Intent And Acts

Yesterday while reading some face book post,I can across one written by my husband second cousin.
She lives in Indiana,has several small children and she and her husband work,very hard, at low paying jobs.
Several days ago her air conditioner stopped working and they were forced to turn to a small window unit,until they could get theirs fixed.
Since she has m.s. the heat makes her joints swell and body ache,but in spite of this they where trying to find someone who could fix this possible costly problem.
Later in the day,seeing their problem may be resolved,she and her husband decided,they needed to run an errand.
While proceeding to there destination,they spotted a jogger,leaning against a building,in the sweltering heat of the early evening.
Being good and caring  people they decided to stop at a local convince store and bring the runner a bottle of cool water.
Upon their return they found the lady jogger gone and no where to be found.
Feeling sad about this situation,turn of events,my husband cousin, posted on face book,that they where trying to do what God calls for and that is help those in need.
I posted back that it is not the fact that they did not find the woman and give her their thoughtful gift,it is always about purity of heart and intent.
Sometimes we do things thinking that we are going to help someone but in the end we may either help another more in need or even our selves.
We are tested and our acts of generosity do not go unnoticed.
Just because our intended target is who we perceive,it may not be who God sees in need.
You can not judge random acts and you can not second guess that which is preformed.
This morning I saw someone post,that he wishes he could help those in need but his schedule is to busy. He feels bad,since his community has lots of needy people.
He went on to write, "I do try to pray for them and that counts for something."
Truer words were never spoken.
We have to realize that one simple step is OK.
Prayer or even a donated hour here or there at a food pantry,community meal or simply buying a canned good,is just as important as becoming Mother Teresa and giving your life on a full time basis.
We are all called to preform different jobs in our lives.
You may push a broom for a living or bag groceries but giving all you can and being the best at your job affords others around you, comfort.
Pride in your work and helping strangers or fellow employees in your day to day life,is just as important as donating time to help the poor out on the streets,this is your gift to the world around you.
Never underestimate the power of one simple,selfless act.
Your intent of a pure heart, doing the right thing for someone,is all God really wants from you.
Asking nothing in return is the gift of giving,even if its just a simple bottle of cool water for an over heated jogger,who was not there to receive this well intentioned gift..

Evil In The World

Living in Connecticut put me in the position of  the constant coverage of the New Town School shootings.
No one can explain why some one,could do such things to innocent children.
Some claim that gun control is to blame,like  high power rifles,that anyone can buy.
Some feel that uncontrolled mental illness is to blame,But I feel evil is to blame.
We live in a country that has blurred the lines between what is right and what is wrong,we never call anything right or wrong,because we feel that everyone has a right to anything and if we voice our opinions that what someone is doing is evil,then we are told that we are some how wrong.
Evil abounds in the world,just as good does.
Some have said that since we took God and prayers out of the school,then how can we expect God to be in the class.
But evil abounds everywhere and it is not uncommon for people who have lost their bearing of right and wrong to end up going toward the dark side and becoming more and more evil.
If a person chooses destruction then any weapon,be it gun,knife,bomb or anything else,is all on the table.
In Oklahoma City the person who blew up the federal building used fertilizer.
Its not about the choice of weapon,its about the intent.
People say this man in Connecticut had mental illness,well if you want to kill innocent children then I agree you are mentally ill in some way.
But there are lots and lots of people walking the streets everyday who are mentally ill and don't kill children.
So evil is what is in the equation.
We attend Churches that to this day will not talk about the devil and his legions,my own church will not use his name because they feel we are calling him down to us.
Fine so if no one talks about the Satan and his evil  then how does any church expect people to understand who he is.
Jesus himself talked about the devil and in the Our Father prayer we ask God to "deliver us from evil,now and at the hour of our death".
Why would we ask for strength in overcoming evil if it where out of the picture.

