Give Yourself a Booster
I’m feeling a bit like a pincushion. In the last eight months I have had a Shingles shot and booster, two Covid shots, one flu shot, and today, I received a Covid booster. All these were precautionary measures to protect myself from possible harm, sickness, and even death. As I sat there today, for the mandatory fifteen minutes after the Covid vaccination making sure I didn’t self-destruct, I got to thinking about just what the purpose of a booster is. I looked up the Wikipedia definition of a booster when I got home and here it is: In medical terms, a booster dose is an extra administration of a vaccine after an earlier (primer) dose. After initial immunization, a booster injection or booster dose is a re-exposure to the immunizing antigen. It is intended to increase immunity against that antigen back to protective levels, after memory against that antigen has declined through time. A booster is a reminder to the cells of our bodies of the power we have to fight the enemy that threatens, one that we have encountered before but of which our memory has declined over time. A spiritual booster then, is something that reminds our souls of the power we were given to fight the enemy that threatens. One (or many) that we have encountered previously, but of which our memory has declined over time. What are those enemies that our souls have to fight constantly? Those invaders that threaten to harm us, make us spiritually sick, even spiritually dead? Discouragement, negative self -talk, doubt, despair, wild imaginings, false beliefs about ourselves and others, inflated egos, lustful desires, insecurities, and pride to name just a few. Early on we were exposed to the antidote for all of these soul viruses. At our baptism we were “inoculated“ with the Holy Spirit. We were given the power to fight off all these threats to our spiritual health. But time and life make our memories fade and we need to receive a booster of the Holy Spirit. In the Catholic faith we see the sacrament of Confirmation as that booster shot of the Holy Spirit in a more formal sense but that power is available to all of us all the time. We can administer a booster shot of the Holy Spirit anytime we need to. We just need to ask. Jesus made sure that we would be fully covered against all threats when He promised to send...
What’s Next
So, let’s talk about Heaven. It’s been on my mind lately since our family has experienced the loss of a loved one as did a very close friend of mine. Where is heaven? What is heaven? Who is there? Who isn’t there? Are there dogs in heaven? Are there people there that I struggled to get along with in this life and do I have to be nice to them? Seriously though, I’m digging for some answers besides the aggravating “We just don’t know” or “It’s a mystery.” The more people I know that have headed there, the more I want to know about this place. God’s word in Scripture is always a good place to start looking for truths so let’s look at what we’ve been told by God about heaven. In his essay “Heaven-What Is it Like and Where Is it?” Dr. Ray Pritchard compiles these verses as truths of Heaven. The Father's house (John 14:2-3). My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. Where Christ is today (Acts 1:11). “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” A city designed and built by God - (Hebrews 11:16). Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Paradise (Luke 23:43). (To the thief on the cross next to Jesus), “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." He goes on to say, Everyone wants to know about heaven and everyone wants to go there. Recent polls suggest that nearly 80% of all Americans believe there is a place called heaven. I find that statistic encouraging because it tells me that even in this skeptical age there is something deep inside the human heart that cries out, "There's got to be something more. Something more than the pain and suffering of this life. Something more than 70 or 80 years on planet...
Get Out of the Street
I was on a walk with a friend last week and she reminded me of the classic grade school fall art project we all did where we dipped small sponges in gold, red, and orange paint and dabbed them on paper to make awesome looking trees. Just like the ones that line our streets these days. There are so many memories I have of fall as a kid: the smell of burning leaves, the crisp air, the shuffle and crunch of the leaves on the sidewalks, the honking of geese flying overhead, and the sight of that first taffy apple three-pack on the kitchen counter. Another thing I noticed not so long ago as fall began its arrival was the increasingly erratic behavior of squirrels. Most of the summer I’d see them scampering up and down the tree trunks and sometimes showing off their acrobatic skills as they swung from tree to tree. For the most part they seemed carefree. Not so much these last few weeks. As the days get shorter, it seems nature is calling them to a frantic preparation for the winter ahead. I see a lot of stockpiling of acorns and other squirrel fare in holes in our yard. Their carefreeness seems to have turned in to carelessness. I have seen more squirrels darting across the streets or just sitting in the street lately. I found myself having to come almost to a complete stop before they would move. In their frenzy to prepare for what’s coming, they’ve become reckless and put themselves at risk. In light of this autumnal observation, I smiled when my sister’s friend sent the following quote last week. Me yelling at squirrels in the street to move so they don’t die is probably the same feeling God has watching me live my life most days. @shelbylgettys God is so patient with us as we become reckless in our relationship with Him. In our efforts to prepare for, or rather control, whatever it is we perceive to be coming, we often spend our days stockpiling assurances for the future. A future we desperately try to control. We don’t allow God to lead. We miss the present and His presence, and His provision. I picture God watching us do our best and repeatedly trying to gently draw us into a new awareness of His constant love and desire to protect us from our recklessness. He longs to keep us moving in the right direction. That is,...
