'at the T junction, turn left'

Asking for help. It is hard to do, and sometimes is uncomfortable. It is humbling to say ‘I don’t know how,’ or ‘what should I do?’ ‘I don’t know where to go’ or ‘when?’ It shows that we were unprepared, or not smart enough, or inexperienced. But asking for help is something that everyone needs to do.

If you are lost, you go to a map. The alternative is to wander around unsure and guess which street, highway, intersection is right. The uncertainty is stressful, but the pride of ‘knowing’ is sometime too strong. So you end up drifting from landmark to landmark. You outwardly show that you have no doubt that this time, this turn, this way is right, when in reality, you are trying to convince yourself. Perhaps the more confident you appear and act, the more right the way you take will be. But that isn’t the case.

Our spiritual life is often compared to a journey. But this journey isn’t one that is lead by way of GPS that tells us exactly to ‘turn right in half a mile.’ Life isn’t robotic. It is fluid, it is full of movement, it breaths, and changes, has re-routs and construction zones. It is different for everyone. But one thing that is true for each of us is that it is turbulent to travel alone.

We don’t know what will go on in our lives. And when life happens, we often sit in confusion, unsure, looking around. Where do we go from here, is it left? Or was it right? I thought I knew, but now I’m not sure.

The solution, ask for help. But while advice from parents, from peers, from spiritual directors, from friends is always helpful, we often forget to ask the one who should be the complete director of our lives – the Lord.

God wants us to do what is right, because what is right leads us to true joy and fulfillment. But He gave us the gift of freewill, and does not overstep His bounds. When we have questions, are lost, or unsure God, from the deepest recesses of His heart, desires to quench our anxiety, to help us. But He will not enter the heart that does not invite Him.

We need to allow Him permission to work in our souls. We need to dive into His guidance, humbly asking Him the way our lives should go. Through the Spirit, we learn the way we should walk. The Spirit lovingly opens our eyes to the path that is made clear. But we need to take the first step and humbly, prayerfully ask for that help. The Father, out of love and respect helps those who ask. We need to recognize out inability to travel alone, and ask for the guidance of the Spirit to enter our souls and move our hearts to do the Father’s will and ultimately to fulfilling joy which He calls us to.

Clever

I am not a clever person mostly, but what I lack in wit I make up in enthusiasm and ability to laugh at myself.

I admire the cunning comedian over the stupid humor or bathroom jokester.
But, in my opinion, the following picture tops a lot of what I have seen and also what I have heard.
...

I'm not the biggest fan of tattoos, but this one, I approve of.
I have no idea if the stub was a result of a shark attack survival, but I tell myself if was and revel in the irony.

10 points for being clever. You've made people laugh who you will never meet :)

Meaning

Too many people walk through life numb to what is happening both around them and even with in their own lives.

To combat the societal anesthetic of worldliness, relative thought, and apathy we need to ask, constantly ask ourselves this question:

As you live and act, what does your life mean, and what are you living for?

To be truly alive, there must be answers to this question, and acts that reinforce the answers.

Sense of Style

It is a statement, a necessity, a style and an identity. Without them, we are deemed improper. We have been told since the beginning of our lives to be covered, to be clothed. It is usually the first thing we do in the day. We dress, protecting our vulnerability and to avoid the shame of nakedness that was a gift from our first father and mother, Adam and Eve. But two thousand years ago a new style came into the world. One that is more powerful and meaningful than the skinny jeans that are worn by the tweens at the mall. More radical than the poodle-skirted fifties and disco-panted seventies. Well, at least it is supposed to be more powerful and meaningful, more radical. But we often forget to put that outfit on.

Jeans, Tshirts, shoes, blouses, socks, sweatshirts, button downs, even scarves. Some clothes are necessary – no shirt, no shoes means no service. Others are decoration or outfit completers, the perfect accessory, hat, or tie. But each has a purpose. Clothes cover us, offers us protection, it is a practical arrangement society has made. Clothes also are used as identifiers. Plaid skirts from the private high school, embroidered company polos, and other styles that change from continent to continent, from region to region, even from town to town, all of these are used by the public to distinguish who the person is, what they are about, where they are going. The silent communication of clothes is present and affects us, perhaps more than it should. We won’t forget the brand named sunglasses, the perfect shoes, or new jeans when we dress in the morning. But what about the style that should be the hurricane force in our lives?

Patience, joy, wisdom, generosity, purity, fidelity, mercy, even kindness. Virtues, for each individual, some are harder to wear than others, but that is what the body of Christ completes. We are covered by the invisible grace of Christ; we wear the grace in our actions. They will know we are Christian by our love, by our work, by our interactions, by what we wear. But we are called to wear something more than a Jesus shirt. Each person has their own style, their own gifts, the patience of a button down, the wisdom of a raincoat, the fidelity of your favorite shoes. Our love for God should fit in our lives as easily and comfortably as our favorite pair of jeans. It should be something that we turn to, that we are recognized by. Our style of Christ may be unique to our talents, but it should never be unnoticed.

