Lord, Make Me Your Instrument

OK. I'm not the sharpest tool on the tool belt. I'm not the brightest light on the circuit. I'm not the ....

I'm talking about being careful for what you pray for.

Yikes.

What if Judas had prayed, "Lord, make me your instrument?"

'

Plug

My cyber-friend, Father Philip, has the second book out on Treasures, Holy & Mystical. This is a prayer book:
7 Novenas
7 Litanies
Rosary focused on the beatitudes

All are based on Catholic Tradition, yet speak to us, today. You can find it on Liguori Press.

How I Spent My Spring Vacation

It's raining today. Pouring, depressing rain is predicted for the entire weekend. Time to go home.

How I spent my Spring Vacation:
Visiting museums,
Hiking
Spa
Horseback riding
Praying on Mt. Greylock
Climbing a tree

Alice's Restaurant

Remember the song Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie? "You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant." Not quite. That's because Alice's Restaurant is now the Guthrie Center. It's still very active with "comins and goins", but not the usual restaurant crowd.

We arrived just after the weekly Wed. community free lunch. Just our luck! But it's a nice thing to do for the locals. Everyone is respected here. It doesn't matter your race, religion, politics, nationality, or whatever. You're welcome. Whoever said that there's no such thing as a free lunch?

Besides the free lunch there's an emphasis on fund raising for Huntington's Disease. Arlo's father, Woody Guthrie died from Huntinton's. They hold an annual event called "The Walk-A-Thon To Cure Huntington's Disease." There's also the "Thanksgiving Dinner That Can't Be Beat," for families, friends, doctors, and scientists who live and work with Huntington's Disease.

There are spring, summer, and fall "Revivals," where Arlo and guest performers sing and play, to replenish the building and its foundation. Every Thursday is a Hootenanny. There's also room for meeting space for things like Interfaith yoga, meditation and prayer and support programs for families and friends living with HIV/AIDS and other life threatening illness.

So you can get what's important at Alice's Restaurant. At the least you will experience hope, that there can be a better world.

National Day of Prayer

Hubby and I attended the National Day of Prayer in Pittsfield, MA. It was nice to pray with others for our country. It was a real "rush" to pray with strangers, yet be united in prayer. It was very patriotic and an exercise in Freedom to Worship and Freedom of Speech.

God bless America!

And to think that political partisans argue over this. A Day of Prayer!

Wikipedia gives a history of the Day of prayer dating back to the Continental Congress. Nowadays those that are anti-Obama say he cancelled the Day of Prayer. Many things Obama may be, but he is not politically stupid. Snopes will give you the story, which is not only did the Pres not cancel the Day of Prayer, but he is the defendant in a lawsuit challenging the government's proclamation of a Day of Prayer. Appeals are still ongoing.

Today's service was meaningful. I don't know who the priest was that represented the Catholics, but he was perfect: not too long, clear, concise, articulate, and prayerful. In fact, he concluded with the prayer in the Chaplet of Divine Mercy:

Holy God,
Holy Mighty One,
Holy Immortal One,
have mercy on us
and on the whole world.
Amen.

Father Spag's Last Hurrah

I've been in my muse state, today. Lots of reminiscing. Thinking of lost friends, lost hopes, and even lost places. Heck! I'm upset when my favorite restaurant goes out of business! No wonder people protest vehemently when their churches close. Damn. All dreams end, don't they?



Father Spag’s Last Hurrah

Once there was a pensive priest
Looking out a store front window,
Seeing passers-by walk, run,
Stumble,
Search
And sigh.

He opened the door and planted
new flowers in the window box,
and dropped down a welcome mat.

The curious wandered in.
Late train passengers killed time.
Debaters circled the table.
Children watched videos.
Students sat and discussed.
Downtown workers lunched.
Bible study referenced books.
Protestant Ministers shared thoughts.
The occasional drunk dropped by.
Spiritual direction was given;
Pamphlets taken;
Confessions heard;
Absolution affirmed.

God bless them all.

Williamstown

Hubby was in heaven today. We hiked the Stone Bench Trail around the Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA in the morning. Then we went to WCMA.

Williams College Museum of Art has a broad range of exhibits. Besides sculpture and paintings, it has some colonial documents. I couldn't pull Dick away from them. They had King George's reply to the Declaration of Independence. It's was written in old English, but you can still read it. The Articles of Federation are there, also. As is the draft version of the Bill of Rights. I was finished with my viewing of the entire museum and he was still reading the documents!

My favorite exhibit was the Remington Sculptures. The detail and action are amazing.