Lamenting
Every time I sat down to write a blog this week and last week I stopped. I couldn’t do it because I always write about what is real and ripe in my daily experience and for the last month what has been real and ripe and in my face is grief. So much sadness. And who wants to hear about sadness? But like I said in my last blog, we are supposed to be here for each other in the joys and in the sorrows. Sorrow is part of life and to deny it and smile it away isn’t healthy. Pretending gets us nowhere. It needs to be expressed. Our son-in-law’s mom passed away very suddenly while on vacation in Germany last week. I’m so sad for her husband, my son-in-law, his siblings, my daughter, and my grandchildren. The list goes on and on. So many people that I know personally are struggling these days. Some with serious health issues related to Covid, a friend who lost her mom, a friend who lost a son, a friend who lost a grandbaby, and a friend whose son is struggling to respond after a severe brain trauma. Too much oh Lord, too much. Where are you? When will it end? Why, why, why?? When we allow ourselves to express these real, raw, honest emotions, we are lamenting. And God wants us to lament. There are so many examples of it in the Bible. As we learned in Well Time this week at Firstfruits, lamenting means to express sorrow or regret. God doesn’t want us to mask our feelings. He wants all of us, all of our emotions, even our sorrow, our despair, our grief. He wants to hold us close, wants to wipe away every tear from our eyes. He cares about the parts of us that are burdened and weary. He wants to use our sorrow and anguish to draw us closer to him. Lamenting is the first step on the pathway to healing and hope. Can you have sorrow without suffering? Do they have to go hand in hand? Do you think we prolong the suffering by not allowing God to enter our sorrow to the extent that he longs for? Maybe the first step to letting Him in is letting Him know. Go ahead, lament. Joan A Prayer of Lament Lord, I know that you are faithful over all things, even the hard, dark times of my life. Help me...
Real Family
I’m not sure what a dream analysis would reveal of the dream I had last night. I’m afraid to think about it. I was at a family wedding with all our kids which seems normal enough. Sitting next to me, however, in place of my husband, was Fred Gwynne, a.k.a. Herman Munster from The Munsters TV show. We were holding hands. What does this mean? The theme that comes to my mind in all of this is family. Weddings bring families together. Our kids were all there as a family. And then there was representation from one of the wackiest families to bring some comic relief. That is something we all could use more of these days. Yesterday, in our Abiding Prayer session we experienced another sort of family. The family we inherit as daughters of God. A family of sisters in Christ. I’ve never really liked that term. It sounds so formal. But how else do you describe the sisterhood of women who are forever bonded by their love for Jesus and its resulting love for each other. There is so much sorrow and suffering going on lately and much of it has landed in our Firstfruits family. It felt so good to be together to share the burdens and sprinkle the hope. There is a spiritual classic called Hind’s Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. It is an allegory of a spiritual life. The main character is Much-Afraid. The story follows her path from leaving her past filled with fear and heading for higher places with the Shepherd. He promises good for her but it involves a journey. He promises to give her guides on the journey. Those guides’ names end up being Sorrow and Suffering. Not what she had hoped for. The Shepherd instructs her when things get difficult on the journey, to grab hold of their hands and they will guide her to where she needs to go. Most often when things get difficult, we rather grab hold of relief and resolution as fast as we can. But some things are just too big. And the only way through them is to grab hold of sorrow and suffering and trust that they will lead us where the Shepherd wants us to go. To where the Shepherd is waiting. Sometimes it takes a family to help us grab hold and hang on. God knew that and gave us each other. Your sister in...
Muchness
It’s three o’clock in the afternoon and I have been meaning to sit down and write this blog since 10:30 this morning. I just kept getting distracted, on purpose. There were the flower pots that needed watering especially in these last few weeks before the cooling winds and creeping darkness let them know their time is up. Bless their “impatiens” little hearts, they left their finest blooming to these last few weeks. A grand exit. There was the over-abundance of vegetables I purchased at Trader Joes yesterday, in my effort to replace sugar with greens, that needed washing and cutting. (I’ll let you know how that goes…) There was the pile of junk mail to sort through and clip all the coupons we will never use. Oh, and the bird feeders were empty and laundry needed to be done. Etc., Etc., Etc.…… All the while hearing the still, small voice telling me to write. But at the same time hearing my not so small internal voice telling me to fret and stress and over think. Preventing me from putting fingers to the keyboard. At Well Time this morning we talked about Inspiration and what inspires you. A quote from actress/comedian Tina Fey struck me. She said “Don’t overthink it, just go down the waterslide!” How often our over thinking paralyzes us and keeps good things from happening. We don’t use our gifts. We allow distractions, doubts, and fears to keep us from finding the muchness in life, and in ourselves. In Kobi Yamada’s book, Finding Muchness - How to Add More Life to Life, he says “Muchness is the full-hearted abundance of hope, joy and imagination that each of us has when we come into this world. It is there for us to love, to dare, to dream, to create and to live our best life. But over time, as we take on more responsibilities and worries, our doubts and fears have a way of growing with us. And because of this, we can lose much of our muchness.” I think another way to put this is the abundant life that Jesus promised us and the Holy Spirit fulfills in us, if we hand over the reins. A life in the Spirit is a life of muchness. A freedom to love, to dare, to dream, to create and to live our best life. Writing to you each week puts me in touch with my muchness. It’s what adds a...
