Here comes the sun!
Well, it's been a few days so I decided it was time to get back to 'blogging'.
Today is a wonderfully warm and sunny day in Rome. This is a complete contrast to yesterday when it poured and was dreary for most of the day. Where am I going with this? We will see ...
The sun seems to be a focus for a lot of people, it is often the determining factor in what we do, how we feel, etc. Today I realized this as I traveled on the ever so full 64 bus back home from school. Yesterday in the rain my patience would have been tried, and probably found wanting if I were in the same situation. Today, with the sun and warmth, I just smiled and went along for the ride.
Still asking where I am going with this? Well, here it comes ... Stick out the storms in life! We have to remember that the storms are a passing phenomenon, and that the sun sits being every cloud bank. The warmth and light will shine on our faces once more, to remind us that sunshine will come ! So remember, when the storms and dreariness pass on, always take a moment sit back and marvel at the wonderfulness of God and his creation and just soak up the "rays of God's goodness!"
photo: http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/agro/sun-BIG.html
Tempus Fugit ... Time Flies!
Where does the time go? Wasn't it just yesterday that I got off the plane here in Rome to begin my 5 years of studies on my journey through the formation program in my province? Didn't I just profess my vows for the first time? Amazingly, no, it has actually been 5 years since I moved here to Rome, 5 years since I took my first profession. I was told that the time would go by quickly, but I did not believe it!
So where to now? I received the official letter from my Provincial yesterday that said that I was approved for Solemn Profession. That means that I will be professing the Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience for the rest of my life. WOW, I reflect on it and wonder, how have I arrived at this spot? The answer, of course, is always the same, with the grace of God!
I want to close this blog with a paragraph from the letter that I recieved, because though it was addressed to me, the words are applicable to all:
May you be refreshed continually by the example of the poor one of Assisi ... I challenge you to grow in the joys of gospel love and charity and fraternal concern ... be an example of genuine charity and faithful obedience, emptied always of all the world's cares - all for the greater glory of God.
A baker's dozen?? Not any more!
So, what ever did happen to the Baker's Dozen? This was the profound question that came up in conversation today. But in all reality it is a good commentary on what the world is coming to. NO, I am not refering to the lack of that one free confectioner's delight when you order 12, but rather the lack of effort in society in general to go that extra step for the satisfaction of another.
You see, it doesn't take all that much to try to ensure that someone has received that extra little bit of kindness, whether it be a smile or kind word, or a small work of charity. Let the person who seems like they are having a bad day know that you care. Let the person who looks tired sit in your seat on the bus. Laugh with the people who are laughing, and cry with someone who is crying.
Be that baker's dozen, be that extra little step that will carry you, and others for miles!!
photo: http://www.gmushrooms.com/Posters/Donuts.htm
Could I have a side order of humilty with my patience please.
Talk around the house has been the need for patience, and how with all that happens in life, if it is not approached with patience, you are just going to end up going crazy! BUT, as is stressed by a friar of my community, whose opinion I respect very much, keeps reminding us, and ME that with patience we must have a large dose of humility.
This is a wonderful piece of advice that I invite us all to reflect on.
So you are probably wondering why there is a picture of a waterfall at the top of this blog, right? NO?!?!?! Well I am going to tell you anyway :-) ... St. Francis of Assisi, in his Canticle of Creatures wrote: "All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water, so useful, humble, precious and pure". So how is water humble? Have you ever seen water running up hill? No, because it always goes to the lowest of places. So that is my friar-factor for the day. CIAO!
Photo: http://individual.utoronto.ca/kim_u/Romastreetparkland_1/pages/00-The_waterfall.html
All roads lead to Roman traffic
You know, sometimes a blog is just a good place to let off some steam. Why is it that when you need a bus (namely the 46 here in Rome) and it is never there? Or that when you are running late, the bus stop has been moved 5 blocks up the street because they have decided that the busiest time of the year in Rome is the best time to dig up a side walk?
I am beginning to think that Murphy really did have a clue when he came up with that 'law'!!
But alas, patience is a virtue that one must continually seek, always invoke, and yet unfortunetly rarely put into practice at the time when it is most needed. So that's it, nothing spectacular from my side of the fence ...
Photo: http://cyber-biker.com/indexWP.html
Lions and tigers and FRIENDS, Oh My!!
Today, my classmate and I had a visit from a friend who moved from Italy three years ago. It was a wonderful chance to catch up on new happenings in life, and to laugh about the past good ol' days.
Today's blog is simple, cherish your friends. It is amazing how quickly you remember a small happening when you sit down and just start chatting. How quickly you realize that a good laugh truly is medicine for the soul. What would
The Wizard of Oz have been like if Dorothy did not take the scarecrow off that pole, or oil the TinMan or stand up to that Big, ferocious (ya right), cowardly lion? A movie of a girl and a dog, that would not need fields of poppies to put people to sleep! But put them all together and you end up with a movie that withstands centuries of development of technology and "better films", because it was about establishing bonds (and of course melting the Wicked Witch of the West).
Photo: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~humcentr/background.html
Well, it's been a few days so I decided it was time to get back to 'blogging'.
