Weave and Sew Dust

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I needed a coffee break from my weaving and sewing and I am glad for your company and conversation. Thanks for taking the time to read and share my postings.

Beloved, Let Us Love One Another JBB

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God --1 John 4:7

Beloved. Such a beautiful word. Do you think of yourself as beloved? I could spend the whole day contemplating this word; how it feels interiorly to know I am loved; how I respond to being loved. Pope Benedict XVI considered this relationship of love so important that he wrote his first encyclical about it. Written in 2005, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) explores in fullness God’s Love and our response. Here are some of his thoughts on our response:

“Following the example given in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Christian charity is first of all the simple response to immediate needs and specific situations: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for and healing the sick, visiting those in prison, etc. . . We are dealing with human beings, and human beings always need something more than technically proper care. They need humanity. They need heartfelt concern. . . As a result, love of neighbor will no longer be a commandment imposed, so to speak, from without, but a consequence deriving from faith, a faith which becomes active through love (cf. Gal 5:6).” Part II 31a

“[The Church] cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper. A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply.” Part II 28a

“Love is the light—and in the end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working. Love is possible, and we are able to practice it because we are created in the image of God. To experience love and in this way to cause the light of God to enter into the world—this is the invitation I would like to extend with the present Encyclical.” Part II 39 http://www.vatican.va

Beloved, let us love because we are so loved.

(first published in the Justice Bulletin Board 6th Sunday of Easter B 5/13/2012)

Let us love in deed and truth JBB

Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.—1 John 3:18

From the time I was a small child, my father would say to me that actions speak louder than words. So I find it interesting that this scripture passage comes along at the same time that I have been reading the Triangle Interfaith Alliance’s document, The Ethical Framework.

In writing of today’s reality, the document states, “Self-interest in America has reached the point of entitlement, where it is acceptable to pursue individual rights and personal interest without regard to the effect on others or the community...Clear behavioral expectations and responsibilities are a missing link in our democracy. Without norms for commonly expected ethical and moral behavior, there is little if any expectation or law that behavior must be ethical, responsible, or fair, as long as it is legal. People, even our leaders, defend unethical and immoral behavior by saying ‘I’ve done nothing illegal.’ Nevertheless, behavior without a moral or ethical conscience, whether legal or illegal, is often hurtful to others and to the common good. . . knowing what is right is often not transformed into doing what is right.”

The underlying precepts of The Ethical Framework are not unlike the social teachings of the Catholic Church: “Respect for the basic dignity and worth of every person; consideration for the interest of others and the common good; consideration of all actions in terms of desirable ethical and moral outcomes, rather than on solely legal, or convenient results.” Rather than solve problems, the four principles proposed in the document provide a foundation that empowers individuals to build solutions and guide daily living. These principles are:

1. Be FOR people rather than Against PEOPLE. (Consider others. Consider the common good.) 
2. Treat people with care and concern, strive for harmony. (Build caring, trusting relationships.)  
3. Respect the wonder of life. (Life is precious and sacred.) 
4. Accept responsibilities as members of society. (Obligations to yourself, to others, to society.)

The Ethical Framework is a good tool for individuals, parents, and teachers. To download a copy of this small, easy to understand document, go to www.interfaithalliance-nc.org and click on “About Us”

Let us love in deed and truth.

(first published in the Justice Bulletin Board 5th Sunday of Easter B 5/6/2012) 

We are God's children now JBB

Beloved, we are God’s children now—1 John 3:2

Have you ever stopped to observe how often adults act like children? Who has the latest car? Who shows off granite countertops? Who follows celebrity, be it sports or movies? Who keeps up with the Joneses? An adult can act like a bully, take advantage of others, or act in his/her own selfish interests. Clearly, today’s passage calls us to examine how we should be as a child of God. Perhaps, it is a good time to get back to basics. Most Americans know the ethical and moral “Golden Rule.” What we may not realize is how it is planted in most secular and religious cultures.

