Mackinaw

My mind is on other things; I am thinking about a long drive from the Detroit area to Mackinaw City, it’s about a 5 hour drive, with out stops. I am day dreaming about the sand, the white sand of Lake Michigan, like non-other I have ever seen. My mind is drifting to the wind blowing in off Lake Huron, sending in the smells and sounds of the Great Lakes.

 

Yes its vacation time, I am off for a long needed rest!

 

Each year my family and I take a trip up to Mackinaw City, We love it up there. Michigan offers so much beauty, and we just love the look and feel of Mackinaw, both the City and Island. So I am very excited!

 

To me there is nothing in the world like the Great Lakes, the sands of Lake Michigan, the Rocks of Lake Huron, the cold waters rushing past, sending memories of times gone by. Each wave sending new images and sounds, all creating new memories to hold close.

 

Upper Michigan holds a special place for me; to me God did some of his finest work here in Michigan. He created the perfect canvas, and perfection of beauty that allows me to paint memories that are vivid and pleasing to the heart.

 

If you have never been to the Mackinaw area you have never seen Gods artistic hand, you are missing one of his most spectacular displays of mixed media art, the sights sounds and smells are one of a kind!

 

As you may be able to tell, I really love the Mackinaw area, and I love Michigan. I have traveled the world, and have seen some really beautiful sights. I have seen homes older then The USA, and walked down roads that have been there for 1000 years, but in my eye nothing comes close to Michigan’s beauty, namely the Mackinaw area.

 

I always enjoy this trip, we do the same things each year, but to me really, what we do don’t matter, I could just sit looking over the Straits of Mackinaw for a week and I would be content. It’s really about where I am and who I am with, that’s also part of the fabric of the canvas, it’s the pigment of the colors I use to paint my vacation memories. To me, having my family with me to help me paint the colors of the vacation is a must; with out them the colors would be less bright and vibrant.

 

My trip to Mackinaw is a trip that refreshes not only my energy but more importantly my soul. I see God and all his glory and wonders when I am in Mackinaw with my family; it truly is a spiritual trip for me.

 

Paul

 

p.s. my families consist of my sister Carol, her three girls Katie, Molly, Hanna our friend Theresa and Luciano. This year we also welcome Grant in to our family…

 

p.s.s. I will be on vacation until July 7th, so no new post until the 8th. God Bless

Faith as a tree

To each of us faith is personal, it’s not something that we can really explain or really even share. Faith is a deep rooted emotion, its controls and is controlled at the same time.

 

Faith is not something we learn, nor is it something we can teach, it is not static but rather dynamic, and ever changing and growing. It is a living, breathing entity that exists with in you.

 

Faith is a gift that we receive so we can grow in our love and devotion to God, and faith allows us to receive other gifts from God.

 

Each one of us has the gift of faith, the only difference between me and you are how we decide to use that gift. Like any gift, left in its package it’s of no use to anyone.

 

To me, faith is the root of who I am. It is from the root that I grow, both up and down, like a tree whose roots grow deeper in to the soil, establishing a strong root system. A system that protects and feed the tree, and the tree also grows up and out, establishing new limbs and leafs, allowing the tree to absorb the life around it, and offering protection to others and it self. Faith, for me, is the same.

 

Like a tree, my faith has a root system, firmly planed in the ground of my Catholic faith, with a 2000 year old root system to feed me and secure me. And like the tree, I also grow up and out, branching off in to life, allowing the light and life of the world to feed me. Allowing each new experience to add a leaf to my limb; allowing each new adventure to add new branches, allowing life and light in to my system, feeding me and allowing me to grow. The canopy of my faith also protects others in my charge, and as a Catholic Christian, that is all of creation. Offering protection and cover; warmth and nourishment; offering the love of God and the heart of Christ, all under the canopy of faith that we created from our life experiences based in the root of our faith. The canopy also protects us, as we lead our way through life, through the winds of change, our canopy helps us deflect and bend as needed to remain strong and standing. The storms of life are kept from our vulnerable selves by leafs and branches we have created during our life.

 

And when the storms and winds of life relent, if our root system was strong and our canopy was full, we will exit with a few less leafs and maybe a missing limb or too, but all-in-all we will still be a strong tree, rooted in our faith, growing and reaching both, in to our past and in to our future.

