It's Been a Strange Few Days

 Being born in 1955 means I have lived through some turbulent times.  I was raised by parents who experienced the heartbreak of the Great Depression, served their country in WW2 and then had to watch as the very people they worked to raised and educate told them how worthless their lives were during the 1960's and 1970's.

Today there is a different wind blowing and it has picked up steam in the past 10 to 15 years.  Young people - our children and grandchildren - are trying to figure out what went wrong.  They have seen the devastation of drugs and alcohol has had on the family and, for many of them, they have returned to the Faith of their Grand and Great Grandparents.  Their ranks are swelling the Catholic Church.  They are trying to be good fathers and good mothers and I applaud their efforts. 

Like many they become zealous in their quest to be what they didn't have - good parents.  Many of them have become politically active and quite vocal in their belief that a return to an orthodoxy of Christian/Judaic values is the answer to a lot of the crap and horror they experienced as children (at the hands, I might add, of MY generation).  They want to put their families first.  They want to raise children with both parents in the home, with God as their guide.  They reject a lot of the folderol of subjective truth in a quest for Truth and for that quest I also applaud them.

Sometimes I agree with them and other times I do not but that is the way of the world.  My experience has been that these young men and women welcome people like me.  They WANT to hear another perspective, an historical one in many ways and because they want to hear it, oftentimes they are willing to try desperately NOT to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to constructing a loving, real and honest approach to politics, home and education.

Charlie Kirk was murdered on the 10th of September.  Described as a Conservative Activist for the Right, Charlie would visit college campuses and be willing to engage in spirited debate with those who, unfortunately, have been let down by educators and not taught how to do just that - present their ideas without being driven by emotion.   

I did not jump on the Charlie Kirk Bandwagon but I tried to listen to him without the film over my eyes of what I believe should be done in this country.  When I engaged in discussion with him or people like him I would try to bring my historical perspective into the conversation and, as a result, I got to have some GREAT discussions with him and others.  I am not a Trump Supporter.  I do not vote Democrat.  Because of my unique position as someone who has walked away from the Duopoly of American Politics I get listened to by the Right far more than I get listened to by the Left.  That is my experience.  

Mr. Kirk's murder has become a flashpoint for American Politics.  People are tired of the gun and a bullet being used to settle an argument, whether it be a political one or an argument over who gets to sell drugs in a local park, good people are freaking fed up with it.  It reminds me of how it felt in the late 60's when we lost so many of our leaders to the assassin's bullet. 

My prayer is that those who want to make our society a solid one not lose sight of the idea that it can be done.  My prayer is for those who believe that murder is the way to get what they want in this world - that they be converted to Love.  Charlie was NOT always right.  His method of getting attention is not something I approve of but his willingness to debate and keep people on their toes was positive.  We have to keep talking and bullets are not the answer.

And I pray for the women and children caught in the crossfire of hatred.

Lord, hear my prayer

Another First Week of August in the Books

 The first week of August has been a time of reflection for me since 1987.  August 7th, my husband drowned.  I pulled his body from the bottom of the swimming pool where I found him.  Later, at the hospital, I lost the child we had been expecting.  It was not a blob of tissue.  It looked like a little person and I looked at it on the floor of the hospital bathroom and my world shut down.  Hard.  My response to the tragedy of losing them both was hardly graceful and not in the least bit dignified. 

Thirty-eight years later and the life I am living IS full of grace and dignity - with the occasional heavy setback.  I walk with a different idea, different purpose and with the sorrow of that day kind of tucked somewhere in my heart to be used now for those who suffer much worse losses than me.  I lost my child before it had taken a breath outside my body.  I lost my husband who turned out to be the only man who ever loved me enough to want to marry me.  I had a successful marriage and my child is in heaven.  I hope my husband is too. My job, now, is to get there myself so I can (hopefully) worship with him in unity.

Today I get to live and be happy.  I CHOOSE to live and be happy.  I have a way of life that is second to none.  

This does not mean that missing or wondering about what my life could have looked like doesn't cross my mind.  Would my child have brought joy or sadness to the world? Would my husband and I have lived sober, happy lives as good parents and faithful spouses?  

Thinking about the 'might have beens' is just a part of the human experience.  It doesn't mean I am doing something wrong or need more therapy.  I may need more therapy but I am pretty sure that is because some of the older members of my Scottie Club drive me nuts.  No, all it means is I have been given a great gift by my Creator - the Gift of Remembrance.  I am not going to denigrate it by wallowing.  Neither am I going to ignore it because some people believe I should be 'over it' by now.

