Epistle

 One of my "cloistered brothers" asked me if I knew what an "epistle" was.  It's a letter, especially the letters St. Paul wrote from prison.

Nope, he said.

An epistle is the wife of an apostle.

Skinning a Cat

 There is an expression that exercises my mind, way too often.  "There's more than one way to skin a cat."  Why this expression comes to mind is a mystery because--well think about it.  Skinning anything is abhorrent.  Never mind a cat!

Anyway, why I thought of this expression, now, is because I went to order a book on Amazon and it told me that the book couldn't be sent to my Kindle--for some reason, or other.  So, I took my Kindle and ordered it from my Kindle, itself!  See, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

The book is How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith by Bishop Mariann Budde.  She was the minister who presided over the inaugural religious ceremony of President Trump.  She was brave enough to preach to him, knowing that he thought the opposite of what she expounded.  I thought she was acting exactly like Jesus preaching to the Pharisees.  Not only did I buy her book, I signed up for her workshop--to be brave.  

"The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals -- they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras, and temples."

Tiene cojones

Hooked

 Chloe Dalton's Raising Hare is about nurturing a hare. Chloe came across it when it was only a leveret. She brought it home and fell in love with it. She describes every minutia: coloring, noises, eating habits, even it's poop.

About half of it kept my interest. I've never read anything like it. But then it got boring. Dalton became obsessed with detail.

Bumping into Each Other

It's an easy and good read.  

Lost Opportunity

 Back in the day, we elementary school children would walk home, in what was called "patrol lines."  Everyone walked two by two, led by a sixth grader in front, and one in the back.  I was in the second or third grade, when I was surprised, shocked, appalled even, to see my grandmother walking towards us.  And she didn't walk around us; she walked through us.

I looked away and pretended I didn't see her.

That occasion has bothered me for over seventy years.

I know exactly why I did that. I was embarrassed by her appearance. 

This is a photo honoring my great aunt, on her 80's birthday.  Her sister, my grandmother, was in her 80's also, as was my Meme.  Everyone in their 80's was wearing a corsage.  

I think you can see what I am talking about.  The people in the photo are, left to right: my mother, Grandma, Auntie, Meme, and lastly is my mother's sister, my aunt, Bernice.

Do you see a difference in outward appearance in the octogenarians?  Grandma and Auntie are from the old country.  Look at their hair.  Look at Meme.  Meme has a fashionably short coif.  Grandma and Auntie had never cut their hair in their lives.  They always, always, always, wore it the same way--day in and day out, whether mucking out the barn, or going to church, or attending a celebratory party for themselves. Their hair was always pulled back into a bun, worn low on the neck.

Also, their clothes.  They always wore house dresses that reached below their knees, sensible shoes that offered ankle support, and stockings.  These stockings weren't attached to garters but rather rolled up to the knees.  Since their dresses reached below their knees, you couldn't see that stocking roll, until they sat down.  Of course, you can't see that in this photo.  You can see that they are still wearing house dresses, albeit fancy ones.  But still housedresses, especially compared to Meme, who is wearing a suit.

Now here is my seven/eight-year-old self, seeing my embarrassing grandmother walking towards my friends and me.  Can you see why I pretended not to see her?

Do you also see why I have been ashamed of myself for seventy-odd years?  I have lived with regret for my unfortunate reaction. Deservedly so!

Grandma, I love you and I am so-so sorry.

Travel with Jesus

Jesus never asked us to pray well.  He asked us to pray without ceasing.  So don't stop because your mind is distracted.  Go back to Him.

Don't think, I can't keep my mind on Jesus.  Keep turning back to Him.  Persevere.  

Question From Prison

 Father Bob's homily was different from my post of a few days ago.  Matthew 11: 2-11  Father Bob said that the Baptist of course he knew who Jesus was.  He was using a technique to get his followers to go see Jesus.

What do you think?

I still think the Baptist doubted.  And anyone who doesn't think so, has never been in prison, or in prison ministry.  Prison is a traumatic experience.  It could make you doubt anything. Matthew's Gospel gives everyone who has ever doubted, hope. 

 

Doubt

 It always bothered me that when John the Baptist was in prison, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He were the Messiah.

Doesn't John know?  Whom did he think he was baptizing?