 

Our faith will have helped us to weather life’s storms and dry spells; it will shelter us from the killing heat and the drowning waters. The gift of faith is a gift of true life, the gift of eternal life and a gift of complete and unconditional love.

 

Faith is given freely, but we must feed it, nurture it, and help it to grow, new faith, like a young tree, is fragile. Its roots are new and not established; its canopy is young and inexperienced. With out the tender care of you, the tree will die, and with out your care and love for your faith, it too will die.

 

Faith is like a tree, it takes time to establish a good root system, years to grow a canopy to protect others, and it self. But like a good tree, once it is established, it will keep growing.

 

Paul

Open Arms

With the 4^th of July nearly upon us, I thought I would take a moment to talk about freedom, freedom worth fighting for.

 

The 4^th of July, an American holiday, our day of independence. We learn about it in school, Paul Revere yelling “The British are coming, The British are coming!” and we all learned the signals, one if by land, two if by sea. Our history is important to us, the heroes and symbols give us an anchor in history, a reference to call to. They allow us, through story and song, to relive the events and to experience the pride or sorrow of our past.

 

America is just over 200 years old, young in the eyes of many other nations, but she has had a very productive past. She has had her ups and downs in the story of the world, but all-in-all she has be a faithful motherland to us, she has provided safety, jobs and prosperity.  

 

America, as any nation, has her problems; she has born the scars of slavery, civil war, two world wars and many slanders from with in her borders, but like a proud parent she holds her head high for she knows she is on the path of freedom.

 

Our Freedom is on her shoulders, the shoulders of all her fallen men and woman who fought for her, to protect her and promote her ideals all over Gods green earth. Our freedom was not free, we have paid the highest price for it, and we have paid the price of blood, the blood of our brothers and sisters.

 

Let us not let the blood of our brothers and sisters run in vane.

 

 

We have hear the call many times, have seen the heroes, and looked upon the symbols of the great nation, we have reflected and even at times protested, but in the end America has been good to her children.

 

America is not perfect, she has her flaws, but I chose to write about her in a more positive light, too many of her children are already writing about her faults and down side. We hear of her imperfections and hear tails of her lack of compassion, but it seems that they forget to offer up the stories of her great compassion, the stories of heroic tales and self sacrifice in her name.

 

America needs her children now more then ever before. She is being attacked from with in as well as from with out. Her history and her memory is being challenged and slandered, her valiant past is being turned in to nothing more then gun toting cowboys with a bad attitude. America is being displayed as a woman who once thought she was a beauty, but now is nothing but a want-a-be with a bad hair day.

 

Lady Liberty is no long the tall slender beauty she once was, in the eyes of others, but rather she is portrayed as an old cranky woman, who yells at the local kids for playing on her lawn.

Lady Liberty deserves more respect, she has taken in the world’s outcast, she has opened her arms to all who have no place to call home and welcomed them with love and understanding.

 

Freedom is offered to all who call her name, to all who are willing to take up the yoke and work hard for her. Freedom is a gift that is offered to the world, a gift that must be exercised and protected, for she is a fragile gift, one that is easily broken.

 

So this Independence Day remember that America, though she may seem broken bent and damaged she is the shinning beauty in the harbor, she is the Light on the hill, the beacon calling to all. She is the caring mother who loves all her children, and welcomes them home with open arms.

 

Paul  

Simplicity

To me, it seems that people make things way to complicated, they add layers of confusion to topics, and they remove the simplicity from them and just make them way to complicated.

 

Most of life is simple, or can be reduced to the simple. Even the most complicated concepts can be reduced to the simple, but it seems humans have a tendency to not do that, rather we have a tendency to take the simple and complicate it.

 

I teach one of the most advanced data management software solutions out in the field, it is a very complicated tool set, and it’s capabilities are really only limited by imagination of the user. Along with teaching the software, I also write the user manuals for one very specific and large costumer. My philosophy in creation and presentation of the material is the same, take the complex and reduce it to the simple. Any topic, any issue or concept can be and should be reduced to the simple. To give one example from my teaching, I was co-teaching a class, to learn a new software, and student asked a question, at this time I do not remember what the question was, and really it don’t matter, but I was not sure I knew the correct response so I deferred it to the lead teacher. He proceeded to go in to a 15 minute dissertation on the complexity of the software and its inner workings and coding. In the end the student turned to me, and I responded with “Umm, That would be a no”. The simple response was all she needed, and the complexity of the first response only leads to more confusion.

