Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Remembering Dignity When Showing Mercy
"this Lent I need to incorporate remembering the dignity of the person as I attempt to grow in mercy." That is more or less how I ended yesterday's post. (And how cool is that that I can quote myself?) I spent many moments yesterday envisioning what that would look like. The face that kept coming to my mind is my cousin's. We will call her Lavergne. That is not her name. I just like the name Lavergne. Okay, seriously, she hates attention, and if she reads my blog, she will hate seeing her own name. If she reads my blog with the fake name, she will just end up wondering why I never introduced me to a cousin she has so much in common with.
My cousin "Lavergne" is so shy, she couldn't take pictures at her own sister's baby shower. She was afraid people would be looking at her. She also had that fear when she stood up at people's weddings, but I was able to convince her that people stare at the bride, not the bridesmaids. Don't pat me on the back. I suspect that is why she never got married to her boyfriend of a couple of decades. She can't reconcile herself to a wedding where people will stare at her, or disappoint a family who is expecting a big wedding.
So, why do I picture her face as the picture of mercy and dignity? Well, it is hard to explain. It is not as if she was our own little Mother Theresa. St. Francis maybe. She loves animals. She wouldn't let her boyfriend, Josh (another fake name, yes) turn on the air conditioning when birds built a nest on it. She didn't want the baby birdies disturbed. He tried to convince her to let him move the nest. She was worried that mamma birdie wouldn't find them, or that a cat would get them. So, they suffered. It was a hot summer. Not Texas hot. Just hot for us. She feeds the squirrels. She feeds the birds. She goes to the park to feed God's little creatures.
And that, my friends, is where mercy and dignity come in. You see, while being delivery girl to tweety and sweety, she made some new human friends. These human friends are the homeless men who live in the park. She just made friends with them, which is weird to me, because she is so shy, and afraid of everyone. She can't ride a bus, for fear of strangers, but she can talk to homeless men in the park. Her logic is that they aren't strangers. She sees them everyday when she feeds the birds. Except now, she may bring them a sandwich, coffee, or a blanket. They have conversations. They may mention being cold. Voila! She gets them a blanket. They mention having their blanket stolen. Voila! She gets another blanket. (And when she was telling me about it, she felt as sorry for the guy who had to steel a blanket as she did for her friend who had it stolen). They may mention not being able to find something to eat. Voila! She gets them something. They may mention a need for socks, or....you get the picture.
Now, it is true that this help isn't exactly getting them off the street. But if everyone who walked through that park, or sat to watch the squirrels chase each other, talked to these men instead of avoiding their eyes, what then?
Not one of us has to save anyone. Christ already did that. But if all of us treated these men as men instead of as if they were invisible, together we would make a difference. And we could do it with dignity, because we would do it out of love and friendship. Not for anything else.
I love you, "Lavergne". I didn't really think I would ever see you as a role model when I grabbed the camera from you at your sister's baby shower and took the pictures while you were busy being shy, but I do. You do more for those homeless men with one conversation and a pair of socks than any of your relations do writing a check. I am proud to be your cousin. If you are reading my blog post today, come on and claim me with your real name in the comment section. I am proud of you and would love to really share you, name and all, with my cyber friends.
Today isn't just any Wednesday. It is Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Lent. Apostleshipofprayer has a very good video about Ash Wednesday and Lent.
P.S. I know I said I would be off the internet on Wednesdays, but I wanted to share this. Besides, I used my fantastical preposting (or is it postposting) skills.
My cousin "Lavergne" is so shy, she couldn't take pictures at her own sister's baby shower. She was afraid people would be looking at her. She also had that fear when she stood up at people's weddings, but I was able to convince her that people stare at the bride, not the bridesmaids. Don't pat me on the back. I suspect that is why she never got married to her boyfriend of a couple of decades. She can't reconcile herself to a wedding where people will stare at her, or disappoint a family who is expecting a big wedding.
