I was just reading, with great sadness, the news stories of the young boys who have hung themselves in imitation of videos they've seen of Saddam Hussein's hanging. The thing that strikes me is how our communication can have meaning vastly different from what we intended by it. I'm sure the news services had no inkling that their broadcasts could have these results; the fact that their intentions were completely different from the effects on these young lives, now tragicaly cut short, is of no comfort to the families now in mourning.
This strikes me particularly sharply because of having recently written words that were taken at face value, rather than being received in the joking manner I intended. It isn't the readers' fault that they didn't know my intentions. The words were pretty strong, so why would a reader who doesn't really know me take them at anything other than face value?
Now I pray that I haven't created a problem that was a lot bigger than the joke I intended my words to be.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Wonderful Christmas
Merry Christmas!This started out as a post about the wonderful music I was privileged to be part of for our parish Christmas masses. But as I reflected on that, including my small part in it, I quickly realized that I was in danger of getting my Christmas celebration a bit out of context.
Christ, my Savior, is born! The eternal Word has taken on human flesh, and now my life contains a joy for which I could not otherwise hope!
Love has come!
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Welcome Nic!!
Our newest grandson was born yesterday, and I hope his mom doesn't kill me for posting her post-partum picture on the site! (And it still amazes me how great she looks after childbirth.)
Children are such a joy!
Next up: we'll see how "big" sister (at 16 months) manages to adjust to not being the center of the universe!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Nice weekend
Y'know sometimes things are really great, and you just have to enjoy them.
First off, my bride of (almost) 26 years got canned on Friday, for circumstances that were only minimally under her control. Oh, wait, that's supposed to be the bad news. But she'll now be available to watch the grandkids on a regular basis, which is going to be important as soon as our anticipated newest grandson is born. Meanwhile, she's free to help our daughter out in these last few days of her pregnancy and the first few weeks of having a new son to take care of along with her 16-month old daughter (who is cute and bright as can be). We took her mind off of the firing by watching a chick flick (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days), which was small sacrifice compared to having her dwell on how her day had gone.
Saturday was plenty busy, with a great men's group meeting in the morning, a cycling team lunch (we've started early discussion of participating in the Race Across America in 2008; we may all be crazy, but we're also all excited about it!), and then a company Christmas party in the evening. It could have been hectic, and got a little anxious in the late afternoon, but by and large it was great. My wife gave me (us) my (our) joint anniversary/Christmas gift, a very nice new digital camera that we're going to use to take photos and video of our new grandson and of course the rest of the crew throughout the holidays. I've been wanting us to have a decent camera for at least 20 years!
Sunday, very nice Mass, with great Advent music. Then out to the tree farm where we've gotten our Christmas tree for over a dozen years. We saw several people we know, including one a riding buddy and his family (one of whom I called by the wrong name - sorry Zack!). We got our tree in record time. I told T. that I thought I'd found the secret of getting her to choose a tree efficiently -- which I think I have -- then told her it was to tease her mercilessly for about a day beforehand about how picky she is -- which isn't it. Honey, just in case you're reading this, I'm not going to tell you!!
After getting the tree up and in water, we picked up the older 4 grandkids and had them over for dinner. After evensong, the (currently) youngest granddaughter came over, too, so it was a great family evening to cap off a wonderful weekend.
First off, my bride of (almost) 26 years got canned on Friday, for circumstances that were only minimally under her control. Oh, wait, that's supposed to be the bad news. But she'll now be available to watch the grandkids on a regular basis, which is going to be important as soon as our anticipated newest grandson is born. Meanwhile, she's free to help our daughter out in these last few days of her pregnancy and the first few weeks of having a new son to take care of along with her 16-month old daughter (who is cute and bright as can be). We took her mind off of the firing by watching a chick flick (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days), which was small sacrifice compared to having her dwell on how her day had gone.
Saturday was plenty busy, with a great men's group meeting in the morning, a cycling team lunch (we've started early discussion of participating in the Race Across America in 2008; we may all be crazy, but we're also all excited about it!), and then a company Christmas party in the evening. It could have been hectic, and got a little anxious in the late afternoon, but by and large it was great. My wife gave me (us) my (our) joint anniversary/Christmas gift, a very nice new digital camera that we're going to use to take photos and video of our new grandson and of course the rest of the crew throughout the holidays. I've been wanting us to have a decent camera for at least 20 years!
Sunday, very nice Mass, with great Advent music. Then out to the tree farm where we've gotten our Christmas tree for over a dozen years. We saw several people we know, including one a riding buddy and his family (one of whom I called by the wrong name - sorry Zack!). We got our tree in record time. I told T. that I thought I'd found the secret of getting her to choose a tree efficiently -- which I think I have -- then told her it was to tease her mercilessly for about a day beforehand about how picky she is -- which isn't it. Honey, just in case you're reading this, I'm not going to tell you!!