 

 KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid, is a rule I live by, simplicity in all things, including my faith. Faith should not be this over complexed thing; it does not need to be this institution that requires 50 masters’ degrees just to understand the basic premise of the faith. But it seems that is what a lot of people expect and want. We have this notion that the more complex the better it is. Not true, and to me, not very biblical.

 

Jesus tells us to be non-complex to be simple. He instructs us in very simple stories and parables. And he leads a very simple life, and came from a very simple back ground.

 

Don’t believe me, read the bible, do the research:

 

• Jesus and the Children (Mark 10:13-16)
• What is a parable (http://www.rc.net/wcc/parable1.htm)

 

 

Jesus spoke in simple words, and yes sometimes that caused his issues, but only because the people where not use to the truth being spoken so plainly and clearly, they where looking for the loop holes, the higher meaning, the hidden message. Jesus spoke in a simple common language, one that the servant could understand as well as the king.

 

Faith is not hard to understand, yes there are parts of faith that we, as humans, may never understand, but Jesus told us that also:

 

• Only the Father Knows (Matthew 24:36)

 

So stop complicating life, reduce it to the simple, and learn to enjoy the “simple things” in life a little more. Your faith should not be that complicated, it should be one of childhood innocence, one of simplicity and great satisfaction. God did not create us to complicate his creation; he created us for one very simple reason, to love.

 

Paul

A Gift

Each day is a gift from God, how do I plan to using it?

 

This should be a question you question you ask yourself daily, tape it to your mirror, or if your crafty, make it in to a nice looking print. Do something to remind yourself that God gives you his blessings everyday, that everyday is a gift.

 

Like all gifts, they only have value if you use it, if you love it and love whom it comes from. A gift from God is no difference. We can choose to not open our gifts, to keep them under wrap, and allow dust to collect on it, or we can choose to rip open the wrapping and see the gift, given out of love. We can choose to use it, and to treasure it, and we can even choose to give it to someone in need of it. It’s our gift; we can do with it as we please.

 

When my dad and mom passed away, we asked people to donate to the Make-A-Wish charity in there name, we wanted the gift that our family and friends where going to offer to be give to someone in more need, we did not need the flowers and money, but Make-A-Wish did, they need the money to make a wish of a terminally ill child come true. To me that was a much wiser gift to offer to the memory of my parents then flowers. We used the gifts of others to help others, what a beautiful thing.

 

God also gives us gifts, the gift of understanding, of love and compassion and many many more, how we use then is up to us. If we don’t use our gift of compassion, the gift it self becomes useless. God’s gift of love sits in the box, all wrapped up and never opened, what a waste.

 

God gives us more then we need, yet he still promises that when we give, we get 10 times more then we need. WOW… that’s one heck of a return, do you think God is playing on our innate human nature to want more…. Always more, nothing is never enough.

 

 It has been stated that the more we give the more we get in return, and I for one believe this, and I have read reports, research, that prove this. What a great God we do have. I give and I get more then I gave. I wish the banks worked that way!

 

The gifts of God are meant to be used, not stuffed away on a shelf of your soul, but rather they are to be opened and used. So every morning, remind yourself that today is a gift from God, and plan on using your gift for others, and just see what happens!

 

Paul

Rest

It has been a long month, and I am whipped! My mind is mush, and I just need rest. Soon I will get the rest I want, soon I will be able to stop and breathe, but until then I will go on.

 

Why has it been a long month, what has made me so whipped, what has caused this? Well lets see, at the end of May, my partners and I had to close down our store, during May and June I had to help my sister get her house and yard ready for a graduation party (June 22), the following day of the party I helped clean up, yesterday (June 24) I had a Detroit Tigers game to go to, plus I had to work my normal job and write the blogs, plus work on the STATIC Programming and take care of normal household stuff. So ya I am whipped!

 

I have enjoyed most of what needed to be done, closing of the store was hard, but we all got through it.

