Caught in the act. . .

. . . of pretending to be organized!

Every Monday morning I meet with my manager to go over what I did the week prior and what’s on my agenda for this week. I keep a list of projects I am working on and usually just update it and use that for our discussion.  

At the same time I do that list I also do a personal one. What are some of the things I’d like to get done this week? Many of the things on the list just carry over from week to week. Either those items are things that need to be done regularly or, in most cases, I just haven’t gotten to them. But, ultimately, for me, if I don’t write it down I don’t remember it. I’ve often said, I have a mind like a steel sieve!

But anyways, back to getting caught. I just create my personal to do list in Word, nothing fancy, but I like to add color, either reflecting the weather or liturgical seasons. The color printer in the office is across the hall, so before picking up my printout I stopped and got a cup of coffee.

When I finally made it to the printer there was someone reading my list. Yikes! Not that there is anything personal or embarrassing on it. She looks at me and asks “Just who is this organized? You?”  

Not really, but it certainly looks good!



AMDG

Saint GKC?

As I mentioned earlier, last weekend we went to the GK Chesterton conference that was held at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. The long drive was richly rewarded. We caught up with old friends, made new ones, and saturated our brains with much more than they could possibly hope to comprehend.

There is so much to tell you about the weekend, but since the best bit of news came early on, Friday night at the end of Dale Ahlquist’s opening talk, I guess that’s the best place to start.

For quite a while now, probably ten plus years, the Chesterton Society has been advocating for the sainthood of Chesterton. Apparently the cause needs to be taken up by the home diocese of the person in question. Prior bishops in Northampton did not find reason enough to get involved in this process. That seems to have changed. Dale made this announcement:

"Martin Thompson says that Bishop Peter Doyle 'has given me permission to report that the Bishop of Northampton is sympathetic to our wishes and is seeking a suitable cleric to begin an investigation into the potential for opening a cause for Chesterton.'"
This little nudge may have been just what was needed:

Ahlquist cited Pope Francis’ interest in Chesterton as possibly influencing the bishop of Beaconsfield’s recent move for an investigation.

“One of the reasons that especially motivated him is the fact that His Holiness, Pope Francis, expressed support for Chesterton’s cause when he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires,” stated Ahlquist.

A March 10 letter to Martin Thompson, a leader of an English G.K. Chesterton group, from Miguel Angel Espeche Gil, an Argentine ambassador who heads a Chesterton group in Argentina, noted that the then-archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, “encourages us in our aspiration to see the initiation of the cause of Chesterton to the altars.” **

**Read more: here 
To say that those attending the conference were pleased with this news is an understatement. I think we all read GKC for a variety of reasons, but the common thread among those is that he speaks the Truth across the ages. What he wrote a century ago is just as true today.

Many Catholic converts cite GKC as the reason for their entering the church. One of the speakers at the conference, Joseph Pearce, is one such person. Pearce has an amazing story that is just one example of Chesterton’s influence. He was raised in a staunchly anti-Catholic family, was an agnostic neo-fascist as a teen and was imprisoned twice by the time he reached his early twenties. During this time he began reading Chesterton primarily for his views on politics and economics, but eventually found himself reading Chesterton’s arguments on behalf of the Catholic Church and his defense of orthodox Christianity.

 

PRAYER FOR THE INTERCESSION OF G.K. CHESTERTON

 

God our Father,

You filled the life of your servant Gilbert Keith 

Chesterton with a sense of wonder and joy, and gave

him a faith which was the foundation of his ceaseless

work, a charity towards all men, particularly his

opponents, and a hop which sprang from his lifelong

gratitude for the gift of human life.

May his innocence and his laughter, his constancy in

fighting for the Christian faith in a world losing belief,

his lifelong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and

his love for all men, especially the poor, bring

cheerfulness to those in despair, conviction and warmth

to lukewarm believers and the knowledge of God to

those without faith.

We beg you to grant the favors we ask through his

intercession, [and especially for …] so that his holiness

may be recognized by all and the Church may proclaim

him Blessed.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

AMDG

3 hours in CT

This past weekend we headed up to Worchester, Massachusetts for the GK Chesterton conference. Not wanting the bother of airports we decided to drive. According to Google Maps it was a 621 mile, nine and a half hour trip. So, we figured, with food and rest breaks, we should make it in about ten hours. Not exactly my favorite thing to do, being in a car for that long, but the destination made it worthwhile.

