Soon after we passed the little village of Wild Rice, ND, Father pointed out St. Benedict’s Catholic Boarding School and the adjacent church. I gasped as I saw the large gloomy, gray buildings surrounded by a high wire enclosure. My heart jumped to my throat at the thought of being fenced in this strange place. My disconcerted mind began to whirl with harsh images of doom and gloom. Then I had a revelation. I knew better than that! Through many summers I had enjoyed my classes with the...
As the years went on, my older brothers and sisters left home, one by one, to earn a living. Finally there were left only the five youngest. I was second youngest. Every summer from the age of ten, I earned a little money by hiring out to baby-sit or help some farm family. I helped cook, clean the house, wash the cream separator, feed the calves, weed the garden, iron clothes and do anything else I was asked to do. I stayed with the family during the week, earning a high wage of one dolla...
Long before my Awakening at the age of twelve, I had my first encounter with some strange people who came to teach us (Catholic children of our rural parish) the basics of what we were to believe as Christians. These creatures were called “Sisters.” My first encounter with them was scary. They surely didn’t look like any of my sisters, especially my sister, Lil, who took me to church to attend my first class with them. This interesting-looking being, dressed in the most peculiar clot...
No matter which side of the political fence you're on, you have here the criteria for voting in November :} George and Laura Bush and John and Therese Kerry are traveling by train to the Super Bowl. At the station, George and Laura each buy a ticket and watch as john and Therese buy just one ticket. "How are the two of you going to travel on only one ticket?" asks George W, astonished at what he is seeing. "Watch and learn," answers John. They all board the train. George a...
Ordinarily I do not try to influence any other person's vote. I am generally Democratic in my voting but not rigidly so. You bloggers out there, if you know more about what is written below, if this info that I received is bogus, if you more to add, please do. Following is a brief background on Mrs. John Kerry . She hates being called that, by the way: Maria Teresa Thiersten Simoes-Ferreira Heinz Kerry. Married Senator Kerry in 1995. She only took his name eighteen months ago a...
My mother taught her large family of ten offspring by her example more than by specific instructions. She may not have known all the finer points of what it meant to be a Christian, but she obviously looked beyond her own abilities to raise her family responsibly. I will always remember her as a woman of prayer. She was very conscious of God’s presence in her heart. To me she reflected calmness, a freedom, and a peace that came from her trust in God’s goodness. I can still remember the d...
In my daily experience I have found many occasions for tears and smiles caused by the unexpected circumstances that just pop up along my path. Encounters with my own weaknesses and strengths, coupled with those of others, still provide daily occasions for choosing just what my attitude for the moment will be. Will I enjoy this moment or will I choose to be grouchy, bitter, unforgiving, and resentful? All of those last reactions are toxic. They have the power to completely spoil my day. And...
What Makes Me Cry Greywar has an article (greywar.joeuser.com) about what songs bring tears to his eyes. He has asked those who read his blogs to tell which songs move them. If I had any such songs they would be from an era that most of his readers would not have ever heard. Actually, I rarely listen to modern songs. I love to listen to instrumental music when I am not busy with other things that interest me more. There are things that do make me cry. Here is a short list: v Peop...
Mother tried to teach me honesty as a child but sometimes those lessons were hard to take. One day when I was about five, I was in Rickford’s all-goods store. I saw a pair of pink anklets and I slipped them in my pocket. When I got home I showed them to Mom. She asked me who had given them to me. I told her, “Mrs. Goodheart”. She took me by the hand and said, “We need to thank her for such a nice gift.” We started to walk toward the Goodheart’s’ house. Before we got there, I gave up and t...
What a great day of entertainment I had yesterday. I spent the day working with other people involved in Habitat for Humanity. We didn’t get quite to the stage of “raising the roof,” but we sure had a lot of fun despite the cool, rain-threatening weather. After we had finished signing all kinds of waivers dealing with the legal questions, we squished our way, very cautiously, up the muddy, clay-slimy path to the beginning of a house that is destined to be occupied by a single mother with ...
The opposite of peace is disharmony in mind, body, soul, and spirit or in all four of these areas. We all know the feelings of unease that can plague us. These feelings can produce tremendous stress. Using a different prefix (“dis” instead of “un”), we formulate the word, dis-ease. As surveys show, millions of people all over the world are suffering from dis-ease. What we feel emotionally often becomes how we feel physically. To be sure, not all disease is caused by stress but doctors a...
Isn’t it frightening to see how people mistreat each other? It seems to be the rule that if a person makes a mistake, they are out. Is there no mercy anymore? Doesn’t every person need mercy everyday? I know that I do. I need mercy and not judgment. Every kind of relationship that we have is in serious trouble if there is no mercy. Adopting a merciful attitude toward mistakes can save every relationship that we cherish. We need to develop a long fuse instead of a short one that explodes a...
The Power of Focus can invigorate and transform us. Life can be very difficult with all the pressures of daily living that sometimes threaten to overwhelm us. Relationships that we have valued can disappoint us. Headlines in the daily news may dishearten us. Our expectations may never seem to be met. If we are not to become discouraged we have to focus on reality. One of those realities is that we must not depend on other people to provide our happiness. That is not their job. If we t...
We have the power of choice. The power of choice is what separates us from animals. We make hundreds of decisions each day. These choices range from the mundane to the sublime. They may be choices of friends, what we eat, how we dress, what we read, whether we cheat or act with integrity. All choices have bad or good results. Bad choices will lead to: regret, guilt, misery, and sorrow about not having lived up to our potential, about the hurts we have caused, or the help we have withheld...
Words can be sources of self-fulfilling prophecies about the kind of people we become. By that I mean, that if we label ourselves, either negatively or positively, that label can be the power that will drive us to develop into what we accept as factual. We tend to believe the labels that others deposit upon us as well as those we put upon ourselves. If we picture ourselves as nerds or party animals, leaders or followers, inept or competent, ignorant or erudite, incorrigible or redeemable...