Snail Mail

I wrote 90 letters this summer.  Many of them were "thank you" for things people did or are doing.  There are so many people I have not written yet, but 90 was a good start.  I planned it.  I would write a certain number of cards each day.  It meant I did not do something else.  It became a priority, something like writing a blog.  The last couple of weeks I wrote most of the teachers at our local grade school.  Some have no idea who I am outside of a priest in residence.  So what?  Spread a little joy.  Thank people for being here and doing their teaching ministry.  Maybe someone got a letter from me when they were having a bad day, and it lifted them up.  Maybe I am old fashioned, but I believe snail mail is more powerful than ever.  It helps me to work on my penmanship too.

Friends Are Dying

One of the things people my age share is that friends and relatives are dying.  For the bullet proof young, I suggest that you not put off getting in touch with good friends and relatives.  "I should call."  "We should get together."  "I wonder how so and so is doing?"  Why let the bucket list of significant people get so long?  It is sad when someone tells me that they regret not having contacted an old friend/relative, sooner, who has since passed away.  What a sadness to find out that someone you cared about died, and no one told you.  Regrets are difficult and burdensome things to carry around when your friends are dying around you.  Why wait until people are dead to say nice things about them, since you cannot say nice things to them, their being dead and all.

The Poor

A fellow who is poor, jobless and uneducated, by his own admission, told me recently that he laughs every time he hears some do gooder say that the poor need good education and good jobs.  He said that he was never interested in either.  The image he used is vitamins.  He said that he was told early on that he needed to eat vitamins and not junk food.  He did not like vitamins.  He preferred junk food.  He now gets along with government aide, begging, and church aide.  He has his smoke and drink, and it is enough.  He does not see himself as a "have not" guy.  We who have education, jobs, and such, think that everyone would want this, but just were not given the resources or the chance.  They were "deprived."  Though this is certainly so, it is not universal.

Bail Money

A nun helps people get bail to get out of jail.  She lends them money from a fund that was started years ago.  The fund is not yet empty.  You call her direct to voicemail and leave a message.  She goes and interviews each person in jail to see if she thinks they are a good risk.  She has been doing this for years.  Anyone in the hierarchy doing this?  I don't know that the Holy Spirit is going to let a Vatican commission corral the USA Women Religious.  But what do I know.

Willpower

Strong-willed is not the same as self-willed.  There can be people who have a strong will to overcome obstacles in order to do what they think is just, to fulfill potential, or a calling.  I have met women who are strong-willed.  They are not going to let institutions, society or groups give them some second class status.  Their motives are to make the world, their environment, those around them better by their efforts.  This is not self-implosion.  It is not all about them.  On the other hand, I have met people who are what I call self-willed, and it has run riot over everyone and everything to get what these people want for themselves.  No one is better for their efforts.  It is all about themselves with the oder of selfishness.  So, what will power is working your life today?  So far, I am being good, but the day is only half over.

Church Renewal

I read about a group of "experts" in parish renewal who came together in a conference to talk about what was wrong with parishes, and why people were leaving or not attending much.  The focus was on the laity.  People needed to be on fire for Christ and then the parish would build.  Well, I have another take on this.  I meet few people who said they got malaise or dropped out because no one was on fire for Christ.  They left because the preacher was ill-informed, uneducated, insulting, boring, prejudicial toward women among other groups, and so on.  Maybe we need a conference for the preachers, but once the the poorly formed ones get out of the seminary, they think they know it all.  I was a bit like that once.  I probably drove a few out, but fortunately, those ladies in Houston, Texas did a nice job of kicking my butt gently.  They were my priestly formation.  Boulder, San Francisco, Knoxville built on it.  I might be slow to listen or change, somewhat willful to say the least, but graced people kept coming into my life to save me from myself.  I am still on a slow learning curve.  I might not burn.

People Are Funny

I went to a meeting on a topic I thought would be interesting.  It was in a big room that swallowed up the 21 people there.  I found myself thinking that this topic must not be so interesting because "no one" is here.  Then I recalled that I had been in another town at another meeting that I thought would have an interesting topic.  It was held in a small room.  It was packed!  There were 21 people or thereabouts.  I thought the packed meeting very interesting.  People are funny.
     When I go to my exercise club, I try to park as close to the entrance as I can so I don't have to walk so far.  Then I get on a treadmill for exercise, or an elliptical machine.  Why do I not just park far away at the end of the parking lot and walk the length of the lot for exercise?  People are funny.
     A fellow told me that he was going to a group therapy meeting that was free, but the gasoline was costing him about $30/week going back and forth.  I asked him if he was making friends at the meeting.  He said yes.  I asked him if he felt better from these meetings.  He said yes, but was thinking of stoping because of the drive.  I asked him, if I told him about a therapist nearby who would make him feel better, would he be interested?  He said sure.  I told him it would cost $60 a week.  He thought that was a good deal for a therapist that would help him.  And he would not make any friends in the therapist's office.  People are funny.