Clothes are the outermost part of our identity. We are clothed with Christ. But, he is not simply the over coat that covers our live and keeps us warm. Instead, the cloth of Christ comes from the innermost part of our identity. Each week at Holy Mass we invite the creator of our souls into what He created. It is from there that we are given our new clothes and sense of style. We can choose to be transformed, and in a way that is much more permanently than Extreme Makeover. The deep transformation, and healing, and growth of the soul is so strong that it must pervade throughout the body, the mind, the actions.

We are forever clothed in Christ, but still must choose the outfit. It should be the first thing we do each day, cloth ourselves in Christ, and put on virtue, growing, and showing His love.

All I's on Me

So, as I am still in the process of setting up my living space for the great summer of growing up and being away from home, I have no internet. In order to still be able to “post” in this dark internet-less times, I’ve resorted to typing in word and saving the document. Literally 3 minutes ago I finished a post I plan to call “knowing yourself.” (still has to be proofread one more time)


I understand the subject of that particular post is my thought process and me in general, which causes some leeway, but the post itself still proves the egoistical nature of blogs (perhaps especially mine). Going back over the document I found the word “I” was used 53 times. Fifty-three! And that was not counting the me’s or we’s or other times when I was the subject. Things like this are examples of what is wrong with society. It’s selfish and inward looking.


Blogs are a forum where people can post their own opinion, a place where they can write up whatever they want and present it for the world to see. And while it is a good exercise to keep writing, and a good place to somewhat “publish” things, is it completely and inherently egotistical? Is a blog simply a way of promoting the self? Of telling the world “hey! You should listen to me and what I think!”


It might be.


Is it ironic that my blog is called “humble?” Probably.


I’ve always had this little nugget of thought that blogs are egotistical. Kind of like, but not as bad as, the just barely famous people who feel compelled to hire an author to write their biography. (Since obviously the general public desperately wants to know the every life detail and thought of the minute in the limelight celebrities.)


Is a blog like that?


I’ll let my readers (all… 4 maybe? of you) decided.
Comments wanted on this one.

Birds of a Feather

Hello! Sorry for the delay of posts (for the less than 5 people who read this blog) it's been a busy week. Know that there are a few (between 2 or 3) posts that are in the brain-marinating/composition phases. I hope to have those posted by next week-ish. But don't hold me to it!

I am still going though some old reflections/random thing's I've written over the past years that I have saved on my computer. The following post is one of those, it was written last July when I had my internship down by Detroit. Such a good summer, I learn so much not only about working production, but just about life in general. I owe a lot of how I think now to what my old boss taught me.

Anyway, here is my old random thought - revised and edited a bit, but the meat of it is still from the original. Enjoy!

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Does surrounding yourself with holy people make you holy? No, but it is a start. When you surround yourself with holy people, you will inevitably begin to think holy thoughts (which are the best kinds of thought). Perhaps this is why I choose my friends the way I do. (So if you are a good friend of mine… consider this a complement)

I KNOW that heaven is my goal. And I KNOW that the only way I can achieve heaven in through God’s sanctifying grace and by acting in a way that brings about the kingdom of God here on Earth (although I’m not holding my breath for that reality in my life time).

When I surround myself with holy people, my mind concentrates on things that are Holy and of God. They concentrate on things that they should be concentrating on leaving no space for the devil’s foxy tricks.

Does it mean that I don’t make friends with every person, or that I distance myself from some people based on the values they hold?

Perhaps.*

To most people in the hyper-complaisant culture, the way I act is in complete aversion to the first and foremost commandment of our time: Thou shalt be tolerant of other's beliefs.

But the thing is there are some people who I don’t surround myself with because they are not good – good as in righteous. It is not that you must “earn” my friendship. There are no try outs. But it is in fact true that my friends are not going to be people whose susceptibility to the evil one is greater than their trust in God.

*note: this does not mean that I am disrespectful towards another person. I could very well completely disagree with and logically disprove certain values or beliefs they hold, but attacks on the person are things that I do not condone.*

Bottom line. Salvation and eternal life in the presence of the beatific vision is attainable. And nothing in this world is going to stop me from trying my hardest to attain it. That may be a bit of a selfish thought, and maybe I’ll blog on that bit later on. But in the end, I know what I want in life and God has revealed to me, thought His Word and His Church, how to attain it. God help me if I don’t do everything I can to follow through, even if the decision is hard.

Besides, far be it from me to disagree with the saying “Birds of a feather flock together.”