Category: Prayer

Ordinary Time

We are back to Ordinary Time…in the Church and in our lives. Christmas and New Year’s festivities are over, decorations are packed away and those lovely extra days off are but a distant memory. But, ordinary to me means – the usual…the same old same old…and one can become complacent with the ordinary, which we should never be. Of course, that is not its meaning in the Church Calendar, for each and every Sunday we celebrate the day of the risen Lord, which is far from ordinary.

So how do we handle ordinary times in the grind of our daily lives? Our lives are a spiritual journey and we can speed along like we’re traveling the 401 on cruise control, or we can take the less traveled route and fill our hearts and minds with beauty and wonder.

I recently read the book The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. The premise is – where what you’re good at and what you’re passionate about intersect is where you’ll find your element. (I’m hoping this will push me to write more than I do.) One of the wonderful things that happens when we pay closer attention on our journey is that we become open to the extraordinary…I came upon this prayer the other day and it, along with the book I’m reading gave me an Aha! Moment:

God our father, you have a plan for each one of us. You hold out to us a future full of hope. Give us the wisdom of your Spirit so that we can see the shape of your plan in the gifts you have given us, and in the circumstances of our daily lives.

Amen to that! Let’s pay attention on our journey, and try our hardest not to be ordinary

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The Nativity

On December 23rd, I happened upon The Nativity on CBC television. Instantly, I was skeptical – another nativity production – why? Well I stuck with it and was happy I did.
I have to admit, I have always found the story of the virgin birth a difficult one to grasp. Of course our faith is built on so many truths we accept without understanding, but what I have always found difficult is how accepting Mary and Joseph were of their dreams. Can you imagine – “I had this crazy dream that I am to have a child and he will be the son of God.” “Really?!? Cool!” Would these revelations fly today? I can’t see it happening. We are so filled with mistrust and doubt.
What I loved about The Nativity; that had me spellbound within minutes, was the doubt and uncertainty of Mary and most especially Joseph, even after the angel had come and explained these things. This depiction of them helped me to relate to them better.
In this film, Mary goes to visit her pregnant cousin Elizabeth with disbelief and concern in equal measure. Elizabeth helps her to better understand the words of the archangel. When she returns home, visibly pregnant herself, the townspeople are horrified, they ridicule her. Joseph is shocked, hurt and bitter. Try explaining to a guy who is hurling furniture in anger – ‘It’s ok, this is the son of God.’ He wasn’t buying it.
In this movie, Joseph plans to leave; heading to Bethlehem for the census and Mary’s father begs him to take Mary with him, for her own protection. “She cannot stay here,” he tells Joseph, “she will be stoned to death.”
Grudgingly, Joseph takes her with him. But his anger does not even let him accept the words of the angel when he appears to sort things out for him. Finally, Jesus is born. Whose heart does not melt at the sight of a new born baby? And when the shepherd arrives, being told of this birth by…yes, an angel; and a short while later the wise men appear on the scene, Joseph is in awe of this child, and what all this attention means. He thinks back to what the angel told him…he believes.
Now, having been given the barest of facts related to Jesus’ birth, one can conjure up many interpretations of how the events unfolded. I like this particular portrayal, written by Tony Jordan for the BBC, because it portrays Mary and Joseph in ways I can truly understand – confused, frightened, questioning. Of course God chose them to be the earthly parents of Jesus because of their purity of heart, their devotion, their faith and willingness to do God’s will. But this contemporary slant on the nativity of Jesus helps me to understand how they may have reached acceptance. It does not diminish their stature in my eyes; rather their strength fills me with awe

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Did You Hear That?

When later asked if he was correct in hearing that the wind was going to shift to the South East…I really couldn’t say. I mean, by the time I’ve listened to 20 minutes of the French weather forecast, followed, in English, by every nuance in temperature and humidity level from North Bay to Timbuctoo, my attention span is gone. When the actual marine forecast comes on, I’m thinking about a snack, and a reasonable time for happy hour to begin. So no, I couldn’t say if he was correct in his hearing. Regardless – when the gale winds blew from the North, we were totally unprepared.
We’ve all said it before – it was the longest day of my life. I’ve said it before, but nothing I’ve endured in the past could compare to being tossed, thrown, beaten and bruised from noon to mid-afternoon, only to hear, on the updated forecast – WARNING – Gale force North winds on Georgian Bay…diminishing around midnight. MIDNIGHT?!?! There was nothing to do but watch and wait. Well, Leon was plenty busy, checking coordinates, checking lines, replacing lines, checking coordinates, trying to prevent the anchor and chain from ripping the bow off the boat. I am the one who watched and waited. Watched while Leon went to the bow numerous times, life-jacketed and tethered; watched as the dingy lines (2) snapped and the dingy rode the waves happily to shore; watched the guy on the beach nicely carry our dinghy up out of the surf; watch the bow pulpit float by me, while I watched the cops come down to the beach (three times in all), stare at our boat, talk to the cottagers and then leave, not knowing what to do to help us. It was, indeed, the longest day of my life.
They say you meet the nicest people boating, but in this case, the nicest people were the cottagers in Big Sand Bay, who all came out to greet me when I swam to shore next morning; the guy who canoed out to Anerca to get Leon and Scout; his wife and sister-in-law who made us breakfast; his brother who later helped Leon to jury-rig the tiller (yes that got broken too)…despite their kindnesses – I wanted to go home!
That brings me to my purpose in writing this piece…my husband is looking for a sailing partner – strictly a sailing partner, you understand. One who remains calm under pressure and can really pay attention to marine weather forecasts!

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Family Matters

Beautiful sister — Rest in peace, Beautiful Sister – Oct. 2011, with her grandson.

I’ve never been one to fall into the lament, ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’ It’s a pointless exercise and I’ve never wasted the time. There are just things we must accept. My oldest sister was born a ‘blue baby.’ She had congenital heart disease along with many developmental problems. She was not supposed to live beyond her childhood, but was 35 when she died. Even then I felt cheated, losing her when we did. My husband never met her which was so unfortunate, because to know Judy was to have your life changed forever. My parents never questioned why this happened to them; why their poor innocent child was dealt such a heavy hand. They accepted God’s will and made the best life they could for their special daughter – an impressive example for the rest of their children. My mother died of cancer 20 years ago. We were blessed to have her into her 74th year. Over the course of my life time, she suffered through many bouts of the disease – always with grace, dignity and a very strong faith. We learned a lot from mother, through her illness. When one of my sisters lost her husband in a tragic motorcycle accident several years ago, we were all devastated, heartbroken and my sister was consumed with grief. Her daughters and sons-in-law were a tremendous help to her, but her faith gave her the strength to move forward. Again, a powerful example for the rest of us. Now our baby sister must call upon that strength, dignity and most importantly, that faith that we have witnessed in our family over and over again. Cancer touches all of our lives at some time or other. It has hit our family once again. Bad things happen to good people. With every fiber of my being I resist anger – it’s exhausting and serves no purpose. God did not cause this and we need him on our side more than ever. Above my desk in the office are the words, Faith – Hope – Love. A friend came in the other day and asked which one I was feeling most at that moment. I said, “All three, right now I need all three.” Don’t we all? We all experience hardship, tragedy and loss. But to lay blame in those situations where clearly no one is at fault is an unhealthy practice. That’s when meditation on the Serenity Prayer can be helpful. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. And though it is perhaps counter-productive to the prayer itself, I am compelled to add – and the strength to fight for one’s Life!

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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?