Low Bar For Entertainment

Tonight after having a nice supper out with friends,we all went to catch the movie The Lone Ranger.
It was a rather amusing film and after it was finished,we had much to discuss.
Most of our talk centered on all the good shows that where on t.v. back when where children
It could just be my age,but the fact remains that things always seemed better when we where children,as compared to living in our present day and age.
Today most of my t.v. watching consist of fox news and the history channel,mainly because television  just seems poor in taste and style, rather childish and boring.
Comedy now reminds me of high school toilet humor, learning childish words like boob,and using them a million times to see who will laugh.
Comedy back in the day,required talented story tellers,those who understood punch lines,while drama brought with it plot and substance.
Now don't get me wrong some of it was corny,but at least it had  story lines,morals and values.
The trouble is there is no longer any decent content to what we watch anymore.
Even reality shows,have no reality,most of it is written to make one think this is how a group or family of people live their lives,when its more about an idea and how far it can be stretched.
Maybe its a sign of the times and morals have no place in our world.
No longer fine lines of what to cross or not and no right or wrong,an anything goes kind of mentality.
I wouldn't mind the sexual innuendo if the shows had value or merit and what was being said or done was there to enhance a point.
But alas it is not meant to be.
Where are all the gifted people like Bill Cosby or Michael Landon?Those who could compile real humor or story telling,so it was an interesting art form.
Sadly it seems gone,by the  way of the low bar we set for our selves in the entertainment world .

Parish Community Growth

The other night,while watching the vicar of dibley,on net flicks,it dawned on me,that one of the purposes of church and ministry is not just worship,but growth.

Personal growth yes,but more importantly, congregational growth.

In this shows episode,a terrible storm hits the town and causes a tree to fall into the church,breaking the stained glass behind the altar.

With the money raised to replace the window,the discussion arises about what scene was actually on the glass,although they all looked at it every Sunday,no one could remember what the exact depiction it portrayed.

After checking church records it was found to be Noah Ark and not the Good Shepard,as they all though.

Everything seems set,to move forward for the replacement until,the vicar and some congregants hear about an earthquake in another country and the personal suffering going on there,they decide to make a contribution to this poor ravaged country.

In the end the church spends about 10% of the money on a clear glass window to replace the stained one,and everyone admires how beautiful the view of the valley behind the church is.

The rest of the money is sent off to help those in need in the earthquake area,with the blessings of the congregation.

To see the first episode of this series, is to understand how much of a step forward this church had made.

Our own church had this same sort of leap of faith.

Four years ago our vision community and priest,decided the time had come to go from being a solitary church on the hill,meeting our own personal needs,and to step forward and start a monthly community meal.

With little money to start,our Priest Father Peter,went before the board to ask for $1200.00,to make this dream sustainable for a year.

With nervousness Father brought forth his idea,and to his great surprise,one member said "Isn't this what a church is suppose to do,help those in need". At that point our community meal was born.

Today we serve 3 meals a month and have become a friend to the neighbors who eat our fine meals and share in our small table of non perishable canned goods and food.

So what happened?

We where blessed with a priest who understood the importance of teaching,preaching and showing the church members to be greater then themselves.

Sometimes we forget that the reason for a church is not about just money making and support,it is also about helping neighbors.

We have come along way in the 7 years when I first joined this parish.

Though the growth in spirit is greater then that of numbers,God has given us not what we want, but what we need.

There is a spiritual song that says"its a gift to be simple,its a gift to be free,its a gift to come down where we ought to be."

Little by little I see our church becoming that gift and the people sitting in the pews beginning to understand that there is more to church then stained glass windows and pretty vestments.

God surrounds us with his natural beauties and we in turn spread his love to others, and if we do it right,at some point,those we have helped and supported,they in turn will help better the lives of those of their neighbors. 

Death With Dignity

This last election ,the state of Massachusetts voted on question 2,or doctor assisted suicide.
This is the time when it pleases me greatly to live in Connecticut,since we never get asked questions about anything in our state.
Life is cheap in this country and pain or watching someone suffer,is more then we think we can handle,so it must be made palatable and easy on everyone.
Don't get me wrong,I am not one of those persons who feels suffering is a good thing,and with today's multitudes of pain medications,its pretty much unnecessary .
Dying with dignity means,to get everything in your life straight with family members and God.
Many people who are on their deathbed find this a good time to come out with what is most important to them and how corrections can be made,to come to peace.
They say that most people who are dying do not worry about how much money they have,they worry about more personal things,like reconciliation to those whom they may have harmed be it physical or personal.
On the other side family members spending time with the dying, are given the opportunity to do the good they did not have time to do in their day to day lives.
Disagreements can become lessened when one is allowed to show how much they can overcome themselves to care for and love the person who is dying.
Once an author was asked "why do bad things happen to good people?"his answer was because it allows those around them to become more then they can be,or were before the incident happened.
Bad things,can many times,bring out the best in the human beings around you.
Situations in life are many times out of our control and with that we must make do with the best we can at hand,which many times is just our loving caring self.
We in this country view death as a bad thing,not a natural state of affairs,true no one wants to die,but we have no choice in the matter.
Many talk of how this is our opportunity to right our wrongs.
I know being a nurse there is a big difference between giving medication to ease ones suffering and giving a medication to end ones life.
The later for me,is murder,even if the person asking you to do it is in their right mind.
Suicide does not involve others,just your self,assisted suicide brings another person into the picture and causes them to have to live with the action you asked them to assist you with.
How will they feel in 10 or 20 years,being the one who handed you the drink that ended your life.
Seems all so sterile.

