J. Michael Steinhardt Guest Blogger

A wonderful reflection by our parishioner, J. Michael Steinhardt.  Love the life lesson that Michael offers, but I have to chuckle about the ways in which men love to “one up” each other!

Our Daily Bread

            Still recovering from the effects of a broken ankle that happened months ago, a friend at a local coffee shop recently asked me how I was doing.  The conversation went something like this:  “Hey, Mike, how’s your ankle coming around?”  Because it is such an old story about something not very serious at all, I responded somewhat flippantly, “It is what it is!”  (Incidentally, those five words can help you escape a lot of painful conversations)  “I know what you mean,” my friend responded, “I’m still recovering from knee replacement this past summer” at which point he digressed into the details. This was quickly followed by yet another person who was listening and volunteered, “I wish I only had a knee replacement.  Try heart bypass surgery sometime!”  I comfortably acceded to what I think are the rules of conversation in this regard, namely, the person with the worst malady gets to tell his story first knowing full well that there were one or more people in the restaurant who could tell stories that would make our own pale by comparison.

I am not suggesting this incident to complain about my slowly healing ankle.  No big deal!  Rather, it prompted me to think that whatever my own problems might be, I will bet you that there are probably people within only a few feet of me in that coffee shop, or next to me at Sunday Mass, or walking the same aisles at Pick ‘n Save who have even greater problems.   No matter how severe the problem and circumstances I might have, they would be dwarfed by the problems others are dealing with that have little or no prospect of getting better.  Yet our faith calls upon us to carry on and accept life’s burdens as “our daily bread.” 

Let me cite just one example.  Did you ever see that television commercial to support injured and crippled veterans where the disabled soldier who is also a father and husband was blinded and has to learn to walk again?  The commercial shows his little girl helping him and his talks about how their lives have been changed by war.  Every time I see it I realize how blessed I am because of people like him and I wonder how he and his family endure. 

For those following along in the Little Black Book during Lent, the entry on February 29, 2012, reminds us, “I am called to God to do something that no one else is given to do.  No matter what circumstances I may have been born into, I am to fulfill part of God’s plan.  The path to my happiness in this life and the next is to simply carry out what it is that God has given me to do.” 

***    “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.” ***

                                                                                                     Anonymous

Nice Piece from J. Michael Steinhardt Parishioner and Guest Blogger

 A few years ago I saw a piece on television about Indianapolis Colts’ Peyton Manning and his practice of sending hand-written personal letters to retiring NFL players.  It is something he  decided to do to acknowledge the contribution of others to the lifestyle he now enjoys.  The letters are sent to all players including those who played and have not played against him.  He handwrites every single letter because “he believes it says ‘it’s from my heart’.” 

A typical letter might include something like, “I admire you in the way you’ve handled yourself on and off the field. Best of luck in your post-NFL career.” 

Manning writes these letters to show his respect for his peers to express how he appreciated their accomplishment and their character and not simply their stats. He explains, “They played the right way, played when they were hurt, they put it all on the line.” In doing so he lets these retirees know there is another player – in this case one of the premier players in the league – out there that appreciated them and their efforts.

Manning’s acknowledgement with no ulterior motive can be powerful in many regards.  For example, in this era of modern technology, where phone messages, emails and tweets have replaced personal letters, there is nothing more affirming than the power of the handwritten word.  It is a personal, lasting, and nowadays a unique way to share ourselves with one another.    One person said, “Affirmations are like prescriptions for certain aspects of yourself you want to change.”  They are powerful for both the sender and the recipient.

Robert Kennedy said in this regard, “Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”  Don’t believe it?  Write a short affirming letter today to someone in your own life – a relative, friend, former teacher, your old boss – and see how good it feels and how welcome it will be received.

Guest Blogger – Susan McNeil

Looking at my calendar this morning, I realized fall is coming ever-too-quickly.  I love summertime, and eagerly await its arrival most of the rest of the year.  This year, it felt so late with all the cool weather we had this spring. 

One of my “growing edges” is that I find it difficult to live in the moment.  I spend a lot of my time and energy worrying about what happened yesterday (and the day before that) and planning for tomorrow.  Not that those things aren’t important (trust me, they are!), but I think sometimes I become so worried about yesterday and tomorrow that I miss the graces of the moment, the ways God is present to and speaking to me NOW.

I’ve been trying to be far more mindful of that this summer, and live in the present.  A local author and columnist for The Catholic Herald, Annemarie Scobey, wrote a great book that some of St. Dominic’s MOMS groups read a few years ago, Discovering Motherhood: An Extraordinary Journey Through Everyday Life.  In it, she had a wonderful line about looking at her young son and realizing he would never be as little as he is today.

That line stopped me short.  It was one of those times where I felt God speaking to me loud and clear, reminding me not to miss the Grace present in the moment.  You don’t have to be a mom or even a parent to appreciate the wisdom of her words.  Time passes so quickly, and God wants us to rejoice in all the gifts He gives us.

Summer is still slipping by too quickly.  Fall is still coming ever-so fast.  I’m still worried about things that happened last week, and getting ready for events that are coming and tasks that need to be completed.  But not too worried.  I’m watching my tomato plants, planted lovingly by my husband just for me, begin to pop.  I’m enjoying time watching Gavin and my boys and our two dogs race around our back yard.  I’m living in the “lasts” for my older son, Alex, as he begins his senior year of high school.  I’m crossing my fingers each time he drives off in his new-only-to-him car, yet rejoicing in his independence.  I’m seeing two-year-old Seth’s excitement about ants and balloons, puddles of water and balls.  He also has a new car (a Cozy Coupe).   It is a slice of heaven to rock my sleeping toddler, and the most beautiful word in the English language is “Mama.”  It is a joy to see what a wonderful young man Alex is becoming, how trustworthy, responsible and dependable he is.

Alex

 

 

I marvel at what a precious time this is in my life, but then remember that all of my time is precious, and a gift from God.  If I live too much in the past or the future, I miss the gift of today. 

Seth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 139: A Psalm of David

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.

For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

 

Susan McNeil is St. Dominic’s Pastoral Associate for Human Concerns and Family Ministry