences

I used to wear a uniform. I wore it for about twenty years. It is called a habit. Now I dress with a variety of clothing and colors that show what mood I'm in.

As I looked around in Chapel this morning at the endless variety with which the Sisters dress, I praised God for the delightful differences among us Sisters, the splendor of God's glory shining through.

I have noticed that the snowflakes also carry this fullness of the richness and the generosity of our Creator. Each snowflake is different! Have you checked this out? I shall carry in my memory the image of one snowflake I got to see the other day sitting so prettily in its purity on my green winter coat sleeve: the crystal perfectly made, and unique in its tiny splendor. The trillions of all the other snowflakes lift my spirit into the wonder of God.

RED

I love the color red.  It changes everything to glorious!  What a gift:  to be able to see red!  So much for Christmas is presented in red:  the poinsettias, the gift wrap and tissue paper, sweaters and shirts, the St. Nick outfit, lights.

Not much of that original stable and manger was presented in red.  But “the Word was made flesh” and lo!  behold!  life-giving red blood nourishing that wonderful Person Who became one-with-us.  I shall try to be gently aware.

The Sky’s a Changing

On this December 24, 2010, the Earth continues in its orbit around the sun.  We’re just coming out of the longest night of the year.  What a great plan the Creator has, to distribute the light and the warmth of the sun for all parts of this globe as it spins and orbits!

I’m reminded that even as we welcome the birthday of God-in-our-midst, we are dirtying the blanket of air that has been just right for our lungs.  How to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions?   I want to honor the gift of clean air, this wonderful Christmas gift, and make sure that generations to come will have a Merry Christmas.