After getting the tree up and in water, we picked up the older 4 grandkids and had them over for dinner. After evensong, the (currently) youngest granddaughter came over, too, so it was a great family evening to cap off a wonderful weekend.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Advent reflection 1
Veni Redemptor! Come, Redeemer!
Maranatha! Come, Lord!
I love the season of Advent, with its identification with the messianic longing of our forebears in faith. For what long ages they looked to God to deliver their redemption! When it came, how few of them recognized His coming. Among these, some yet maintain their trust in God's loving care for them while still awaiting the promised Messiah. Others, because of the incomprehensible horrors wrought upon them, have lost the capacity to believe that the God who proclaimed that David's kingship would never be destroyed could possibly exist. Some who still consider themselves Jewish have come to believe that Jesus is indeed the Promised One whom they've sought for so long. I relate to these feelings of hopeful longing, resigned disappointment, and jubilant celebration.
I love the season of Advent, with its recognition that none of us who walk this earth has fully embraced Christ's coming into our own lives. Some of us, like our Jewish brethren, don't recognize Christ's presence among us. Even for those who do, there is a transformation which God is working in each of us which no earthly person experiences in its fullness. The season of Advent reminds us that Jesus longs to come into our lives more fully, to heal our flaws and restore us to the perfect love for which we are created. I'm convinced there is no level of maturity in Christ at which we can feel that we've "arrived." Just the opposite! The more we grow, the more we recognize how great are our shortcomings. We see that we have no hope of ever reaching Perfection, yet we come to know that, in loving grace, our Redeemer never fails to reach us. He doesn't keep us apart from himself until we achieve the ideal to which we are called; rather, God brings us into His perfect presence to draw us more and more deeply into union with Him. By the Holy Spirit's movement in our lives, we are drawn ever further into our true being, in ways we could not hope to accomplish by our own efforts. As we are thus redeemed, becoming filled with Christ's love, it reaches through and beyond us to those around us who have also failed. Our longing becomes for them to be transformed with us!
I love the season of Advent, with its anticipation of the eternal divine kingdom to come. Of course, Christ has established a kingdom of love here on earth. Yet our world is still fallen, still afflicted by sin. Even we who strive to be His followers sometimes fail to fully dwell in the kingdom of God's love. We look for the day when we will no longer stumble, no longer cry, no longer feel the pain of living in a broken world. As people of faith, we recognize how our brokenness and pain yet serve to reveal the love of God, who works through all sorts of horrendous circumstances - those natural, those born of our own choices, those spiritual - to reach those with his love who would otherwise reject him. "The problem of pain," which causes so many to reject God's existence, abounds in our world, and yet through it God brings more and more precious children into the kingdom of light. Yet we eagerly look toward the day when there is no more pain, no more brokenness and failure, but only the eternal joy of dwelling in God's presence.
I love the season of Advent, with its timelessness, its small glimpse into eternity. Past, present, and future, all intertwined and experienced simultaneously. It has-always-been/is/always-will-be this way, as God has revealed to us in our past the Redeemer who comes to us now to lead us into the eternity which will be ours in our future. Having looked for Jesus, in this moment receiving Jesus, we eagerly await the fullness of Jesus.
Veni Redemptor! Maranatha! Come, Redeemer, Lord!
Maranatha! Come, Lord!
I love the season of Advent, with its identification with the messianic longing of our forebears in faith. For what long ages they looked to God to deliver their redemption! When it came, how few of them recognized His coming. Among these, some yet maintain their trust in God's loving care for them while still awaiting the promised Messiah. Others, because of the incomprehensible horrors wrought upon them, have lost the capacity to believe that the God who proclaimed that David's kingship would never be destroyed could possibly exist. Some who still consider themselves Jewish have come to believe that Jesus is indeed the Promised One whom they've sought for so long. I relate to these feelings of hopeful longing, resigned disappointment, and jubilant celebration.
I love the season of Advent, with its recognition that none of us who walk this earth has fully embraced Christ's coming into our own lives. Some of us, like our Jewish brethren, don't recognize Christ's presence among us. Even for those who do, there is a transformation which God is working in each of us which no earthly person experiences in its fullness. The season of Advent reminds us that Jesus longs to come into our lives more fully, to heal our flaws and restore us to the perfect love for which we are created. I'm convinced there is no level of maturity in Christ at which we can feel that we've "arrived." Just the opposite! The more we grow, the more we recognize how great are our shortcomings. We see that we have no hope of ever reaching Perfection, yet we come to know that, in loving grace, our Redeemer never fails to reach us. He doesn't keep us apart from himself until we achieve the ideal to which we are called; rather, God brings us into His perfect presence to draw us more and more deeply into union with Him. By the Holy Spirit's movement in our lives, we are drawn ever further into our true being, in ways we could not hope to accomplish by our own efforts. As we are thus redeemed, becoming filled with Christ's love, it reaches through and beyond us to those around us who have also failed. Our longing becomes for them to be transformed with us!