Something Good
Do you ever have moments in life when you feel like you’ve just gotten a big hug from God? When your worries, whether justifiable or the product of your own unfounded ruminations, seem to disappear. When the hurts and resentments that have taken up permanent residence in your thoughts take a nap. When the beauty around you comes into such clear view that you feel like crying. That happened to me this week. On a getaway up north with three beautiful women I get to call friends, I had moments when the food, the sharing, the surroundings, and the ease and beauty of it all overwhelmed me. When those moments overtook me, not only did I get a lump in my throat, but the words from my favorite musical echoed in my head: Nothing comes from nothing Nothing ever could So somewhere in my youth or childhood I must have done something good. Maria and Captain Von Trapp exchanged these words in that moon-lit gazebo in The Sound of Music. For some reason (maybe because I am obsessed with that movie) I think of that when I feel those God hugs. Isn’t it funny that my first thought, when I feel goodness, beauty, and love, is to make it be a reward for something? It can’t just be. Reward, rather than divine love, because nothing comes from nothing right? Wrong. God’s love comes from nothing we do. It was there before we could do anything and never ends. I think God gets frustrated with us when we can’t just accept His tender mercies and glimpses of divine beauty as testimony to His unwavering, unconditional love for us. We don’t have to earn them or deserve them. They just are. If we could accept that and relax in it, imagine how much peace and joy would flood our days. I think that is what He has in mind. Joan Something does come from nothing I’m loved before I could Somehow from my youth to adulthood (and beyond) God continues to do something (very) good. Here is something really good! Registration for Firstfruits' new season is officially open! Check out our line-up of awesome offerings both In-Person and on Zoom at Firstfruits.info. I pray that you can join us and please spread the word!...
Me and My Bike
I found this gal at TJ Maxx this week and had to bring her home. She reminded me that I need to be resting and so I am. No blog this week, I’m resting with Him. I hope you are too. (See last week’s blog.) Joan...
Just Enjoy the Rest
I don’t know what it is about summer, but suddenly God seems very far away. I’m asking, seeking, and knocking, but it appears nobody is home. I know they always say when that happens, it is not that God has gone anywhere, we have. So, then I ramp up my spiritual practices to make up for it. More rosaries, more daily devotionals and scripture reading, and getting to mass before the opening song. I find myself reading scripture slower and being more deliberate in my prayer. All good things done with the right intention. Sometimes it all just seems like I’m putting on a show for God. Making our way back ends up feeling like a lot of work. I don’t think that is what God intends for us. Do you suppose this summer feeling isn’t a call to work for God, it’s a call to rest with God? Not rest from God, but rest with. Stop working so hard to be spiritual and use the energy and time to recognize God in the simple goodness of life. We’ve heard the verse “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.” How about “Rest and see the goodness of the Lord?” How often our spiritual life just seems like a lot of things to do. It’s no wonder we wander at times. We need to take the time to wonder at all the goodness around us. This time of year, it’s a bit easier since the days are warmer, the trees and gardens are lush and green, and we find ourselves on vacations or staycations with family and friends. So much goodness all around. God is closer than ever, maybe just not in the way you think it should be. So, pull up an extra lawn chair, set out an extra plate of watermelon, grill an extra brat, and invite God to join you as you rest the rest of this summer with Him. Don’t fret if you feel disconnected and wondering where God is. He’s just grabbing a soda out of the cooler. Joan...
Where Do I Belong
I grew up in a suburb of Chicago. Niles, Illinois to be exact. Home of the Leaning Tower of Pisa YMCA. (See picture above) I’m not kidding you. Why and how, I have no idea. We never asked. It just seemed normal to me as a kid. Who doesn’t see a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa on their way to swim lessons? My senior year in high school, my best friend Mary and I decided to go visit her sister who was attending the University of Wisconsin- LaCrosse. I had no idea where that was but thought, why not. Mary and I took the five-hour Amtrak ride to LaCrosse and immediately, I fell in love with the bluffs and the fact that I was not too far away from home but far enough to feel like I was on my own. Mary and I knew we had found the university we would call home for the next four years. One fateful day my freshman year, while treating myself to a soft serve cone at the food center on campus, I met a tall, dark, and handsome fella from Mineral Point, Wisconsin and the rest is history. Part of that history was settling in Milwaukee. I love Milwaukee...