 

The problem is not all the work, the problem is that I have had no real break, I have taken vacation days from work, but they all where used for STATIC or to help my sister. What I need is time alone, but that isn’t going to happen for sometime… But all is good, I will get my rest, but until then I will go on. My blogs may suffer (now some may say they always have suffered, and that’s fine). Other work may be placed to one side, and my mind my not be as sharp as it is normally, and I my get a little cranky, but I try not to let any of that happen.

 

I try to still keep up with all that I have to do, I try to keep my mind sharp and my wits about me, and I try to keep in mind that I need to kind to everyone, it’s not there fault that I am whipped, that I have so much on my plate. I try to remember that soon I will rest, that soon, it will all be back to normal.

 

Jesus even rested, God, in his wisdom, built in to the week one day of rest. But I being of a fallen nature ignore the example of Jesus and the wisdom of God. I take no rest on Sunday and do not follow the example of Jesus and go off to pray and rest. But soon I will.

 

Rest is on its way, a moment of peace and quiet, time to myself and with God, soon I will rest.

 

But until then, I will try to remember that I need to slow down and rest.

 

Paul

Celebration

In my opinion it is no coincidence that that first miracle of Jesus was at a party. The wedding fest is a well know story, it’s the one where Jesus turns water in to wine. He makes the finest wine ever, and all in attendance knows it.

 

In fact through out the bible we hear stories of celebrations, God created us to celebrate the achievements of others, to wish them well, and God’s blessings.  Jesus, I am sure celebrated important moments with his friends, I am sure they held parties and enjoyed the company if others.

 

Being Catholic means celebrating life, all aspects of life, we not only celebrate the holy days such as Christmas and Easter, but also the secular days such as the 4^th of July or Memorial Day. We gather together for a BBQ or have a nice home cooked dinner with family and friends. I am sure Jesus and his family and friends did the same.

 

The bible has a lot to say about celebrations, the wedding fest was most likely a 3 day event filled with great food and drink, we read in the Old Testament about Holy Days that lasted days, with all kinds of preparation leading up to the main celebration, and when the day arrived, they where more then ready to celebrate with family and friends.

 

Well I just had such a time, for the last few weekends my sister and I have been preparing for her daughters graduation. We cleaned the house, re-painted, hung the pictures, laid carpeting, did yard work, created new gardens and the list goes on and on. The day before the party we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off. Doing all the last minute things that need to be done, and the day of the party, more of the same; Then the party hits, and the celebrations begins, and we are more then ready for the celebration.

 

We gather with family and friends, have good food and drink, and celebrate the accomplishment of one creation of God, we celebrate her life lived and yet to be lived. The day is hers and all the attention is on her.

 

As for my sister and I, we bask in her glow and sit down with a cold beer and sigh a sigh of relief, we are done, the celebration is on and the preparation is over. My sister has done all she can for her daughter, she is now an adult, ready to lead her own life. In a few more weeks she will be off to University and will continue her life journey. But until then, my sister can relax knowing she has done a good job, and the celebration was as much for her daughter and affirming her accomplishments as it was for my sister.

 

Although we didn’t turn water in to wine, no true miracle was preformed and the party was not 3 days long, we considered it a great success. But it would have been cool if water was turned in to wine, or if someone would have walked on water. But all in all, a great time was had by all.

 

Paul

Stop and take the time…

God’s hand is in all that we do, we see His work everyday, all around us, but all too often we are too caught up in our own lives to see it, or appreciate it.

 

As the old saying goes, “Stop and take the times to smell the roses”… Good Advice if you ask me, advice that we all can learn from.

 

The bible even tells us the same thing, many time in the Gospels we hear how Jesus would just go off to pray, he would Stop and take the time to smell the roses. Jesus knew the importance to slow down and see God’s creation, to see the beauties and splendor of the world he created for us.

 

God’s hand, strong and tender is in all of creation, his genital strokes paint a canvas of multi colors, and his hard hands chisel  the angels and curves of life, and all of them beautiful in there own way.

 

To spend time just looking and taking in God’s world is a wonderful thing to do, to allow your eyes to the splendor, your heart to feel the love and your soul to feel the flow of life.

 

God created this great masterpiece for us all to stop and enjoy, opening our hearts to His glory, to allow our eyes to see his hand in all. God, through his love for us, is using the glory of His creation to prove his Love to us, to show us that He exists.