I love the season of Advent, with its anticipation of the eternal divine kingdom to come. Of course, Christ has established a kingdom of love here on earth. Yet our world is still fallen, still afflicted by sin. Even we who strive to be His followers sometimes fail to fully dwell in the kingdom of God's love. We look for the day when we will no longer stumble, no longer cry, no longer feel the pain of living in a broken world. As people of faith, we recognize how our brokenness and pain yet serve to reveal the love of God, who works through all sorts of horrendous circumstances - those natural, those born of our own choices, those spiritual - to reach those with his love who would otherwise reject him. "The problem of pain," which causes so many to reject God's existence, abounds in our world, and yet through it God brings more and more precious children into the kingdom of light. Yet we eagerly look toward the day when there is no more pain, no more brokenness and failure, but only the eternal joy of dwelling in God's presence.
I love the season of Advent, with its timelessness, its small glimpse into eternity. Past, present, and future, all intertwined and experienced simultaneously. It has-always-been/is/always-will-be this way, as God has revealed to us in our past the Redeemer who comes to us now to lead us into the eternity which will be ours in our future. Having looked for Jesus, in this moment receiving Jesus, we eagerly await the fullness of Jesus.
Veni Redemptor! Maranatha! Come, Redeemer, Lord!
Monday, November 20, 2006
Family stuff
I'm boggled at how other people's brains work, especially when they're brains I had such an influential role in forming.
Our oldest daughter has been baffling for some time now, but it just keeps getting worse. Okay, so she's only in touch when she needs something. I suppose that's her prerogative. I'm glad when she calls anyway.
So about six weeks ago she asks us if we'll go ahead and pay for our oldest grandson's next swimming class and they'll pay us back on the weekend. No problem.
If you think this is going to be a tirade against never being paid back, you're only partly right.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, youngest daughter is expecting her second child in December, a little boy this time, so not much in the way of hand-me-downs from his big sister, or there'd be a greater likelihood of her dealing with her own baffling adult offspring in twenty years. So the wife is stuck planning the shower with no help from anyone, including the two sisters. Middle sister at least chipped in a little money, but no input from oldest at all.
Friday night is the last swim class of the aforementioned session. And for at least the third time in this class, wife shows up at grandson's lesson, only no grandson! Sunday afternoon, oldest calls her little sister with regrets for not being able to make the shower, because the kids are sick. Oh, and don't call,
Our oldest daughter has been baffling for some time now, but it just keeps getting worse. Okay, so she's only in touch when she needs something. I suppose that's her prerogative. I'm glad when she calls anyway.
So about six weeks ago she asks us if we'll go ahead and pay for our oldest grandson's next swimming class and they'll pay us back on the weekend. No problem.
If you think this is going to be a tirade against never being paid back, you're only partly right.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, youngest daughter is expecting her second child in December, a little boy this time, so not much in the way of hand-me-downs from his big sister, or there'd be a greater likelihood of her dealing with her own baffling adult offspring in twenty years. So the wife is stuck planning the shower with no help from anyone, including the two sisters. Middle sister at least chipped in a little money, but no input from oldest at all.
Friday night is the last swim class of the aforementioned session. And for at least the third time in this class, wife shows up at grandson's lesson, only no grandson! Sunday afternoon, oldest calls her little sister with regrets for not being able to make the shower, because the kids are sick. Oh, and don't call,
Sunday, November 05, 2006
A wonderful day
What a day of blessings. Sleeping in. Very nice Mass, with the Rite of Acceptance. Got home and was contemplating a bike ride when Teri reminded me I had a flight planned for this afternoon with a friend from prayer group. So I was able to combine the two, riding my bike about 10 miles to the municipal airport, flying with Jim for a couple hours, then riding home. What a great afternoon! Came home to discover "my" NFL team, or at least as close as I have to one I root for, had beaten the local team, on top of a surprising win for my college team yesterday. A nice evening with my wife, teaming up on getting dinner cooked and the dishes cleaned up.
Too many blessings to list all of, really. It's been the sort of day that some people chase after all the time, and become filled with angst if they don't have them regularly. But I don't really look for days like this. I just trust God to put me where I should be, and try to let Him make me the person I'm called to be there. Along the way, sometimes there are wondrous days like this. But the best day here is a passing shadow compared to the eternal joy God has waiting for those who will accept the gift of grace.
Too many blessings to list all of, really. It's been the sort of day that some people chase after all the time, and become filled with angst if they don't have them regularly. But I don't really look for days like this. I just trust God to put me where I should be, and try to let Him make me the person I'm called to be there. Along the way, sometimes there are wondrous days like this. But the best day here is a passing shadow compared to the eternal joy God has waiting for those who will accept the gift of grace.
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