"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset." Saint Francis De Sales

Friday, November 4, 2011

My Slow Takes (vol. 22)



1. Sunday morning I scraped ice off the front window of my car. The morning was crisp and I enjoyed the invigorating chill that makes me glad that I'm alive. 

2. I live in Richmond, Virginia and I follow the Washington Redskins. However I moved down from Buffalo, New York so my heart is still with the "Bills." Yes, the team that went to the Super Bowl more than once and never won. I enjoyed Sunday's game and was pleased that the Bill's won. It would have been a better game if the Redskin's had scored some points. It would also have been good if the game was in Buffalo, not Toronto. But that's just me.

3. This evening I watched an episode of a sci-fi program that I enjoy. It was an interesting and enjoyable plot. But, when it got to the ending, two of the female characters embraced and kissed each other. Now, to me, this didn't have anything to do with the action that just took place. If this is the start of the future relationship between the two women, I'm not interested.

I am disappointed with an actress that I have been watching for the last three years. The program has set some good basic values so adding this relationship is out of place. There was even a few episodes where another main character was involved in tracking down the killer of his friend, who was a priest. In the end he kills the culprit but afterward realizes that it was wrong. His friend, the priest, had taught him that life was sacred and non of us has the right to take a life. The scene was sad but the message strong.


The writers and actors have the ability to work on themes that teach good Christian values. Defining good versus evil as a grey area is teaching the wrong lesson. I understand that life is not laid out in an orderly manner and evil is always present. But we need to bring the right values back into our society.

4. Happy "All Saints Day." We are now into the month of November and getting closer to Advent.  Please take a couple of minutes and visit Bonnie Engstrom's blog.

5. A second Holy Day this week is "All Souls Day." It is a time for us to think and pray for those who are now in the next life. I think of my mother, my dad, my father-in-law, a dear friend Sue, a co-worker Mike and a Cursillista, Joe. 

Mass at Epiphany was solemn, but beautiful. After Father Jim's homily he presented crosses to the families who had lost love ones during the year. We put the name of the individual on the cross and it hangs in a small room, Minor Worship, for the parish to see and pray for. Today we will start a new set of crosses for the coming year. 


I am blessed to be part of the Epiphany community. Remorseful for all that I missed over many years but thankful that God has forgiven and allowed this sinner to return.

6.  Share with others. Stingy people are usually unhappy people and they don’t really know that they are unhappy.
     The “do onto others” rule is true and does work. If you are kind, sharing and loving, it will come back to you ten fold.
     Get a hobby, play a musical instrument, volunteer. All work and no play is not healthy, mentally or physically.
     Tell your spouse, children, brother, sister, father, mother, grandmother, grandfather, cousin, aunt, uncle, the list goes on, that you love them. If you can’t, then you may have a problem.
     Laugh with your family, friends, coworkers, strangers, yourself. It is healthy and a lot of fun.
     Don’t over do anything. Too much of anything will only cause problems some where along the line.
     Say, thank you. Sometimes we take things for granted when we shouldn’t.
     Say, I’m sorry and mean it. We sometimes do and say things and think if we just drop it, it will go away. It doesn’t.

7. Father James McKarns, writing in Living Faith this morning, reminds me of a quote from St. Francis De Sales.

"If you must err, err on the side of gentleness."

We must strive to find the goodness in others. I have not always done this but have learned that if I take the time, there is goodness to be discovered. It has led me to new friends and has taught me that God is in all of us. We just have to be patient and search.

1 comment:

  1. Nothing on your Qts, but I wanted to tell you how much I love the background on your blog. It makes me happy to see all those lovely books. When we moved this last time, my dual academic husband and I had 60 boxes of books.

    ReplyDelete