What have we done on our summer vacation?
I just sat down at my computer to check my email and I found this little message waiting to be posted on the blog:
Hello????
Is anyone out there???
Is anyone listening???
Does anyone care anymore????
If so Please a little chatter
Thank you.
I promptly posted the comment under 'Don't get emotional'.
That comment did evoke a chuckle and a grin from myself. What have 'we' been doing lately? Why haven't 'we' been blistering the airwaves and inviting others to spar???
Well, for everything there is a season? A time to Post, and a time to refrain from Posting???!!!
Have all the evils in the Toledo Diocese been exorcised??? Has tranquility returned to St. Peter's, St. Mary's and St. Joe's???
I will admit that I was looking forward to a summer of rest and reflection. I anticipated that the sudden 'changing of the guard' would allow me to reassess my involvement in the parish. My recent anonymous poster reminded me of the following story written byBruce Wilkenson from his book,"Beyond Jabez":
"One day, six or seven of us remained after class to talk to one of our favorite professors. During the conversation, my friend standing in front of me said, "You know, Dr. Hendericks, when I first came to this seminary, my life was full of temptations and struggles. But now after studying Greek, Hebrew, and theology, my life is smooth as glass."
And I remember thinking, "Wow! I'd give my right arm to have a life like that. I slowly shrank back a few steps. Maybe it's better if I don't bother him with any questions.
But Dr. Hendricks suddenly had a look of alarm. "Young man," he said to my friend, "that's the worst thing you could possibly have said to me. Before you came here, at least you were in the battle. But now you've shown me that the enemy doesn't even think you're worth harassing."
That story has stayed worth me for years. I admit that I am guilty of sometimes thinking that if I don't write and talk about what's going on in our parishes, my life will be as 'smooth as glass'?
posted by Karen @ 4:36 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Maybe we are all
a little battle weary
and "shell shocked"
in need of a little R & R
R&R railroad
thats a good analogy
just a train of thought
perhaps we are all recovering from a train wreck
or de-railment
time to put the train back on track
Keep Chugging along CHOO CHOO
What a lonely little blog (sigh)
Where have all the bloggers gone?
Makes one think of the 60's /70's song
"Where Have all the Flowers Gone"
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time waiting long time waiting
where have they all gone?
Young girls picked them every one.
When will we ever learn?
The song goes on with the girls being taken by young men, the young men turning into soldiers, the soldiers turning into grave yards, and the graveyards turning into flowers and on and on as the cycle repeats itself.
One could repalce flowers with bloggers, parishioners, volunteers
and so on and so forth.
IS ANY ONE OUT THERE????????????
We are still here. Most of us are just taking a break and enjoying the peace that has come to our community. What a difference it is when you have someone that truly sees our community and wants to help us grow, compared to someone that was trying to run it as a big business. What worries me is that for many people they will never trust the church again. I talked to someone at the car show last night, that told me they had lost their faith in the church. The sad part is, I understand how they feel. We have been given a break from the dictator we had, but the problems are still there. The lies and corruption are still going on. We have the priest council still trying to put pedophile priest's back into ministry, rather then in jail where they belong. We dare not let history repeat itself & allow these things to happen again. For me, I am still active with United Parishes and plan to continue to support other parishes that are still going through the problems we were going through. For parishes like Salem, Kansas and all the others that were closed and others that are soon to close, the problems are not over and we need to reach out and try to help our brothers and sisters. Communication is good, so.... let's start communicating.
Dan is right communication is the key, but it is so hard to trust again after we have been fed so many lies.
You would expect honesty, integrity and trustability from the our leaders sad to say in our society we see very little of these qualities.
Change is good. Change is coming.
Just be patient.
We will be blessed.
There was a song by Amy Grant, "Ask Me How I Know" about someone who was abused. I have never forgotten the refrain:
"Ask her how she knows there is a God up in the heaven.
Where did he go in the middle of her shame?
Ask her how she knows there is a God up in the heavens.
She said his mercy is bringing her life again.
She's coming to life again."
Yes, Anon, we will be blessed, because we are blessed! We who have felt great pain and great loss over the past few years are coming to life again. We are coming to life again because we were lucky enough at some point in our lives to have received mercy in some form or another. Someone communicated to us once that there is a God who loves us very much and He is worth following, no matter how frustrating the walk may be at times.
How fitting to remember that thought today, on the anniversary of Father Bill's death. Months before he died, he told us all that he was going to put "Thank you" on his tombstone.
Back Atcha Sir! Thank You!
I almost forgot to tell you what I did on my summer vacation! I have to admit that I thought that I would take months and months 'off' so to speak, from the hustle and bustle of parish life. I read about the book, "The Shack' which was highly recommended by David Yonke on his blog. I enjoyed it so much that I purchased five more copies and they are now being read and passed around by parishioners.(Hopefully we will have a discussion group one night about it!)
Reading "The Shack" and listening to a new CD of the band "Skillet" refreshed me more quickly than I had planned.
So, when the value of the former rectory in Kirby was officially questioned at a parish meeting, I joined a small band of parishioners who diligently worked to revive the dwelling. Quite the local ''Habitat for Humanity project. That project convinced me even more than ever, as Dan would say, that "We are still here."
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