 

So stop and take the time to smell the roses, to see the waves upon the shore and the wind gently pushing the leaves. Stop to hear the rush of the rain and silence of the snow fall, stop to live life in His glory.

 

Paul

18 Words

How often do we say prayers, but don’t really mean them, or understand them? Think about Sunday Mass, we say the same prayers each week, but do we really stop to think about what we are saying? Take the simple prayer of “Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed” Short and sweet, only 18 words, but 18 words that can change your life, if you allow them to.

 

At Mass we, as Catholics, believe we are receiving the true presence of Christ, the Body and Blood of Jesus. Not a representation, but the actual Body and Blood. So really are any of us worthy of receiving? That prayer is telling God that we are not worthy, not just “I” but “We”, meaning all of us are sinners, and no one is worthy.

 

We are a fallen people, we are sinners, we fail before God again and again, yet he still offers his son to us, in the form of bread and wine. We are not worthy to receive Him, we are not worthy to un-strap his sandals, yet God allows us, he invites us to partake. Yet we are unworthy.

 

God, through his love invites us, allows us and encourages us to participate in the last supper of our Lord. Through his word, we are healed. So what is the word? What magic word does God speak to allow us such a great gift? The word is LOVE, Gods love for us, Gods love for forgiveness, and Gods love for his creation, no matter how flawed.

 

We hear the word at Mass, as it is read, we hear the word in our heart as we pray and remain still to the movement of the Holy Spirit.

 

So the next time you’re at Mass, when you get to the small prayer of only 18 words, stop to contemplate what you are asking God for. You’re not asking for the winning numbers to the lotto, nor good grades, rather you are asking God to allow you to receive His only son, Jesus the Christ.

 

You’re asking God to allow you to participate in the Last Supper, not symbolically but literally, for the Last Supper only happened once in history, and we are invited to attend as guest of Jesus.

 

We are not worthy, but by the grace of God, we can become worthy.

 

Paul

Call to Action

A Call To Action…

 

This is what the Catholic Church needs; it needs a rally call, a call that will make all Catholics stand up, one that will challenge us all to become better Catholics, one that will lead us in to a new direction. Now I am not suggesting that the Church needs to change any of its teachings, nor am I suggesting that it needs a new image, she is fine the way she is. But what I am saying is that we as Catholics are not challenged, we are not being called to task, we have no Call To Action, nothing to help us get to the next level.

 

Please let me stop here and say that I am sure this is not true for all Catholics, but I would guess that it is true for most Catholics. At that the parish level we are not being taken to task, all to often at Mass I hear a homily that is well prepared, has a point or two, but all to often falls short of calling us to task, falls short of teaching the truth that the Catholic Church teaches, most often they are just variations on “Jesus love you”.

 

Yes Jesus does love you, and yes we need to hear that message, but Jesus also calls us to task, he demands more from us, and the gospels are full of stories that show Jesus calling people to task.

 

Take the story of the rich man who wanted to follow Jesus, he asked Jesus what he must do, Jesus tells him to follow the commandments, the man states that he has done that, so Jesus tells him to sell all he has, give it to the poor and follow him, the man was not able to do this, so Jesus walks away.

 

Jesus called him to task, Jesus expected him to step it up a bit, to truly follow Jesus. All too often our local parishes are afraid to do this, they do not want to offend anyone, so they stick to the Jesus loves you line. But is that all there is to being Catholic? Is the love a Jesus the only message he gave us? Or are we missing a major part of the message of Christ?

 

I challenge the Church to step up to her calling, the calling of teaching the true faith, to once again call us to task, to demand more from us.

 

I have hear the argument that parishioners will drop out of the church if we do so, and to that I say, Jesus walked away from the young rich man because he was not willing to step up, is not the Church held to the same responsibility? Is not the Church the representations of Christ hear on earth? Should she not use the same standard as Christ?

 

I am not suggesting that the Church make it a point to ride herself of parishioners, but I am suggesting that she needs to start to teach the complete message of Christ, not just the message of “Jesus Loves You”

 

We need to start to catechize the pews, and the community are large, to call the whole parish community to task, to show the way to Christ by using Christ as our example.

 

Paul