Then it occurred to me; he had doubts.  John is in prison.  Lots of time to think in prison.  John was all "fire and brimstone."  Wouldn't the Messiah also be full of fire, in order to overthrow the Romans?  But Jesus wasn't like that.  He was gentle and preached love.

Jesus wasn't what John was expecting.  Maybe Jesus was just a prophet, an up-an-coming rabbi, or as they say in today's lingo--a popular influencer.

Jesus isn't those things.  He gave the blind sight, the lame walking ability, lepers were cleansed, the deaf had hearing, and He even raised the dead.  Don't doubt John.

Wikimedia Commons

Conversing

 Remember a few posts ago, my "cloistered brother," Gordon, asked a question that has been on my mind, ever since.  "When you pray, what do you expect to happen?"

Today, I realized that prayer is a conversation between God and myself, which means that I don't expect anything to happen, no more than I would expect something to happen in any conversation.

What a dummy I am!  Most of the time, I'm not asking God for anything.  I am talking (praying) to Him.

Words that Function Performatively

 When a cop says, "You're under arrest."  You are indeed, under arrest.

When the umpire says, "You're out."  There's no use arguing, you're out.

These are indeed examples of words that mean what they say.  There are verbal expressions that definitely mean what they say.

Wouldn't that be even more so when Jesus Christ utters words?  

In Genesis we hear that creation occurred through divine speech, "God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light...God said, 'Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it happened.  

God is not describing, His words are performing.  This is the case with Jesus. "And the Word became flesh and lived among us."  John 1: 14  Think of Jesus' healings.  He speaks and the cure happens.  Again and again, Jesus' words are shown to be efficacious in producing what they pronounce.

The night before He died, Jesus performed His most important words, "Take, eat; this is my body...drink...for this is my blood..." Matt 26: 26-28  Jesus words are producing what they pronounce.

Thoughts While Walking in the Cold

 Twenty degrees below freezing is just a number until you are walking in it.  I should say trudging through it.

My labored breathing roars forth clouds of vapor.  My forehead aches because the wind is meanspirited.  I'd tell the wind to quit, but the teeth in my mouth are so cold they hurt.

My boots stamp out a petulant response.  I clap my mittened hands for winter's performance of brutal strength and also beauty.

Beauty?

Yes, beauty because my eyes aren't frozen shut.  I can see the diamond glitter sparkling on the branches and tips of grass. And the sun flashes sharp stabs of color in shapes through the trees, in the woods.  Rays of light, here and there, are accompanied by sound or I dare to say music, for the grass crunches when I step and the ice in the puddles crash like cymbals, in this winter orchestra of cold.

Not an orchestra, like in symphony hall.  Rather more like a marching band in the parade of winter.  It's showing off all its delights in a performance of twenty degrees below freezing.

The Effects of Prayer

 Thinking of yesterday's blog post regarding expectations when we pray, I read this quote, this morning, by St. Peter of Alcantara.

          In prayer the soul is purified from sin, charity is nurtured,
          faith takes root, hope is strengthened, the spirit gladdened.
          In prayer the soul melts into tenderness, the heart is puri-
          fied, the truth reveals itself, temptation is overcome, sad-
          ness is put to flight.  In prayer, the senses are renewed,
          lukewarmness vanishes, failing virtue it reinvigorated,
          the rust of vices is scoured away; and in the exchange,
          there come forth living sparks, blazing desires of
          heaven, in which the flame of divine love burns.

This satisfies me, but I don't think Gordon will accept this explanation.

Expectations

 The "cloistered brothers" are reading Simone Weil's Waiting for God. A discussion arose on prayer.  Gordon, does believe in God, but not prayer.  He figures that God is all knowing, so He knows what is going to happen, so what's the use of prayer.  He challenged the group with the question, "So what do you expect to happen?"  

This question has been bouncing back and forth, inside my head.  What do I expect to happen when I pray?  Today is two days removed from the question, and I've come to the conclusion that what I expect and what I hope are two different answers.

I hope that God will do what I want.  I expect that I will understand what God is doing.  I expect that my prayer will give me wisdom and understanding and patience to see God's plans.

I also expect that more understanding will come, in time.  I also expect that I will have an answer for Gordon, that will satisfy him.