African Traditional: “One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts.” —Yoruba proverb (Nigeria)

Bahá’í: “Desire not for anyone the things that ye would not desire for yourselves.” —Gleanings from the writings of Bahá’u’lláh LXVI

Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” —Udana-Varga, 5:18

Christianity: “In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you.” —Bible, Matthew 7.12

Confucianism: “Tsekung asked, ‘Is there one word that can serve as a principal of conduct for life?’ Confucius replied, ‘It is the word shu-reciprocity: Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.’” —Analects 15.23 (ca 500 BC)

Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty. Do not unto others that which would cause you pain if done to you.” —Mahabharrata 5:1517

Islam: “Act with people the way you would like them to act with you.” —Al-Malati, Kitab al-Tanbih, Attributed to Muhammad

Jainism: “One should treat all beings as he himself would be treated.” —Agamas, Sutrakritanga, 1.10, 1-3

Judaism: (Positive) “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”        —Bible, Leviticus 19.18                                  (Negative) “What is hateful to you, do not do to others.” —Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a

Native American: “Respect for all life is the foundation.” —The Great Law of Peace

Sikhism: “Treat others as thou wouldst be treated thyself.” —Adi Granth

Taoism: “Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.” —T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien

Zoroastrianism: “That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself.” —Dadistan-I-Dinik, 94:5

Secular: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Secular Modern Variation: “Do unto others as they would want done unto them.” (This modern variation recognizes that all people are different. Therefore it requires us to do to people, not what we would want them to do to us, but what they would want us to do to them, within the boundaries of reason and good sense)                                   --www.interfaithalliance-nc.org

Love speaks to us children in a lot of languages.

(first published in the Justice Bulletin Board 4th Sunday of Easter B 4/29/2012) 

 

Surely It Is Not I? JBB

“Surely it is not I?”—Mark 14:19

Confusion and chaos follows Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Things are swiftly unraveling and changing as our Lord tries to continue teaching his disciples important truths, among them, how they should live and the meaning of His death. Holy Week marks the steepest learning curve in the lives of Jesus’ disciples. Their faith is to be shaken; they question their own loyalty. Everyone likes to be part of a winning team but a losing team, not so much.

Sometimes in today’s society, the Church looks like it is losing. Perhaps, one of the key areas that make us appear in confusion is the social mission of the church. Most Catholics don’t sufficiently understand that the social mission of the Church is an essential part of the Catholic faith. This lack of understanding weakens our ability to be a Church that is true to the demands of the Gospel.

At the foundation of Catholic social teaching is the belief that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. All Catholics should believe these truths: that every person is precious, that people are more important than “things,” and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person. This is the first of the seven major themes of Catholic social teaching. http://www.usccb.org/index.html 

When was the last time I reached out to help someone I didn’t know and who had no way to repay me? When have I taken the “high road” and stood for someone who is oppressed or defended an unpopular position because it was the right thing to do? Will I continue to let Jesus, in disguise as today’s suffering servants, suffer alone?

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.                                                                                                                             -- St. Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

Surely it is not I, who call myself “Christian,” who would betray the Lord in His guise of the poor and down trodden?                                                                                                                                     (first published in the Justice Bulletin Board Palm Sunday 4/1/2012)   

 

Life with Holly Go Lightly

Holly will chase balls wherever she finds them, even TV golf games! L is also playing--with Nonna's DS game

Come and You Will See JBB

Come and you will see—John 1: 39

I have often found myself wondering where Jesus was staying when he gave the invitation to the two disciples. My imagination tends to run a bit rampant. Did he live his everyday life in a small house attached to his carpenter’s shop? Did he spend so much time at the synagogue that he lived in a house adjacent to it? Did he depend on his lodgings to be provided by his extended family and friends? Did he live by the sea so he could take meditative walks along the shore? Did he have a sheltering cave in the mountains for his sojourns there?

A favorite quote of mine is, “Wherever your heart is, there will be your home.” And Jesus had the largest heart of all, a heart that was particularly in sync with the plight of the poor. So what exactly did those disciples SEE? They must have seen the love of God in action; that Jesus stayed where his heart called him to be. They might even have recognized a bit of themselves as they were created to be. Face-to-face encounters with the poor tend to open one’s heart wide.

Consider the well-known words of the ghost of Jacob Marley as he visits Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, “Business!. . .Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. . .Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me?”

Consider Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday our country celebrates in January, who came and saw how God loves all people unabashedly equally and then put his heart, soul , and life into making a difference.

Or study the saints, every one of which sees the oneness of God’s creation and then go on to live lives that seek to help the poor.

When God calls; when you wonder where God dwells; will you come and really see and have your life fulfilled?

(first published in the Justice Bulletin Board 1/15/2012)

A New Flame

I had every intention of starting a new way of sending Christmas cards this year via my blog. . .and now it is already December 28 and I haven't written in my blog in ages! I hope that everyone had a beautiful day and without further ado, I wish everyone good things in the new year. May everyone be abundantly blessed!

Below is my "card" photos for the new year. My kids know of my love for cats and I have been without one for a long time. So this year they surprised me with a flame point Siamese kitten named "Holly Go Lightly." She is a riot. . .follows us all over the house, has already climbed almost all the way up the Christmas tree, quick to made her needs known, and not shy at all. She is a rescued kitty  and is eating like crazy to put some flesh on her little bones. She is super affectionate and has even won over my dog-loving husband.

