Indifference

 I might be in a room with a group of people and I hear someone, maybe a stranger to me, talk about their present misery, their deflated life.  I think, “Boy I am glad that is not me anymore.”  Or, “This is a good reminder for me to keep doing whatever practice I have to avoid misery.”  OK.  I was helped by listening.  After the meeting, I have a choice:  go up to the person, or leave, or talk to buddies.  Indifference is a big loadstone in the way of growing up.  Pope Francis says it is the world’s biggest problem.  So I go up to that person and introduce myself and try to say something helpful.  Even if I feel helpless to that person, I have avoided my indifference.  

Your Gods

 Someone says, “I don’t believe in God!”  They might not believe in the religion God, but they may still have their gods.  Like what?  How about the god of fear, anxiety, money, self-esteem, and selfishness.  Anything that controls your life, or to which you pay daily attention, and is ruining your spiritual growth, becomes your god or gods.  I ask myself when I get up in the morning, “Who do I or will I worship today?”  My early morning actions and decisions then tell me who or what I worship.  If I get off kilter a little, getting together with fellow spiritual travelers during the day, gets me back on track.  

Strangers

 When you walk into a new group or new worship community, everyone is a stranger.  It is like a new job.  You might say, “I will never get to know all these people, their names and stories.”  A way that I look at it is to say to myself, “These are friends I simply have not yet met.”  People like home parishes, home groups, anything with home in it because it is the familiar.  We feel part of.  OK. So then what about the “stranger” who comes into your “home” whatever?  How do you respond?  This new person is not a stranger, but a friend you have never met.  Get out of your comfort zone.  Get out of yourself.  Oh, and Happy April Fool’s Day!