Sunday, September 20, 2009

I've Been Tagged

First of all, apologies for disappearing for two weeks. I ended up going on a last minute trip, and will be posting some pictures in an upcoming post!

(Here's a hint, in case you want to play Where in the World was Michael: October 4th and Top 5. Any guesses?)

In the meantime, Christopher tagged me with the Honest Scrap award and I will fulfill my obligation in this post. Christopher's blog, Sanctus Christopher, is a nice mix of wit, photos, and religious commentary. I always enjoy stopping by. (And thanks for tagging me Christopher.)

Without further ado, here are "Ten Honest Facts About Myself". And since there don't appear to be any guidelines about topics, I will share 5 religious facts and 5 non-religious facts.

Non-Religious

1) I really don't like talking about myself. Jesus, yes. Peter and Paul, yes. Myself, not so much.

2) Stealing a topic from Christopher ... I sing Sinatra in the shower. With over 300 singles to choose from, I take really long showers.

3) Speaking of which, I have always wished I could sing. Maybe even make it my profession. (But since this is an Honest Fact post, I must admit I could shatter windows.)

4) You don't believe me? In 2nd grade we put on a singing concert for all the parents. After the third rehearsal, the teacher pulled me aside and said that instead of singing, I would be playing the triangle. Said it was a very important role that only I could perform. I believed her.

5) I am an optimist. About life, and about people.

Religious

6) I listen to the bible every morning in the car. (Thank you Daily Audio Bible)

7) I have never been to the Holy Land, but would love to go someday. I can't even imagine how spiritually moving it must be stand where Jesus and His Apostles stood.

8) I think Ave Maria is the most beautiful song in the world.

9) Embarrassingly enough, for a good part of my life, I thought Mark and Luke were Apostles.

10) And to show you that I still have a long way to go, I just tried to name the 12 original Apostles off the top of my head and I missed one. (Sorry, Thaddeus!)

Ok, Christopher, I believe this fulfills my duties. For the rest of you, I am sorry you had to sit through this!

God Bless all of you.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Much

I was in the park the other day when I saw a middle aged gentleman sitting rather quietly.

All of a sudden, he started waving his hands frantically in the air, and then began hitting himself in the head. This outburst was followed by 20 seconds of laughing, and then silence.

As he repeated this sequence a few more times, I realized he had some sort of mental or physical disability - or both.

I don't know about you, but when I see someone like that I get a huge knot in my stomach, followed by a giant tug at my heart.

The huge knot is my conscience raining perspective down upon me - reminding me how fortunate I am.

The giant tug is God reminding me of Luke 12:28:

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded;
And from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
"Much", of course, is a relative term. But the fact that I am typing this blog, and can read all of yours, pretty much means I am in the "much" camp.

Which means I've got work to do.

God, please help all of us to be your vessels here on Earth; to use the unique gifts you have given us to promote your Kingdom.

God Bless.