So, why do I picture her face as the picture of mercy and dignity? Well, it is hard to explain. It is not as if she was our own little Mother Theresa. St. Francis maybe. She loves animals. She wouldn't let her boyfriend, Josh (another fake name, yes) turn on the air conditioning when birds built a nest on it. She didn't want the baby birdies disturbed. He tried to convince her to let him move the nest. She was worried that mamma birdie wouldn't find them, or that a cat would get them. So, they suffered. It was a hot summer. Not Texas hot. Just hot for us. She feeds the squirrels. She feeds the birds. She goes to the park to feed God's little creatures.
And that, my friends, is where mercy and dignity come in. You see, while being delivery girl to tweety and sweety, she made some new human friends. These human friends are the homeless men who live in the park. She just made friends with them, which is weird to me, because she is so shy, and afraid of everyone. She can't ride a bus, for fear of strangers, but she can talk to homeless men in the park. Her logic is that they aren't strangers. She sees them everyday when she feeds the birds. Except now, she may bring them a sandwich, coffee, or a blanket. They have conversations. They may mention being cold. Voila! She gets them a blanket. They mention having their blanket stolen. Voila! She gets another blanket. (And when she was telling me about it, she felt as sorry for the guy who had to steel a blanket as she did for her friend who had it stolen). They may mention not being able to find something to eat. Voila! She gets them something. They may mention a need for socks, or....you get the picture.
Now, it is true that this help isn't exactly getting them off the street. But if everyone who walked through that park, or sat to watch the squirrels chase each other, talked to these men instead of avoiding their eyes, what then?
Not one of us has to save anyone. Christ already did that. But if all of us treated these men as men instead of as if they were invisible, together we would make a difference. And we could do it with dignity, because we would do it out of love and friendship. Not for anything else.
I love you, "Lavergne". I didn't really think I would ever see you as a role model when I grabbed the camera from you at your sister's baby shower and took the pictures while you were busy being shy, but I do. You do more for those homeless men with one conversation and a pair of socks than any of your relations do writing a check. I am proud to be your cousin. If you are reading my blog post today, come on and claim me with your real name in the comment section. I am proud of you and would love to really share you, name and all, with my cyber friends.
Today isn't just any Wednesday. It is Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Lent. Apostleshipofprayer has a very good video about Ash Wednesday and Lent.
P.S. I know I said I would be off the internet on Wednesdays, but I wanted to share this. Besides, I used my fantastical preposting (or is it postposting) skills.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
25 Interesting Things About Me
Sherri did 25 interesting things in her post today. Lots of others have before. I figure it is my turn. Here it is.....
1) I am bigger than two normal size people and a child. It is time to come clean, Sherri. I am not actually short. I am just short for my weight. I should be 7'4"....wait a moment. Women are supposed to be lighter than men, so I should be 7'6".
2) I am beginning eco atkins on Ash Wednesday. Sort of. I won't be going Vegan, just semi vegetarian. I read an article in the newspaper that semi eco atkins helps jump start the thyroid, which brings me to...
3) I have an underactive thyroid. For real. I have been on synthroid for years.
4) I have eclectic taste in music. I put polka as my favorite on my profile, but my favorites are constantly changing. Salsa. Mambo. Polka. Classical. Eighties Rock. One never knows what they will hear in my house.....I mean musicwise.
5) I love to swim.
6) My favorite flower is the carnation.
7) I get aches and pains in my lower back, ankles, and feet. I blame my weight. Duh!
8) When I was four years old, I visited Hungary with my parents. My uncle and aunt really liked me!
9)I am the youngest of eight cousins on my mother's side.
10) On my father's side, I am third youngest, or fifth oldest. It is a matter of perspective.
11) My sister died nine years before I was born. She was one month old. It made my parents very overprotective. Mom still thinks I can die of a cold if I don't see the doctor. Catherine had bronchial pnuemonia.
12) I like to wear velour clothing. I love the way it feels. Velour pjs. Velour sweats. Velour dresses. Velour headbands. I think the only think I am missing are velour undies, and velour shoes....
13) Due to heel spurs, I must wear orthotics at all times. That means only ugly shoes for me.
14) I am married to a wonderful guy. He loves me as is. He promised to love me if I change. I love him, and have promised unconditional love to him as well.
15) At one time, I was considering becoming a nun. I may post on that later. Remind me if you think it would make a good story, okay.