I am always amazed when I travel to see just how vast our country is. There is so much beautiful, undeveloped land. Driving through Pennsylvania was spectacular. Rolling hills, lush forests and steep stone mountainsides surrounded the highways. Himself was probably getting tired of me pointing out one gorgeous vista after another, but he humored me anyways.  

The small bit of New York state that we drove through provided us with more beautiful sights. The most breathtaking was the Hudson River valley.  
 
And then we hit Connecticut. At rush hour. What should have been a ninety minute leg of the trip turned into a three hour one! But, driving slowly through Hartford gave us great views of beautiful gold-domed buildings we would have barely been able to glimpse had we been going at full speed. Is Harford the insurance capital of the world? Every direction we looked was another, very large building with some corporate designation as a seller of insurance.

What was funny, at least to me, was once we got out of the 5-mile-per-hour-traffic-jam and onto open roads the traffic moved at a dizzying pace. I was going 70 in a 65 zone and looked like I was standing still! It was like each of the drivers was going “Weeeee…. I’m making up for lost time!!!!”

We breathed a sigh of relief when we crossed over into Massachusetts. We were almost there. But, no, not really. Unfortunately, I programed the wrong address into the GPS. Yep, that's right. Instead of arriving at Assumption College we were at the now closed Worcester Insane Asylum.  

When we finally did arrive at the conference, tired, hungry, and more than a little agitated, we ran into Dale Ahlquist. He asked how our trip was. Himself replied “Well, we spent a day in Connecticut this afternoon!”

"An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered;
an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered.”
– GKC, All Things Considered, 1908

AMDG

7 in 7: The simple things

Sis and BIL decided that they needed an "adult" night away, the first they've had since Sara was born, and asked if we would want to watch her overnight.  Huh?  Like they have to ask!

 

Just a little over a year old, she seems to find almost everything interesting.  She'll spend a half hour just playing with and studying a plastic water bottle.  Watching the water move inside the bottle and the crinkle sounds it makes seems to intrigue her.

 

Uncle brought her outside and there they played with rocks in the water for what seemed like a long time to me.  They were both quite content and happy picking one rock up after another, studying them and then tossing them back in.

 

Sara was a nice reminder to me that things don't have to be complicated or complex to be interesting.  Sometimes slowing down and paying attention to the simple things can be quite refreshing!

AMDG

Quick Takes (28) - Question Edition

- 1-

I haven't done Quick Takes since the middle of last October.  I'm always amazed when I see that people have done hundreds of them.  How do you do it?

- 2 -

Is anyone going to the Chesterton Conference in Worcester, MA?  We were back and forth for a while about going but finally committed to it about a month ago.  I am hardly prepared but I can't wait to get there.  There's nothing like being surrounded by thoughtful, intelligent people who are also a lot of fun.  The "Catholic drinking" in the evenings doesn't hurt either!

- 3 -

What was I thinking?  Okay, that a rhetorical question.  I was on vacation this week and had grand plans of getting the garage cleaned out.  Yeah right!  I may have gotten about a tenth of it done; but that part definitely looks much better.

- 4 -

I think that when we get back from the above conference, the vegetables are going to be coming in fast and furious and we're going to need to start preserving.  I'm fine when it comes to tomatoes and other acidic things, but I have never pressure canned.  I think the amount of beets and beans that we will be picking will require that.  Any recommendations on canners?  On recipes and techniques? 

- 5 -

Did you do the 7 in 7 challenge?  How'd you do?  I found it pretty hard; not for lack of things to write about, mostly just lack of time and energy. 

- 6 -

Does anyone have dairy goats?  It has been something I have been wanting to do for a while but still need to put up a fence and build a barn for them.  Any advice or recommendations?

 

- 7 -



"No sceptical philosopher can ask any questions that may not equally be asked by a tired child on a hot afternoon.” – GKC in George Bernard Shaw

Don't forget to check out more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary

Have a great weekend!

