I worked late at the church, tonight, after praying with a patient in the ICU, assisting with the midweek service, fellowshipping afterwards, and then putting the finishing touches on the preparations for tomorrow morning's Celebration of Life service at a cemetery chapel. When my work was done, I did not leave right away.
Instead, I then spent a few minutes relaxing by posting horrible puns onto my friends' facebook posts. I admit to a deep-seated need to pun. It is apparently incurable. But, while the groaners I spout may cause reasonable people stress, they lighten me up every time.
"Did you hear about the high tech spider who used centrifugal force to spin a whirled, wide web?" I won't list any more, because they don't get better.
The thing is, humor and creativity are powerful attitude adjustment tools, and people rarely wreck their cars because they are driving happy, so they are better tools than some I could use. Creativity is the activity of God, and I believe when we give ourselves over to being creative, we are generative and regenerative.
St. Francis always said, "Pace e bene!" which translates as "Peace and good!" It is a greeting of joy with which to meet any person or situation.
I strive to emulate him, but some days I need a little boost! Other days, a lot of boost! I am learning, though, the medicinal value of a laugh or a smile or a bit of merriment. Tonight -well, this early morning actually- I end my day focused on joy.
The same way I hope to begin the next one.
Blessings,
David
Showing posts with label St. Francis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Francis. Show all posts
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Reflections on Today's Street Fight
Today, at mid-afternoon, I was in a pleasant neighborhood, walking out to my car, parked in the lot behind a family-run restaurant on one of the main streets in town.
I noticed a commotion, and looking beyond my car saw a young woman atop a young man, straddling his chest and fiercely beating him about the head and shoulders while another young man watched with apparent disinterest.
I called out to them with some simple statement like, "What in the world are you doing?!" to get their attention. The woman glared at me, and got off of the man. The disinterested man said, "Move along, this is not your business," and flashed a gang sign. I didn't move along, I just said I don't tolerate violence and stood my ground. "You better move along," he repeated. I didn't. The three of them did.
St. Francis said, "Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
Our society not only tolerates violence, it glorifies it, worships it like the Golden Calf. The moral values and influences of video games that award points for killing and stealing are not even questioned. Instead of "tag," we shoot paint balls at one another. While the commandment says, "Thou shalt not kill," we build more efficient weapons and dance around them. We put our faith in them, rather than in God who is Love.
Apparently there is still a lot of impossible yet to be done! Let us begin with a willingness to do what is necessary: to issue a personal withdrawal from the cult of violence and a surrender to the heart of love, and to invite others to do the same.
St. Francis reminds us that "all the darkness of the world cannot extinguish the light of a small candle." Likewise, Shakespeare wrote, "How far that tiny candle throws its beam; so shines a good deed in a naughty world."
Jesus, of whom John wrote, "The Light has come into the darkness, and the darkness can never put it out," offers the reminder that what we do to one another, we do to Him.
Let's replace the Golden Calf with the Golden Rule and see what happens.
Blessings,
David
I noticed a commotion, and looking beyond my car saw a young woman atop a young man, straddling his chest and fiercely beating him about the head and shoulders while another young man watched with apparent disinterest.
I called out to them with some simple statement like, "What in the world are you doing?!" to get their attention. The woman glared at me, and got off of the man. The disinterested man said, "Move along, this is not your business," and flashed a gang sign. I didn't move along, I just said I don't tolerate violence and stood my ground. "You better move along," he repeated. I didn't. The three of them did.
St. Francis said, "Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
Our society not only tolerates violence, it glorifies it, worships it like the Golden Calf. The moral values and influences of video games that award points for killing and stealing are not even questioned. Instead of "tag," we shoot paint balls at one another. While the commandment says, "Thou shalt not kill," we build more efficient weapons and dance around them. We put our faith in them, rather than in God who is Love.
Apparently there is still a lot of impossible yet to be done! Let us begin with a willingness to do what is necessary: to issue a personal withdrawal from the cult of violence and a surrender to the heart of love, and to invite others to do the same.
St. Francis reminds us that "all the darkness of the world cannot extinguish the light of a small candle." Likewise, Shakespeare wrote, "How far that tiny candle throws its beam; so shines a good deed in a naughty world."
Jesus, of whom John wrote, "The Light has come into the darkness, and the darkness can never put it out," offers the reminder that what we do to one another, we do to Him.
Let's replace the Golden Calf with the Golden Rule and see what happens.
Blessings,
David
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