What Have You Gotten Used To?

 There are many things in our lives that we tend to take for granted.  We have gotten so used to these things that we don’t realize just how fortunate we are to have them or have access to them.  Before the Pandemic (BP?), there were many things, I’m sure, which we discovered we had taken for granted when they were no longer as easily accessible.

Think how easy it was Before Pandemic to get your weekly groceries.  Think how automatic it was.  Now, there are many extra considerations involved with just going to the store.  Can we afford a certain item this week?  Do we really need it now after all, or is it something that can wait?  Think how automatic it might have been to send the kids to school each day.  Now, it could be a mess of deciding who needs the family computer the most at any given time for home-based learning, or it could be an added item to the checklist to make sure that everyone has the required mask among their other materials for school.

Life has changed.  Things we took for granted are no longer certainties.  Things we thought would always be there just aren’t anymore.  Even seemingly mundane tasks are no longer quite so simple.  How are we reacting?  And who, in our immediate circles, is watching how we react?  We can be certain that the ever-present and all-knowing God is watching us.  And yes, He knows why we are reacting the way we are.  He knows what our choices will be before we make them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t our choices to make still. He knows our thoughts and motivations.  It can become easy to take even God for granted. 

How can you strive to keep God a welcome presence in your life?  How can you make your relationship with Him stronger and more intentional?

Hearing God in the Silences

 As I originally wrote this blog on Thursday of this past week, I could hear my neighbor’s generators humming in the background.  This week sure threw us a curveball with the Great 2020 Windstorm (as I have been calling it) affecting the Wasatch Front.  I was very fortunate to have power myself, but across the street, they were still in the dark up until yesterday (Friday) afternoon, if not for a generator providing some small amount of electricity.

It’s amazing how much we as a society have come to rely on electricity, especially in recent decades with the advent of the World Wide Web and almost ever-present technology in our lives.  I can sympathize with our neighbor kids who couldn’t participate in online learning or anything else online due to a lack of electricity and internet connection for the past few days.  Our own Vaughan Center was still “in the dark” as of Thursday.

Such natural disasters are often classified as “acts of God,” sometimes even for insurance purposes.  Let’s examine that terminology and thinking a little closer.  Yes, God can act in grand and sometimes even destructive ways.  We see this in the symbolism of Genesis when God the Father sent the Flood over the entire earth, when He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and when He scattered the people and confused their language at Babel.  But there are also times in the Old Testament when God acts in a much more subtle way.  We read in 1 Kings 19:11-12, that God was not in the great rushing wind, but rather in a still small voice, or according to the NABRE translation, “a light silent sound.”

Often, we are tempted to look for God in the grand gestures.  We ask Him for a sign.  How often do we take time to be still and listen for God in the silences?  He is always at work.  We just have to put in some effort to see it sometimes.

Where Two or Three are Gathered

 I read a reflection for this coming Sunday’s Gospel reading earlier this week which indicated that the familiar passage, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them,” (Matthew 18:20) might be taken as alarming due to our current situation.  How are we to know that those two or three are doing everything they can to limit the spread of the virus?

Personally, I see this as a hopeful passage for this moment in human history.  Even though we are not able to gather in larger groups safely, God is still with us.  He is always with us.  Further, if we entrust our prayers to God, we can be sure that He listens to them, whether or not we get the answer that we want, and whether we do so as individuals or as a community.  Of course, having a community behind you can’t do any harm.

This is an excellent moment for us to consider how we are reacting to our current situation.  Are we being prudent and cautious?  Are we being alarmist and potentially over-reacting?  Are we being reckless and careless toward those we might interact with on a regular basis?  Take some time for reflection, and try to discern how you can strike a balance between caution and practicality.

Above all, put your trust in God.  He will never abandon you, no matter how isolated you may feel.

Trust the Process

 We all have our own way of doing things.  When that way comes into conflict with someone else’s, it can lead to tension.  Sometimes, the other way is actually more efficient than our way and it leads to good changes in our own processes.  Other times, a different way just doesn’t work for us.  That’s okay.  We can respectfully move on with our lives, being grateful for the exposure to a different method, but leaving it for the other person to take advantage of.

The problem is, that is not what we as humans are inclined to do.  We may want to rebel.  We may want to change everyone else, to bring them around to our way of doing things because our way is obviously better (in our minds, at least).

This can lead to difficulties when we come up against a process that doesn’t work for us, but is the required way of completing a task.  When this happens, it helps to stop and try to understand why this way doesn’t work for us.  What can we learn about the way it must be done that might make it easier for us?  What might we need to change about ourselves in order to make it easier?

Rigidity can turn into a very bad thing if it is not maintained for good reason.

Often, you might hear the phrase “Trust the process” in regard to behavioral changes that are meant to better ourselves.  The same can be said for much more mundane processes, such as planning for an event and facing hurdles along the way.  What are we meant to learn from this struggle?  Is it something about ourselves?  Is it something about the process itself?  Is it meant to be a larger life lesson for us?

