Month: June 2016

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Catholic coping God Humor Patience

Patience!

Scout thenScout now

 

It never hurts to go over some aspects of our lives that periodically need review.  Patience, is one of those areas in which, along the twists and turns of life’s journey, I am forever being tested.  We’ve been a household without a dog for about three years now.  My oldest sister once explained to me, ‘Freedom is when the kids have left home and the dog dies.’  Our boys were in their teens when she revealed this to me, and the dog was quite young…I had no concept of what she was talking about.  Now, 17 years later, kid-free for over a decade and dog-free for three years – ah yes, freedom!  Then – wait a minute, what?  My husband is talking about getting a dog?!? 

‘Let’s just go look at these puppies I saw advertised,’ says he.  ‘Dirty pool,’ says I.  The person who can say no to a tiny, innocent, adorable puppy has no heart!    So we are now owners of a 10 week old English Springer Spaniel and that’s where the patience comes in – with the puppy…and with my husband.

I could explode with ‘I told you so,’ or, ‘This was not my idea,’ at least a dozen times a day.  With patience, however, I manage to hold my tongue and only burst out with either of those lines a mere few times a week. 

And I’m discovering that I don’t need to nag about watching the puppy every single minute she’s in my husband’s care, because she taught him that lesson all by herself, the time she was taking a nap, so he thought he could take a nap…and woke up to discover that he really must watch her every second she’s in his care – or kennel her.

My husband is not a morning person.  I am.  Does that mean it is my job to look after this pup in the morning, in lieu of my run – which keeps me sane?  A discussion about this (preferably the night before as opposed to 6:45 am, when I’m wanting to bound out the door) is necessary – with calm explanation of expectations, not angry accusing words spoken to a foggy headed and groggy spouse who is not-a-morning-person.  (And I thought life would get dull when the children left home!)

So yes, this area in my life needs more than the occasional review, clearly, constant daily attention to it is required.  Perhaps we all have areas in our lives where fine-tuning is needed?  Just remember, God has a sense of humour, so don’t lose yours, because   everything is tolerable, if you can make your spouse laugh.

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Bargaining Catholic God Humor Prayer Trust

Pushing the Limit

Driving along the highway in my little yellow bug, I find I’m always pushing the limit – the speed limit, that is.  If it’s 50 km/h, I bump it up to 60.  If it’s 60 km/h, I take it to 70.  80, to me, means keep it under 100.  Driving along recently, in my meditative state, I thought about how we push the limit in so many ways.  The quick check-out at the grocery store – ‘no more than 12 items’ – we sneak through with 15…or more.  ‘No trespassing!’  ‘Do not walk on the grass!’  If we’re not actually breaking, we’re at least bending the rules more often than not.  Even in the ways we pray and talk to God – we push.

In prayer, it seems, we are always bargaining, but God must be used to that. Look at the way God and Abraham haggled over Sodom.  Being fed up with the sinfulness of the place, God planned to destroy it.  Abraham dared to argue with the Lord – “But what if there are 50 just people to be found there?  Would you wipe them away too, along with the wicked?”

“Well, no,” says God, “for the sake of the fifty, I would not destroy the city.”  Abraham wears God down with his haggling and God, walking away (and throwing up his hands, no doubt) agrees to spare Sodom if he finds 10 just people living there.  I have always loved this bible reading.  Now I know that Abraham was quite new to monotheistic worship – you know, one Deity as opposed to the many gods he had previously worshipped.  And we, on the other hand, are not.  Still, this reading tells us that God was (and still is) approachable.  And isn’t that good news?

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Catholic Listening Trust

Listen Up!

                     

The Lord works in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?  Recently, at a lovely, mini-retreat I attended, one of the facilitators, David Dayler, from the Hamilton Chancery office, gave the afternoon reflection and reminded us that God often spoke to the people of the Old Testament.  “Why doesn’t God speak to us now?” is a question he’s asked all the time. His ready reply is that God does speak to us just as often…but we’re not listening.

Recently, on my way to work, I was pondering and praying as I so often do.  Something in particular was niggling at me – something I want to tackle, but fear stops me in my tracks.  I’ve wrestled with this very thing for years in fact, but this time I put up a little prayer for some guidance and encouragement.  In the course of that very day, two things came across my desk (or over my computer screen).  The first was in reference to St. Teresa of Avila and the writer finished with, “When faced with the unexpected, may you, like Saint Teresa, trust in God and be open to the possibilities.”  The second was a quote from Saint John XXIII – “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.  Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.  Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what is still possible for you to do.”

Wow!  It’s as if the heavens opened up and God bellowed, “Are you listening, Margery?  It’s me, God!”  Yes, I heard him loud and clear.  I smiled the rest of the day and then I said to myself, ok, now get to work, you just can’t sit there and expect things to happen, you have to put in a little effort yourself, you know. 

That’s the way it is with all of our encounters with God.  We do have to do our part, but it sure feels good, when we sense that he is truly on our side.  So, listen carefully, with an open mind and heart…and be prepared to get to work!