Living in a tilted land

My husband and I spent the past few days in Lancaster, PA with my sister enjoying all the pleasures of the Amish countryside and each other’s company. As I sat drinking my morning coffee I noticed a tilted picture on the wall in the breakfast room. It wasn’t very tilted but I’m a little OCD when it comes to things being straight and balanced. It got me thinking about how out of balance life is these days on planet earth. 

Do you ever feel like you are walking on a tilted plane? Every step is a challenge with the likelihood of falling. If you sit down on a tilted bench, you feel like you are falling off. Eating is a challenge because all the dishes want to slide off the table. What would it be like to never have a moment's rest, but to always need to be vigilant so we don't fall, including falling out of bed.

The Mental Health Trap

Do you think everyone needs counseling? Some people do -- especially counselors. After all, that's their bread and butter. So it's refreshing to see a professional psychiatrist, Dr. Roger McFillin, say this:

Why Focusing on Your "Mental Health" Is Harmful

Why I Will Never Go "No Contact"

I recently read a shocking statistic. Thirty-eight percent of Americans went "no-contact" with a friend or family member in the past year. That's about one in four individuals. And many remain estranged indefinitely. That's a pretty significant number of people cutting ties with family and friends. 

Why is this happening? Lots of reasons, but I found this particularly sad:

What’s worth noting here is that avoidance has become the default response to relationship friction. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (73 percent) said they feel inclined to distance themselves from a friend or loved one during difficult moments, rather than communicate openly to solve the problem. [source]

Do the Bishops Understand Islam? Will they ever learn?

I wrote the article below on Islam back in 2016. Here we are a decade later and what is our relationship with Islam today? Places in the United States (as well as many other Western nations) have no-go zones and rule by Sharia Law. Violence against non-Muslims is on the rise especially in the Middle East and Africa. The recent fraud in Minnesota robbing the state of billions of dollars was primarily the work of Muslims from Somalia. Not only that, but some of that money went to fund the Somali terror group al-Shabob [source]. 

And So the Easter Season Ends

The Easter season ended with the feast of Pentecost last Sunday. Looking back we see how the Passion began -- with the betrayal of Judas with a kiss. We have spent Lent and Eastertide thinking about Jesus, offering prayers and sacrifices and giving alms. Then we spent 50 days rejoicing at our salvation proved by Christ rising from the dead.

Will we now return to "ordinary time" by once again betraying Him? Have we changed at all in the 40 days of Lent and the 50 days of Easter?
The author of the excerpt below is Fr. Frederick William Faber, a convert from Anglicanism to Catholicism and a follower of John Henry Newman. What zeal he had for the "Faith of Our Fathers," which he articulated when he wrote the well-known hymn. Think of how many in the Church overlook and coddle heresy today. How many Judases betray Christ with a kiss. Read Fr. Faber's meditation and weep. Let us take it to heart and pray for a Catholic awakening, especially among the clergy!

Are You Listening?

Some days I feel like a bobble head doll just shaking my head over the insanity in the Church. What's the latest? Listening centers instead of confessionals for the pope's Corpus Christi trip to Spain. Truth these days is stranger than fiction.

Sunday Meditation: Roadmap for a Happy Life

It seems to me that we all make life too darn complicated. In many ways we get lost in the weeds. And yet, the prescription for a happy life is really very simple. The Baltimore Catechism set it down in question #6:

6. Q. Why did God make you?
A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.

How Attached Am I to the World?

Life is filled with uncertainties. But we can all be certain of one thing. We will leave this world with no attachments. No one can take anything on the final journey. And yet, don't we all cling to earthly things with a death grip? Strange expression, eh, since death will tear everything from our hands? I often think of Gulliver tied down by the Lilliputians with a million little threads. Isn't that what we are like with all our petty desires and concerns that occupy our thoughts and attention.

Are You Steady?

This morning during my prayer time I noticed how steady the candle flame was, burning straight and quietly. Maybe I noticed because the other day I had a candle so flickering and fluttering I had to blow it out. I was beginning to feel dizzy and ill even if I didn't look at it directly.

I'm fascinated by words and as I thought about the steadiness of the candle flame I wondered where the word came from and about it's meaning. I got this from an etymology site:

steady(adj.)

1520s, "firmly fixed in place or station" (displacing earlier steadfast, which came to be used of persons and characters), from stead + adjectival suffix -y (2), perhaps on model of Middle Dutch, Middle Low German stadig.

Silence: wound or healing?

Often when I'm reading, I come across a sentence or phrase that stops me short. What does that mean? How can I process the idea? If it were a signpost on the road, how would it direct me on my journey?