7 in 7: wimp out post

I'm tired.  And worn out.  I took the hairy beast on three walks today and dug out shrubs in the front garden.  The mind is following the body and is shutting down for the day.  So I leave you with a couple of pictures from our excursion yesterday.  It's just a small taste of the day. 

Sweet dreams!

 

AMDG

7 in 7: Martha or Mary

Sunday’s Gospel from Luke has always been one of my favorites.  It just screams to our sense of “fairness.”  Martha is doing all the work as Mary sits at Jesus’ feet and enjoys his company.  Why shouldn’t Jesus tell Mary to get off her duff and help her sister?

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.  She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.  Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?  Tell her to help me.”  The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.  There is need of only one thing.  Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Lk 10:38-42

I used to think I got this Gospel.  On Sunday our Deacon did the sermon and put it in a whole new perspective.  I wish I could remember the examples he gave, but is came down to this: it is not a matter of servant or student, worker or worshiper.  We are called to be both: servant and student, worker and worshiper.  Our faith should be reflected in our works and our works should reflect our faith.

The parish I grew up in had a program called Christ Renews His Parish.  When I first started dating Himself one was being held and he suggested I go.  It was a weekend spent both listening to others share their faith and learning and appreciating my own.  We spent a weekend being Mary.

Little did I know that once the weekend was over the program didn’t end there.  That year’s attendees became the next year’s team and presenters.  The years following included doing meals for the weekend, putting on the Saturday night entertainment and hosting a Holy Hour for the attendees’ families.  One weekend turned into five years of various activities. 

The year that we did meals I took over leadership of the group when the
Lay Director resigned.  As we were preparing and making all our menus I reminded the ladies that this was our “Martha” year.  We were there to serve the women making Renewal.
Fr. Mac was our Spiritual Director, and, as I was talking to the gals, he sat there with his head bowed and eyes closed.  Since he was in his mid-eighties at the time I kind of thought he was sleeping.  Far from it.  He was taking in everything we said and then had a few words of his own.  He said it wasn’t quite like that.  Although we were serving the women attending the weekend we were also bring Christ to them as well.  At that time I just didn’t get it.  I was too wrapped up in the work we had to accomplish and was actually pretty proud of myself relating us to Martha.

I think I get it now.  We couldn’t serve those women properly had we not met Christ in the intimate way we did on our Renewal weekend.  Had we not sat at Christ’s feet what we would have been doing the weekend we cooked would have just been work.  But instead, what we brought was both work and worship both.

It is a false choice to say we either have to be Martha or Mary.  

What we need to be is Martha and Mary.

AMDG

7 in 7: Anticipation

Jen at Conversion Diary is hosting 7 Posts in 7 Days in an effort to get her blogging groove back. She’s invited everyone to join her. I’m starting a day late, which I suppose means I’ll finish late as well!

Near the end of June every year, the small town near us has its annual community festival.  It includes a carnival with all the typical fair foods, rides and games.  There is usually a 5k run and a number of bands for entertainment.  But, by far, the most anticipated part of the celebration is the parade and lighting of the torch.

For almost a week prior, people mark the spots where they plan on viewing the parade.  They spread blankets and leave lawn chairs.  They rope off tree lawns and patches of grass and bits of sidewalk.  No one messes with any of this.  This tradition is expected and respected.  Something good is going to happen and we are all waiting for it together.

I'm on vacation from work this week.  Last week, in a number of meetings, someone would mention a task that needed to be done but would follow up that it would have to wait as "Donna will be on vacation next week."  I think my ear-to-ear grin gave away just how much I was anticipating the time away.

I'm probably showing my age with this one. Perhaps you remember the Heinz commercials where the Carly Simon sings Anticipation while someone patiently waits for the ketchup to slowly grace their hamburger or fries.  At the end they exclaim that "It was worth the wait!"

It seems lately we want everything now.  We have instant messaging, 24-hour bank machines and grocery stores, EPTs, microwavable dinners, news in the time it takes to connect to the net, and instant oatmeal.  Even ketchup bottles are squeezable so that it comes out faster. 

It seems to me that there just has to be some things in life that are "worth the wait."  There is value in the pause between the now and the then. 