Oh and if anyone is wondering why I never remarried?

Simple....

Keanu Reeves never met me.

Now, if he would just come to his senses........

Today's Gospel - The Answer to Suffering

 Oh how easy it is to forget what one can do with suffering!  

Today I read a reminder of how protecting myself - the body - leaves me stunted in my ability to live.  The reminder was timely because I have been trying so hard to stay safe, believing that being safe is a right I have rather than a state of being that comes and goes.

I do not have a right to safety; rather, what I have is an opportunity every day to live united with my God.  My God understands what life hands me because He experienced it as a human - being tired, angry, lonely and hungry.  Ultimately, He suffered the greatest evil ever committed on the planet He created, that of His own murder at the Hands of His own creatures.

So I have to remember that God knows.  God knows that when another one of His creatures attacks it is going to sting, it is going to shake my feeling of safety and belonging.  If I can remember that HE knows then when it happens I can react better.  Once again, I can be a better Leslie.

That is always the goal, right?  I want to be better.  I really do want to grow.  I want to be what I want to see - a woman of grace and dignity.

Lord, help me accept Your Grace so that I may live outwardly rather than hunched over defending myself. Help me trust You.

Lord, I believe.

Help my unbelief.

I am a Better Woman Today

 The past weeks have been up and down, crazy busy and full of both laughter and tears. I believe I just described life in general.  I have been living life and enjoying life and wanting the most out of life and grabbing what I can from, well, LIFE.

Nothing would be any good, however, if I did not learn something.  Every day I get a chance to observe, listen and then make a decision as to what remains in my life and what gets removed.  

As I approach my 70th birthday, I am reminded that milestones like this one matter.  If I am the same person I was at 65 then I have wasted five years I will never get back.  I am happy to report that I am not the same woman I was five years ago.  I am a better woman today.

There are people who would disagree with that statement.  The ones who would disagree are people I have only the base line of respect for - I acknowledge their humanity and their inherent dignity as creatures of The Creator but I do not want them in my house, around my Scottish Terriers or near my car at night.  They are untrustworthy, dishonorable humans.  I wish them well and hold them in prayer.

I am a better woman today.  I learned something this past ten days about someone and now I will approach my relationship with them in a different manner.  Do they get a second chance?  Oh hell no...I am a better woman, not a stupid one, and they demonstrated their inner character.  I take note, I smile, I love them and now? I guard my heart.  They cannot be trusted with information.

I am a better woman today.  I have watched people the past five years demonstrate their eagerness to shoot for the moon.  They work so hard, never let their children down, are intelligent in their analysis of what goes on in the world. Those people are now in my wheelhouse of friends. That's what I want around me. 

I am a better woman today. My relationship with God and His Church is solid and not dictated by who is Pope or president of my country.  When I pray, I feel His Presence. When I worship it is not about me, it is about Him. When I get scared or anxious, He comforts me. I finally understand St Therese of Lisieux writing about crawling into the lap of her Heavenly Father and what that means.  

Being the Last One Standing has helped.  While I am so grateful for the extended family I have, knowing that the three that were the ones who shaped me have gone on ahead changes a person. I am changed.  I am not the same.

 I am a better woman today.

Happy Mother's Day!

 Happy Mother's Day and yes, even after five years I still miss my Mom.

She would have just loved what I am doing right now with these puppies.  She would have LOVED Nicole and Adrian and Joanne would have a new Mom. 

I have deep sympathy for those men and women who did not have good mothers.  I have met so many of them!  The majority were damaged by alcohol and drugs and all the ugliness that goes with it. However, a few I have met really had mothers who were mentally ill but undiagnosed.  They truly suffered as children. To meet them today and see how they live lives of quiet dignity it a testament to the Human Spirit.

It is also difficult to be my age and no one's mother.  Oh, listen - I am profoundly grateful for my role as a spiritual mother and I do not dismiss the impact I have had on people.  Still, there is always that tiny little ache in the depth of my heart.  It is my cross and I get to carry it.  

Mother's Day is a secular holiday but I do think it is a good thing to stop, ponder and give thanks to the women who raised us.  And, if we were not blessed with good women who raised us it is important to think of some woman in our lives who has given us the love and acceptance every human needs.

Happy Mother's Day.