Drop The Ball

 There is the phrase, “Dropping the ball.”  It means you did not get something done and the day is not a winner.  It comes from football and baseball, though different sports.  If you throw the ball and your teammate catches it then good things can happen.  If they do not catch the ball, lots of chaos can result.  The spiritual life is like that.  I wake up and God throws me the ball of opportunity to pray, do good for self and others, exercise and so on.  But I have to catch the ball of opportunity.  A wasted day is most often when I dropped the ball, rather than nothing was thrown my way.  

Newcomer

 When people come into a group setting, communal group of some sort and say they are “returning,” they are sometimes judged and treated by that judgment.  “Oh yeah.  They are coming back again and they will just revolve out again.”  We judged them not worthy of our attention and time, as if such was so valuable to us.  But the “Newcomer” is treated much better.  They are new, so no judgement, even if they have been there before.  “New” seems to get more effort on our part than the “returner.”  So I like how recovery programs do it.  They don’t have returners.  They have newcomers and treat them as very special.  No matter how often the person comes and goes, they are always “Newcomers.”  

The System

 When it comes to some things, certain groups want no change and others are very open.  The reason?  What is at stake.  If it were economics, life-style, the rich are set up in the system.  It works for them.  Any change is seen as loss.  The poor on the other hand seem to be more open to economic change because they have far less to lose as they see it.  In my personal life, I ask how much I have to lose if things change around me.  It becomes all about me.  There is little empathy for someone who might benefit from my loss.  In groups, the newcomer has the least amount of power to make a change.  I try to keep this all in mind when change suggestions come up.  

Missing Day

 I just realized that I never wrote a blog for October 10!  What happened?  Well, a wedding happened that day.  I was out of town surrounded by young enthusiastic, energetic young people and parents.  For an introvert like me that takes a lot of energy.  Plus, I was out of my normal eat and sleep patterns.  And did those young people like to party.  It was a beautiful wedding with a loving bride and groom.  Apparently I did not bore people too much with the homily and the wedding was well received.  So I did not get in the way.  It was all out of town in St. Helena, Napa County wine country.  The bride is the first granddaughter of my high school/college friend.  As an introvert I was way above my pay scale in talking to so many people.  And you got no blog.  Nor did I get much sleep.  

Justice

 Sometimes justice is not always the best way to go.  If people are working for a daily wage the just thing is to pay more to the one who worked more that day.  But maybe not.  Sometimes goodness is better than justice.  Maybe those who worked a short time was not their fault.  They are day laborers and got hired late in the day.  If you pay them justly, they get the least amount of wage at the end of the day.  But is the “least” enough to feed family, take care of that day’s needs?  If you put yourself in their place you might opt for goodness instead of justice.  The full day worker will balk, because they are about justice.  They do not have empathy for the last hired.  I try to put myself into another person’s place before I make some decisions.  

Yeast

 A thought, suggestion, notion can be dealt with a little like yeast.  Yeast has no particular power to make little things bigger until it has some moisture added to it.  When you give a suggestion, notion, thought time and attention it is like adding the moisture to the yeast.  If the thought is bad for you then don’t give it any time.  Get onto something else or ignore it if you can.  For those who tend to live fear based lives, that fear is just waiting to grow bigger for your destruction.  

The Mind

If you want to live a more spiritual and sober life you go beyond right action.  You must add right thinking.  Yes, it begins with doing the right thing.  Because then you can notice what you are thinking or feeling.  Outsides reveal insides only to you.  Others see only the action and might praise you.  Ego loves this.  But what if you did the right thing with resentment, or self-pity, or fear, to name a few things to work on.  What to do?  Tell another person who might be able to give you some wisdom. And pray with humility.  If the ego runs your life, you are on a slippery slope.