It could be the time is needed for preparation.  I'm not just going to step out the door and run a marathon.  If I tried that, I can pretty much guarantee I will fail epically or you'll find me near dead at the end of the road.

It may be that time is needed for something to come to fruition.  That ripe strawberry is going to taste a lot better than the green one. (unless the chipmunk gets it first!)  I'd much rather eat the carrot than the seed.

It could be that it is something over which we have no control.  The last couple of weeks the media has been strangely obsessed with the birth of the new British royal heir.  They were waiting diligently to announce his birth. 

Our Catholic faith is filled with times of anticipation.  During Advent we wait for the birth of our Lord.  In Lent we anticipate His death and subsequent resurrection.  Even purgatory is a time of anticipation; we clean and renew our souls in the faith and hope of heaven.

Hang on, baby, the best is yet to come!


AMDG

How does your garden grow?

On the 4th we had a last minute, come-if-you-have nothing-to-do, holiday picnic. It ended up being just family and a couple of friends, but we had an awesome, relaxing time (minus me dumping over and shattering the ice tea dispenser). One of my favorite parts of the day was doing the requested “garden tour.”

We have a fairly large yard and lots of gardens. Lots of gardens means lots of plants. Lots of plants can get expensive but when you “shop” in families’ gardens the cost goes down tremendously and the memories go up exponentially. It was fun walking around pointing out plants that originated from both people that were there and those that weren’t.

The garden on the side of the driveway had traditionally been a catch all garden – where we put plants that we didn’t know what to do with. Up until the last couple of years it has been a mishmash of all sorts of perennials. When I was still doing the flowers at church I brought home spent Hydrangeas and azaleas after Easter and put them there. I moved some flowers from other spots in the yard to this garden. None of them survived.  

Funny thing how that garden turned out. One year mom split some of her lilies. She carefully marked each pot with the name of the plant and took pictures of the blooms on hers. They didn’t do very well for a while, barely hanging on. Last year I added in a number of bearded iris that dad split off of the plants in his back yard. This year the lilies are absolutely loaded with buds and blossoms. When they finally open it’s going to spectacular.

Last year when we became Godparents of Sara, Sis and BIL presented us with a shrub rose bush after the party. Since Sara’s Irish middle name means ”little rose” or “rosie” it was a most appropriate gift. Right next to it I planted a small, grocery store rose my aunt gave me for my first (God)mother’s day. She was so pleased to see that since May the plant has at least tripled in size.  

I caught my cousin checking out the butterfly bush in the backyard. Himself and I brought back a “volunteer” from my aunt and uncle’s yard when we visited them in Tennessee. This aunt is sister to both my mother and my cousin’s mom so it was fun to share its origin.  

While we were walking around I pointed out several plants that I either wanted to remove completely or thin out. My dad, cousin, and friend each went home with Scabiosa (doesn’t that sound like a disease?) to add to their gardens. Dad also pointed out several cone flowers that he liked. Once they are big enough to split, he’ll have a little more orange in his garden.  

I love wandering the gardens. Not only is it a joy to see the beautiful blooms, remembering where they came from is special too.

Now, if only someone would take those darn Hostas I’m trying to get rid of!


AMDG

A good read: I Thirst

Several weeks ago I received an email from a new author, Gina Marinello-Sweeney, who noticed on GoodReads that I enjoy Catholic fiction. She suggested giving her first published novel a try. I am certainly glad she contacted me!

In I Thirst we meet college student Rebecca Veritas at Ash Wednesday Mass. During offertory she receives a mysterious note that, though she doesn’t know it at this time, will have a profound effect on her life.  

Rebecca may by a typical, albeit quirky, college student but her friendship with Peter is anything but. As they navigate their friendship they decide to write a play together. As the story progresses they learn more about each other and more about themselves.

Gina’s style of writing makes this a work of literature in the truest sense of the word. She weaves a story in a rather lyrical fashion. At times you wonder where she is headed. But, similar to reading GK Chesterton, if you just keep on reading, her writing takes you somewhere beautiful.  

The ending of the book left you wanting more, more of what becomes of Rebecca and Peter and their relationship. I expect we will be reading much more of Gina’s work in the future.


AMDG