Autonomy

 My friend, who passed over five years ago, once had a discussion on "autonomy," with me.  At the time, I didn't understand her devotion to the word.  It seemed like unbridled anarchy.  What kind of world would we have if everyone believed as she did?  She believed in abortion, gay rights, even therians/otherkin rights. She divorced her husband and was in the midst of a robust love affair, when I first met her.

I could barely discuss, never mind argue with her.  She was smarter and more self-assured than I was. She was a science teacher, an artist, and a reiki master.  Unfortunately, she got cancer and chose to have doctor assisted suicide.  She was really suffering.

What could I do but pray for her?  And what to pray for?  

She came to mind, during this morning's gospel on Matthew 4: 1-11.  This is the gospel where Satan tempts Jesus in the desert.  My friend, I think would lean more towards the temptations, than towards Jesus' choices.  Jesus was following scripture.  She would have scoffed at scripture dictating His choices.  He should have been able to choose what He wanted.

But don't you think Jesus did choose what He wanted?  He wanted to obey Mosaic laws.  

Maybe she would choose what Jesus did.  I'll never know.

His temptations are so very human.  His first one was food.  After all, He had been fasting for 40 days.  I know that if my belly is full, I'm not hungry.  But if I haven't eaten in a while, I'm hungry and will grab whatever, good for me or not.

His second temptation was authority over His religion in Jerusalem.  Think that He was offered the job of pope over all Jews.  Didn't Satan know Who He was?  Why would He be tempted for something He could have, if He wanted?  Free will be damned.  

Lastly, was Lord over all the world.  His kingdom is not in this world.  Satan has it.  

Autonomy is tricky.  It sounds nice. The freedom to make your own choices.  But you need to know how your choice affects others.  You need to take into consideration the consequences.  

Maybe you need discernment, help, a guide, otherwise you probably make selfish, emotional decisions.  Perhaps, it is best to follow an ethical code--like religion.

                     If this image is under a copyright, please let me know and I will remove it. 

Dust

 Today is Ash Wednesday.  Ashes is what everything eventually will become.  Did you ever return to your childhood home?  Nothing is as you remembered.  Stores are renamed.  Movie theatres are gone.  Your favorite drug store where there was a soda fountain is missing.  Condominiums are everywhere.

Everything is changed or completely gone.  Reminds me of Ash Wednesday, "You are dust and to dust you will return."  Again, my mantra comes to mind, "All is passing, only God abiding."

This Lent I will work on my relationship with God and others, who are in His image.

Juvenile Thinking

 How does one mature in an immature environment?  My "cloistered brothers" were telling me that they feel sorry and don't know how to help the 18–25-year-olds, in prison.  How can they ever grow up in prison?  After they've served their time and go outside back home, how will they fit in?

Thinking about it, I don't know if they ever will.  They will always be that juvenile delinquent and think like one.  I say that because I had an experience that cements my opinion.  

When I was about 35-years-old, I took a class to obtain a real estate broker's license.  Sitting in the classroom, I found myself "checking" out the guys that entered the room.  After a bit, I stopped myself and asked, "What am I doing?  I am 35 years old, married, and the mother of three children!" 

Why was I thinking like that?  I think it was because the last time, I was in a classroom was when I was in college and would have been "checking out" the guys, as they entered the room.  Even though I was 35, I was thinking like I was 18.  

How in the world, could excons think any differently?  They would just pick up where they left off, before they became incarcerated.

God help them.

Reliving the Past

 The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark is a mystery, thriller, and a study in character development.  The gist of the story is that Olivia Dumont is a ghostwriter who needs money.  She is estranged from her father-- you will understand in the story.  Her father, Vincent, is a successful mystery thriller writer.  However, he has Lewy Body Dementia and needs to get a story out.

As a teen, Vincent survived a murder trauma in his family.  Consequently, the townspeople always thought he was guilty of murder.  The court system, however, said he was innocent.  However, a cloud always hung over his head.  Now that he is dying, he wants his side of the story to come out.

Fifty years ago, Vincent's brother and sister were murdered.  That night is revisited-- eventually relived in the story Olivia is writing. Olivia learns about each sibling through diaries, films, still photos, and interviews with the victim's friends.  At first, it seems that Vincent was guilty as hell.  However, a different side of each character is displayed, than public perception thinks. 

It is an interesting "who dun it."

Wind Phone

 What is a Wind Phone?  It is a device to give comfort to those who need it.  Usually, it is an old fashion rotary phone that isn't connected to anything. People symbolically call their deceased loved ones and converse with them.  Grieving people call whomever they want.  People say they feel solace.  There seems to be some kind of cosmic connection.  People who use these Wind Phones feel better, somehow.  

The story of the Wind Phone begins in Japan by Itaru Sasaki.  He missed his cousin who died of cancer.  He purchased a phone booth and installed an old phone that was not connected in it.  Whenever he missed his cousin, he went into the phone booth, lifted the phone receiver and talked into it.  He called this The Wind Phone.  The next year, 2011, an earthquake resulted in a tsunami the obliterated the coast of northern Japan.  Many people died and felt overwhelmed with grief.  Itaru Sasaki moved his phone booth to the devasted area with the most missing people.  He welcomed mourners to visit his Wind Phone to call to talk to their lost loved ones, hoping they would be comforted, somehow.  Some people said the Wind Phone did help them cope.

Don't knock it until you try it.  Here is a link to Wind Phones in the USA.  Map | My Wind Phone

Who would you call?

What would you talk about?

Where would you like to see a Wind Phone?

Discernment

"My cloistered brothers" are getting closer to the answer to "What do you expect to happen when you pray?".  We are reading Tomes Halik's Is God Absent?.  The discussion brought up the question.  We tied it to the Olympics, which is presently taking place.  We asked, "Is everybody praying to win?"

We decided asking God for things is like hoping magic happens.  Rather, our prayers should be contemplative, in trying to discern God's Will.  We should ask to understand God's plan for us. 

What Happens on the Island Stays on the Island

 The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly is a relaxing read.  Surprisingly easy because it actually is an historical novel with romance.  I always enjoy reading books with local venues.  Martha's Vineyard is a swim away (for good swimmers, not me) from Seacoast Blvd.  I judge the weather by looking at the island from the end of Seacoast Blvd.  Heat fog, rain, misty, or a clear day.

The story takes place in 1942.  There are soldiers all over the island practicing for "D" day.  Again, I can identify.  Right across from my beach, are remnants of a paved road on Washburn Island, because this island, also, was used for "D" day practice.    This island, I really can swim to, in fact just float across.  Washburn has my family's favorite beach.  It's not crowded.  You don't need a beach sticker.

The characters are the Smith family and their farm.  The women are left to tend to the property.  Briar, the teenager sees U Boats off their beach.  No one else does.  But she's correct.  A man from the U Boat swims ashore and Briar rescues him.  He wants to defect.  Briar takes him home and hides him.  They have seen what happens to German prisoners and they don't want that to happen to him.  

Briar's sister Cadence is a would-be-writer.  She falls for one of the soldiers on the island.  Grandma is ill and is in the hospital.  Bess is pregnant with the girls' brother baby.  Don't forget "Briar the Liar."  This is the family trying to hold onto the farm.

There's a couple of murders around them.  There's also a spy but who?

  Oh, the Book Club--it's a planning session for the girls and a few friends.  They plan to distribute books to the soldiers.  It isn't easy but they make a skinny book that is easy to carry and it's accepted.  They help with the farm, with whatever they can.

This is a time of confusion and sadness.  The story gave me pause for reflection.  I am happy to have been after the war.  Thank you, Daddy.