16) I like to read mysteries. I think my favorites are the Father Brown Mysteries, by G.K. Chesterton.
17) I am Catholic. I think you either all ready know, or you figured it out from my sidebar. In some ways I am rather conservative, in others, not so much. It depends on who you compare me to.
18) My favorite Psalm is Psalm 91.
19) My favorite hymn is Hosea. Today, anyway.
20) Jesus is my favorite man. After him, Bob is the winner, hands down.
21) I want to paint the kitchen and dining room lilac. My carpet is dark green.
22) I used to collect angel figurines. I don't anymore. Too much dusting...
23) I tend to let the house get cluttered. I am working on getting organized.
24) I teach CCD every other week. CCD means Sunday School, but not on Sunday.
25) I am afraid of rodents. All rodents. To me, a squirrel is a bushy tailed rat with a spring in his step.
Bonus
26) I like bunnies. We have one in the back yard. We call her BunBun. She may be a he. We never checked. We like to make up stories about her adventures.
Okay. I hope those qualify as interesting things. Some of them you knew. Some of them you didn't. Have a great evening!
1) I am bigger than two normal size people and a child. It is time to come clean, Sherri. I am not actually short. I am just short for my weight. I should be 7'4"....wait a moment. Women are supposed to be lighter than men, so I should be 7'6".
2) I am beginning eco atkins on Ash Wednesday. Sort of. I won't be going Vegan, just semi vegetarian. I read an article in the newspaper that semi eco atkins helps jump start the thyroid, which brings me to...
3) I have an underactive thyroid. For real. I have been on synthroid for years.
4) I have eclectic taste in music. I put polka as my favorite on my profile, but my favorites are constantly changing. Salsa. Mambo. Polka. Classical. Eighties Rock. One never knows what they will hear in my house.....I mean musicwise.
5) I love to swim.
6) My favorite flower is the carnation.
7) I get aches and pains in my lower back, ankles, and feet. I blame my weight. Duh!
8) When I was four years old, I visited Hungary with my parents. My uncle and aunt really liked me!
9)I am the youngest of eight cousins on my mother's side.
10) On my father's side, I am third youngest, or fifth oldest. It is a matter of perspective.
11) My sister died nine years before I was born. She was one month old. It made my parents very overprotective. Mom still thinks I can die of a cold if I don't see the doctor. Catherine had bronchial pnuemonia.
12) I like to wear velour clothing. I love the way it feels. Velour pjs. Velour sweats. Velour dresses. Velour headbands. I think the only think I am missing are velour undies, and velour shoes....
13) Due to heel spurs, I must wear orthotics at all times. That means only ugly shoes for me.
14) I am married to a wonderful guy. He loves me as is. He promised to love me if I change. I love him, and have promised unconditional love to him as well.
15) At one time, I was considering becoming a nun. I may post on that later. Remind me if you think it would make a good story, okay.
16) I like to read mysteries. I think my favorites are the Father Brown Mysteries, by G.K. Chesterton.
17) I am Catholic. I think you either all ready know, or you figured it out from my sidebar. In some ways I am rather conservative, in others, not so much. It depends on who you compare me to.
18) My favorite Psalm is Psalm 91.
19) My favorite hymn is Hosea. Today, anyway.
20) Jesus is my favorite man. After him, Bob is the winner, hands down.
21) I want to paint the kitchen and dining room lilac. My carpet is dark green.
22) I used to collect angel figurines. I don't anymore. Too much dusting...
23) I tend to let the house get cluttered. I am working on getting organized.
24) I teach CCD every other week. CCD means Sunday School, but not on Sunday.
25) I am afraid of rodents. All rodents. To me, a squirrel is a bushy tailed rat with a spring in his step.
Bonus
26) I like bunnies. We have one in the back yard. We call her BunBun. She may be a he. We never checked. We like to make up stories about her adventures.
Okay. I hope those qualify as interesting things. Some of them you knew. Some of them you didn't. Have a great evening!