Thanks, Cara and Kyle, I didn't realize how ready I was to have a little ball of fur back in my life. I am so blessed with your love and the love of your children. Little people and little creatures under foot. . .the stuff of Christmas! As tiny Tim so eloquently spoke, "God bless us everyone."

I think this photo looks like an old oil painting.

and I couldn't resist adding this cherub. . .

 

 

Compassion JBB

. . .for I am compassionate—Exodus 22:26

I cannot say it any better than these words by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCC, November 1999:

“Because God loves you, you never stand alone. There is someone with you in anxious moments who knows your deepest desires and wants what's best for you. Think of the person who has loved you most. Multiply that love a million times over and you still haven't reached the extent of God's personal love for you.

Because God loves you, you can go beyond yourself. You can forgive those who have hurt you, however deeply. Even when you feel intense pain, the possibility of forgiveness lies within you. You can forgive others because God is always ready to forgive your sins. You can overlook wrongs because God empowers you to go beyond your own heartache.

Because God loves you, you can ask forgiveness of those you have hurt. You can admit wrongs and ask forgiveness to make relationships right. His grace can heal you.

Because God loves you, you can care for the weak, remove injustices, alleviate poverty, annihilate oppression, and restore righteousness in our world. The love of God in you gives you strength to defend the unborn, support the elderly, and lift the hearts of those without hope. God's grace in you helps you to see that in every person beats a heart yearning to be loved.

Because God loves you, you have the power to touch hearts with compassion, heal wounds in those around you, and act selflessly.

. . .Now through the Holy Spirit, the power of God's love lies within you.”                 http://www.sjnews.org/because.htm

Created in the image of God, we human beings cannot live our lives wrapped up in our own little world. As God is compassionate so must we be. The unity of love of God and love of neighbor is a hallmark of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. . .transcendent mystery and loving labor hand-in-hand.

Now, you cannot say, “I did not know.”

What does love look like?

For us, love looked like a cute little blond with sparkling blue eyes and a Southern drawl who flashed into our son's life nine years ago, along with her darling daughter, Kayla. "Windi", as her grandfather nicknamed her at her birth, was so full of life and love that one would never know she had a heart transplant in her late 20's. At the time that she gave birth to our grandson, Christopher, eight years ago, she was one of only 40 women worldwide, who successfully carried a baby full term after having a heart transplant. . .our miracle baby from one of God's most  loving mothers. 

This past North Carolina weekend, the weekend she left us to run to her Maker, was picture perfect--like God made nature look and feel like Windi. . .the blue of her eyes in the sky, the leaves turning yellow gold like her hair, a spunky breeze, the just right warmth from the sun, and, at night, how the stars twinkled. She would have soaked in the glorious day with her family because she knew how precious life is in every day that she had. . .who should care about laundry and matching onesie socks. . .she had her priorities straight.

When I finally got into my car that day, the very first song that played on the radio . . ."Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie."  I am so going to miss you, my daughter-in-love.

In Memory

Yesterday was the first anniversary of my mom's "going home." A friend of mine, Maria, had designated a Mass in her memory-- a distinctly Catholic custom. Mom would have liked the Mass. It was the feast day of St. Vincent de Paul and I know she is with both her brothers, one who was named Vincent,and her sister, as well as my dad. The song for the Mass was "Sing a New Song" by Dan Schutte (1972, OCP Publications) and taken from Psalm 98. This is such a joyous song as is the Psalm that inspired it.

"Yahweh's people dance for joy. O come before the Lord. And play for him on glad tambourines, and let your trumpet sound."

Mom loved to dance and I can remember her at her Polish club in Florida dancing the polka with her friend, Edna.

"Rise, O children, from your sleep; your Savior now has come. He has turned your sorrow to joy, and filled your soul with song."

God turned my sorrow at her passing to joy in 2010 when, in her final months, I found I was gifted to create some paintings that gave me much joy.

"Glad my soul for I have seen the glory of the Lord. The trumpet sounds; the dead shall be raised. I know my Savior Lives."

I know my Savior lives and so does Mom!

"Sing a new song unto the Lord; let your song be sung from mountains high. Sing a new song unto the Lord, singing alleluia."

We need more singing these days.

As I got into my car after the Mass, I turned on my radio and an instrumental started playing. It played for the entire ride back to my  house.  The poignant song --"Going Home." I miss you, Mom.