Here's to some good country music by my favorite all-time

 

Just enjoyed a session of music therapy from the legendary singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson. 

My mom and dad introduced me to his music as a child, and his music never disappoints me. 

By far my favorite all-time.

Hope you have a favorite of your own that you can relax to and enjoy.

John 14:6

John 14:6 in the bible is where Jesus proclaims that He is "the way and the truth and the life." 

 If you don't know your way, He is the way. 

 If you don't know the truth, He is the truth. 

 If you don't have a life, He is the life. 

When I read this this morning and realized what that means, I was on my knees in awe and adoration.

What could we have done to merit so great a Savior. My answer to that is nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

 He came to us and shared our misery so that we could share in his glory. 

 It is my prayer this morning that you have a wonderful day. 

 You deserve it.

(The icon below from Eastern Christianity depicts Christ's descent into Hell to forcefully pull Adam and Eve from their graves. I hope it brings you some comfort in a way.)

The forgotten 9th beatitude... lol

 

When I was in the process of converting to Catholicism when I was 23 years old, I was in danger of becoming an overly serious fuddy duddy.

Then the good, Irish American priest who was giving us instruction gave us one of the best antidotes to taking ourselves too seriously.

It was a lesson on the 8 beatitudes that Jesus gave us in the Bible during his Sermon on the Mount. The priest presented each one with the care and thoughtfulness that they deserve, and then...

He ended the lesson by saying "...but you knowww... most people don't know that there is a forgotten 9th beatitude that most people don't know about.

"Blessed are those who can unwind the uptight..." he said with a wry smile.

Point taken. I can only imagine what our good priests have to put up with with the overly serious.

Thank you, God, for giving humans the gift of an appropriate sense of humor.

And thank you to all those Looney Tunes creatives who gave us a small part of what was a wonderful childhood.

I still laugh at them when I see the old clips. 

I know, I'm dating myself.

A broader, comforting definition of the word "church"

Last fall, I was going to church a lot during some turmoil to sit quietly and pray, and I got to that Franciscan shrine that I mentioned in the previous post.

It was the afternoon, and as I approached the entrance, I noticed an older lady locking up for the day.

I said, "Oh your closing," a little disappointed.

She smiled and then casually said something profound that I hadn't quite realized before.

She gently said, "The Church never closes, but sometimes the doors to the buildings do."

Some recent advice from a Fransican friar

Last year, I went through a bit of an upheaval after my dad passed, and I sought the advice of a Franciscan priest that I've known over the years to get his perspective from a religious point of view. I wasn't looking for medical advice from a priest, and I didn't need it as I have a good psychiatrist for that.

He asked me to tell him my story and what I've been through since converting to Catholicism as a young man and subsequently being diagnosed with a mental illness after having a breakdown in a seminary when I was 26 years old.

I gave him the abridged version of my life in about 20 minutes, and he immediately gave me 3 things to focus on.

1.    Manage your sleep well.

2.    Eat healthy food.

3.    Live a boring life. He said a boring life is a spiritual life.

 I laughed at that last one and said I think I can handle that. It took the pressure off of always trying to put on a show for other people. I am happy with my quiet life.

He said he has a regular communicant at the Franciscan shrine where he serves who has pretty severe schizophrenia, and he said you'd never know it to speak to her.

That shrine is dedicated in name to Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted, and it is in a beautiful setting next to a large gem of a municipal park.

I take my medications religiously and adhere to the good medical advice that I get from doctors, but I need to be fed spiritually as well, and he patiently listened to me and did that for me that day.

Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted, pray for us.

Remembering a turning point in my mental health

In 2004, ten years after I was diagnosed with my mental health condition, I experienced a minor miracle that led to a major improvement in the trajectory that I had been headed on.

That whole previous decade had been spent moving from place to place, from one job to another, and cycling through hospitals with little or no progress.

I had ended up back at home with my parents in 2000, having been defeated once again.

I was immediately asked to serve on the local county mental health board as their consumer member, which I eagerly accepted. (I ended up successfully serving for two full terms, which was 8 years total.)

At the same time in 2000, I was asked to teach a mental health recovery class sponsored by NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill)

From 2000 to 2004, I felt like a total hypocrite, again having to be hospitalized a couple more times during that time.

One major common denominator in all the previous 10 years of relapses was the fact that at some point in each deterioration, I stopped taking my medication and would, quite frankly, wind up somewhere close to hell, another dead end.

In the summer of 2004, I was in my bedroom, and the anxiety and racing thoughts started to kick in again. I acutely felt that dreaded spiraling cycle in me again. I recognized at that point that if I were to run again it would be that same living death and dead end. 

I distinctly remember praying to God and making the decision at that crucial point to stay on my medication.

I told God that I was going to give the medication a chance to work, and I went out on our back porch, where my dad was sitting, and told him that I needed to get to the emergency room to be treated.

That ability to make that decision at that crucial point, I consider to be a minor miracle.

I was treated for a month in the hospital, and though that was difficult, as it always is, my life improved dramatically from that point forward.

I had broken through to the other side and was allowing God to heal me with the help of modern medicine. No more doubts.

I have remained medication compliant to this day, some 22 years later.

An old pic from university days

This pic was taken way back in 1986 or '87, I think.

I was pretty good at anchoring this 8, but had a short-lived career because I had already blown out my knee in high school.

I then focused on getting my engineering degree and moving on. We even got to compete on the Schuylkill River in Philly. 

A lot of fun while it lasted.