Monday, February 23, 2009
On Saturday I wrote a post sort of about what Lent means to me. In this post, I descibe giving something up, like donuts. But the season of Lent is about much more than giving up sweets in self denial. It is supposed to be about self denial for the sake of Christ. It is about seeing Christ in others, and offering them mercy. The Catholic Church offers a list of ways to show mercy. the corporal works of mercy is as follows:
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the Homeless
Visit the sick
Visit the imprisoned
Bury the dead
The spiritual works of mercy are:
Instruct the ignorant
Counsel the doubtful
Admonish the sinner
Bear wrongs patiently
Forgive offenses willingly
Comfort the sorrowful
Pray for the living and the dead
Now, ideally, we are supposed to be practicing this mercy every day of the year. Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I find myself drifting into other cares. Lent sort of wakes me up and brings me back....Ideally I am not going to stop doing these things during the Easter Season and Ordinary Time because Lent is over. Ideally, I am to have made self denial and mercy a way of life that keeps on going until next Lent, when I can then find ways to be more merciful still. Yeah, I keep saying ideally. That is because often enough I foul up somehow before we are even half way into Lent. I try to remind myself that just because my sacrifice could never be perfect, it doesn't mean it is useless. That is where the God and angel conversation come in again (see Saturday's post).
Now, here is a question. What if I were to do any of the corporal works of mercy with a sneer on my face? Would that be merciful? That question arises from a situation that my friend Katdish referenced on her blog Hey Look A Chicken.. The gist of the story is that some experimenters in viral advertising are using a homeless person, claiming they have a win win situation. Some of us find the way this is being handled as degrading to the man in question. I tried to assume the best about the perpetrators of the campaign in the beginning, but the more I think about it, the harder it is. Doesn't treating someone mercifully require being aware of their dignity? I started out thinking I shouldn't judge this campaign, since I am not doing enough. I moved on to thinking that just because I should do more, that doesn't excuse using someone the way the campaigners have used Tim.
Katdish's post caused lots of thoughts to start running through my mind, too many to include in one post. For now, I want to end this post with the thought that this Lent I need to incorporate remembering the dignity of the person as I attempt to grow in mercy. That sentence itself may sound confusing, but I trust you know what I mean.
There will be more on this to come, as I sort it out.
God bless Katdish and the people at her Church. They have been working on this already....
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the Homeless
Visit the sick
Visit the imprisoned
Bury the dead
The spiritual works of mercy are:
Instruct the ignorant
Counsel the doubtful
Admonish the sinner
Bear wrongs patiently
Forgive offenses willingly
Comfort the sorrowful
Pray for the living and the dead
Now, ideally, we are supposed to be practicing this mercy every day of the year. Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I find myself drifting into other cares. Lent sort of wakes me up and brings me back....Ideally I am not going to stop doing these things during the Easter Season and Ordinary Time because Lent is over. Ideally, I am to have made self denial and mercy a way of life that keeps on going until next Lent, when I can then find ways to be more merciful still. Yeah, I keep saying ideally. That is because often enough I foul up somehow before we are even half way into Lent. I try to remind myself that just because my sacrifice could never be perfect, it doesn't mean it is useless. That is where the God and angel conversation come in again (see Saturday's post).
Now, here is a question. What if I were to do any of the corporal works of mercy with a sneer on my face? Would that be merciful? That question arises from a situation that my friend Katdish referenced on her blog Hey Look A Chicken.. The gist of the story is that some experimenters in viral advertising are using a homeless person, claiming they have a win win situation. Some of us find the way this is being handled as degrading to the man in question. I tried to assume the best about the perpetrators of the campaign in the beginning, but the more I think about it, the harder it is. Doesn't treating someone mercifully require being aware of their dignity? I started out thinking I shouldn't judge this campaign, since I am not doing enough. I moved on to thinking that just because I should do more, that doesn't excuse using someone the way the campaigners have used Tim.
Katdish's post caused lots of thoughts to start running through my mind, too many to include in one post. For now, I want to end this post with the thought that this Lent I need to incorporate remembering the dignity of the person as I attempt to grow in mercy. That sentence itself may sound confusing, but I trust you know what I mean.
There will be more on this to come, as I sort it out.
God bless Katdish and the people at her Church. They have been working on this already....
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