If you find yourself struggling to adapt as we enter the beginnings of our “new normal,” think about these things.  Take your struggles and feelings of uncertainty to God.  He is always present in our church buildings in the Eucharist, and He is always with us, even when it might feel as if He has abandoned us.  Never lose hope and faith in Him.

Everything I Really Need to Know, I Learned from...

 It has been a running joke in my family that we “kids” (adults now, but we’ll always be the “kids” to our parents) can quote just about any Disney movie from our formative years at length.  This includes a LOT of Winnie the Pooh.  My dad is known to lament our lack of knowledge of “the greats” like Shakespeare, in such depth…  To which I respond:  “Life’s but a walking shadow – a poor player who struts and frets his hour on the stage and then is heard no more” (“Macbeth”, Act 5 Scene 5).  In other words:  Life is short.  Let us get our enjoyment where we can!

Give us a lead in, and we’ll give you a quote. My sister-in-law is a self-proclaimed Disney addict, so now, it’s even more true.  Disney has a life lesson for just about every situation.  It’s true, some of the older Disney animated classics are “problematic” when viewed through the lens of our modern world, but that doesn’t mean the life lessons and core values are any less meaningful.

Some examples:

Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio – “Let your conscience be your guide.”

Dumbo – Be accepting of those who are different from you.

Thumper from Bambi – “If you can’t say somethin’ nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.”

Cinderella – “I know it isn’t easy, but we should all at least try to get along with one other.”

Alice in Wonderland – “‘Be patient,’ is very good advice, but the waiting makes me curious.”

Peter Pan – “Sooner or later … people have to grow up.”

Sleeping Beauty – Perseverance in the face of adversity and evil.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians – Taking charge of a situation. – “The humans have tried everything, now it’s up to us dogs.”

The Aristocats – Not judging based solely on first appearances

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – Acceptance of people as they are (Rabbit accepting Tigger for who he is) and the importance of loyalty

Beauty and the Beast – Looking beyond someone’s outward appearance to the person they are inside

Pocahontas – Respect for nature and respect for other cultures

The Emperor’s New Groove – Respecting others and not being full of oneself.

Ratatouille – following your dreams – You can be anything you set your mind to being.

There are, of course, many, many more.  What are some of your favorite life lessons and Disney quotes?

Constant Vigilance is Unrealistic for Us but NOT for God

You know why everyone pretty much ignored Mad-Eye Moody (or really Barty Crouch Jr., who was pretending to be Mad-Eye Moody) in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?  Probably because he was always harping on about constant vigilance, and people were tired.  People were tired of having to keep their guard up all the time.  They had lived through eleven years of Voldemort, followed by thirteen years of relative calm and they thought the worst was over.  Not Moody!  He knew what would happen when and if he relaxed, and it did.

Constantly being on alert is tiring.  We are tempted to give up when things get difficult or drag on for weeks or months on end.  We are merely human after all.  But that is not how God works.  God can maintain constant vigilance because He is a divine being.  He does not suffer the same “weaknesses” of humanity.  That is why we can and should always place our trust in Him.

Fr. Erik mentioned in his homily this past weekend that if God ever stopped caring for us, we would simply cease to exist.  This same theme comes up in our Gospel reading for this coming Sunday.  Peter goes to Jesus across the water of the Sea of Galilee and when he starts to doubt, he begins to sink.  But Jesus is there to lift him up again and help him back on the path of following him.

When our vigilance wavers, God is always there waiting for us to return to Him.  In what ways have you lost your path, and how can you ask for help to return to God?

Affirmations for Making it Through Your Day

I get it.  There are some days when it’s just hard to keep going.  These kinds of days may have become more frequent since we have been dealing with COVID-19 restrictions and restructuring of work and school routines, not to mention simple, everyday routines like going to the grocery store or taking a walk.  Something that might help in dealing with the stress of facing yet more weeks of the ominous “unknown” might be coming up with an affirmation to repeat to yourself throughout the day.

One that I am particularly fond of, which I have as my laptop wallpaper is a saying popularized by John and Hank Green of YouTube fame.  Just some of their channels include vlogbrothers, scishow, and crashcourse if you want to check them out.  They remind each other, as well as their YouTube audience, “Don’t forget to be awesome” or “DFTBA” for short.  I like this one because it is an invitation to evaluate my own behavior.  It is a chance for me to think about the consequences of my actions, in the immediate sense as well as in the near and distant future.  Also, it ties into a pop-culture trend I was a fan of in my college years.

Another affirmation I am reminded of recently is one of my grandmother’s sayings.  “Don’t be that helpless.”  Take control of your situation as much as you can.  Don’t just be a spectator in life.  I shared this affirmation with a group of music teachers who invited my mom and me to be a part of their Katinka Day, in honor of my grandmother being the founder of their organization chapter.

An affirmation we get from a saint is St. Julian of Norwich’s “All will be well.  All manner of things will be well.”  It never hurts to have a hopeful outlook on life, even when the situation seems dire.  It’s a good reminder that things won’t be terrible and awful forever.

And of course, there is the classic, “Keep Calm and Carry On,” which speaks for itself.

What affirmations do you use or might you use to help you get through rough days?