Showing posts with label life-style blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life-style blog. Show all posts

September 18, 2010

A Saint Is Made

"Out of shadows and images into the truth" --Cardinal John Newman

Abba Father
by Landry and Talbot

Abba, Abba, Father.
You are the potter; we are the clay,
the work of your hands.

Mold us, mold us and fashion us
into the image of Jesus, your Son,
of Jesus, your Son.

Father, may we be One in you.
May we be One in you as he is in you,
and you are in him.

Glory, glory and praise to you.
Glory and praise to you forever, amen,
forever, amen.


While much is made of the beatification of Cardinal John Newman and the religious fore-history of England, there is little to note except that he led a life that some would consider replete with many, many fits and starts. He was not always Catholic, he did not have an ideal family background; some of his siblings were Deists, or non-believers; his personal life,  his deepest feelings and most private thoughts were beyond the norms of his society.

Yet he found his way to the Church, to the Christ and to the pure unity it offered to him. So this Sunday, the Sunday when a Pope, thought to be ultimately conservative, honors this man, recognizes his whole, loving oneness with the Lord, it will be a reminder and a vindication that all who believe are saved, that grace and redemption are real. There is salvation in faith.

While some may gossip about the man's private life; some such as a National Public Radio(NPR)broadcast may wish to titillate with certain details, others will know most clearly that a National Public Radio station is clearly no expert on Church affairs, nor is it even on the mark when explaining dogma to the masses. The beatification of Cardinal John Newman demonstrates their slander for what it is--gossip without foundation, as all gossip necessarily is.

Rejoice and be glad, for the way
of the Christ is before us. He, the Bible teaches, did not distinguish one of God's children from another;he loved them all. Peace be with you. Amen.

August 28, 2010

Living in Time

Time
by Hooty and the Blowfish
Listen Here

Time, why you punish me?
Like a wave crashing into the shore
You wash away my dreams
Time, why you walk away?
Like a friend with somewhere to go
You left me crying

And you'll teach me 'about tomorrow
And all the pain and sorrow running free?
Cause tomorrow's just another day
And I don't believe in time...

Time, Can you teach me 'about tomorrow
With all the pain and sorrow running free?
And tomorrow's just another day
And I don't believe in...

Time is wasted, time walking
Time, time
You ain't no friend of mine
I don't know where I'm going
I think I'm out of my mind
Thinking about time

And if I die tomorrow, yeah
Then lay me down to sleep

Time, you left me standing there
Like a tree growing all alone
The wind just stripped me bare
Stripped me bare
Time, the past has come and gone, gone
The future's far away
An hour only lasts for one second, one second

Time without courage, time without fear
Is just wasted, wasted, wasted time...

The lyrics to these songs are surprisingly similar; both deal with the concept of time. We learn in our lives that time is "relative." When bored, it seems interminable; when fully engaged, time is fleeing. We are surprised at how the time passes.

The bible tells us there is a season and a time "for everything under the sun." If so then, time is more about the seasons, and the rising and setting of the sun than a minute by minute construct. Taken in this way, with a longer, wider view, we may see more wholly the days pass. Are we to dissolve into our lives and grow into ourselves, the self that we are meant to become? Time then is no punishment. It's just time. How will we live within it? What will we say at its end, when the events of life overtake at last?