Riding The Rollercoaster

O.k its been 4 days since our Republican defeat and all that can be said is..it is what it is.
This is not my  idea of a great thing but living in Connecticut as taught me one thing and that is,being a conservative in a liberal state may not have taught me to lose graciously,but it as taught me to lose often.
Every election is unnerving,wanting so much to see this country succeed is what makes us who we are,but this is the year we take the stony path instead of the high road.
What is to become of my 401k?Not much, for another 4 more years I will slowly watch it erode to nothingness and wonder where all the money that took years to save,all went.
Taxes seem to be ahead of us.
No state,in this country, is in a good state of affairs, and taxing those who are earning anything,will be our new mantra.
We all need to understand that there will be many more poor and hurting,not able to get more then 20 hours of work a week.
Socialism is a theory that works well in the mind but not so in reality.
Those under the age of 40 know little of what real socialism is about,but if it was such a good thing,why did so many people leave their Balkan homelands,some 50 years ago,to live here?
Where do we go from here?
I will be saving allot more money in my savings account,the thought of going through another recession or getting work hours cut back,leaves me with little other choice.
Also the poor will now be in more need of our assistance with food prices sky rocketing and possible gas prices, going up to $5.00 a gallon.
Jobs will continue to stop as big companies move on to other countries with not only their manufacturing and their investments.
Small businesses will have to close or stay small related to the new taxes that will be levied on those who earn $250,000.a year.
Does this all sound depressing to you?
Well we are all in this together and we will all walk off the cliff as a united group.
Time has come for us to understand what is most important in our lives and that is our family,friends,churches and above all God.
Staying small is our best bet,and staying close to assist those who will suffer more then ourselves.
Four more years and we shall see where we shall be...stay tough...and be their for your neighbors...

Jobs Snobs

You know you come from a different generation when everything being told to you from politicians to the media, is contrary to what you have held as a belief.
Several days ago a politician,speaking on t.v.,said that we in this country need to focus our selves and our future generations on the fact that we all need to be educated,having higher paying jobs,allowing the rest of the world to take on the low paying,physical labor,manufacturing.
Does this not strike anyone as a rather snobbish rhetorical?
Only a person who has never had to work hard to get where they are today, can come up with such snobbishness.
Do we now feel we are to good to get our hands dirty?
Many of our ancestors came to this country with a few dollars in their pockets and worked hard at the minimal low pay jobs in order to give their families what they lacked back in the old country,which was namely freedom and the right to get ahead.
We seem to now have a generation of coddled people who feel when they step out of college they are entitled,even with no work experience,to be given the easy sit down jobs making huge salaries.
What made this country great was the fact that we where not elitist,who felt any job was demeaning.
The good thing about the last four years and the lousy economy is it has made this spoiled generation understand that just because you where given much,does not mean in a matter of seconds it can not all be taken away from you,no matter your education or degrees.
When did we become a group of people who felt that any job that was honest and paid you even minimum wage,was a waste of our extraordinary talents.
Who is so above any one that to say because one person has an education puts him above an ethic code of a hard,honest work.
Its sad that this country is now becoming a group of snobs,who think those who do the hands on labor intense,service work makes them someone to be looked down on or pitied.
We are in for a very large fall when all the high paid jobs are gone.
Five years ago while in Macedonia,my husband cousin talked to us about how she was an unemployed Dentist living in a town with 5 other Dentist like her self.
 Because of a high unemployment rate,most people did not have enough money to go to the dentist.
So many people in that country who hold degrees,due to free higher education, do not work.
Those who seemed to be doing well,where the bar,restaurant, and shop owners not to mention the gas station  mechanics who could work on older model cars,since no one can afford a new one.
Is this to be our future?
Allot of well educated people,who lack ambition and feel hands on,unskilled labor is beneath them so they collect from the government.
This country always stood for a way to get ahead,if you worked hard and accepted what was offered you, at some point you also could get the gold ring.
The pursuit of happiness is a wonderful thing but the pursuit of elitism and laziness is not.
Besides with all that education and the ability not to be able to fix even a leaky pipe,who in the end will be the real capitalist,the one with the supposed high IQ or the person charging you  a hundred dollars an hour to fix your toilet?