Saturday, August 8, 2020

BEING MORE INTENTIONAL ABOUT VERY ORDINARY THINGS - TWENTY-ONE

This is the twenty-first in a series of periodic reflections on the "ordinary things" that many people do on a regular basis without much thought. During this pandemic, I am developing a need to "rage, rage" against haste and laziness and replace it with care and attention. My hope is to become personally more intentional about doing ordinary things with care and focused attention, while inspiring others to maybe do the same.

HAVING A SAFE PLACE TO LIVE

My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust.
God's faithfulness is a protecting shield.
Psalm 91:2,4

During this pandemic, it is very easy to focus on all the bad things that are happening - sickness, unemployment, racial unrest, nasty personal behaviors of all kinds and even death.

As an alternative to being overly focused on all that, I am making a deliberate effort to do two things - focus on the needs of others and focus on the things for which I need to be grateful.

The other day, I heard there was a tropical storm heading right for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines where I have been volunteering for the last five years. I thought of the mudslides that I have seen covering the roads after lots of rain. I thought about all those mountainside shacks that I have passed many times when I have been down there. I thought of the poor families living in them during a tropical storm, scared that a mudslide might engulf them or scared that their home could collapse around them any minute and everything they own could be swept away, leaving them dead in some ravine never to be seen again. I keep asking myself, "what is it like not having a safe place to live?"

I thought about all those people, one pay check away from eviction, wondering what in the world their families would do if they were asked to leave their rented homes. I have never had to think about being kicked out of the home I lived in because it belonged to someone else and I could not afford to pay them for the right to live there! Some of them have been going through that anxiety every month for years. Some of them have had to move more times than they can probably remember. I keep asking myself, "what is it like not having a safe place to live?"

It crossed my mind at some point that some people are forced to live in terror of physical, verbal, psychological and sexual abuse. For them, their house is not a "home," but a prison, a psych ward and a torture chamber with no escape route. I keep asking myself, "what is it like not having a safe place to live?"

I try to imagine what it would be like to live in a dangerous, high-crime area, where people have to sleep with one eye open and a gun or knife under their pillow in case of a home invasion, where people have to listen to shouting and cursing most of the night, where people are afraid to go outside even during the day or open their door to anyone who knocks? I keep asking myself, "what is it like not having a safe place to live?"

Then I look around my roomy, Germantown, paid-for, air-conditioned, secure condo and I realize how blessed I am! When I go to bed an night, I know that I will sleep peacefully and secure and with nothing really to worry about! When I really take the time to think of others, I am filled with a sense of gratitude. I realize again that my little "aggravations" are not really "problems" so surely I can at least give up complaining. When I go to bed at night, expecting a peaceful restful sleep, I pray for those who do not have that luxury in their lives. I ask God to protect them from harm. I ask God to help me break the habit of "making mountains out of molehills" because I know what it is like to have a safe place to live.

Thursday, August 6, 2020

BEING MORE INTENTIONAL ABOUT VERY ORDINARY THINGS - TWENTY

This is the twentieth in a series of periodic reflections on the "ordinary things" that many people do on a regular basis without much thought. During this pandemic, I am developing a need to "rage, rage" against haste and laziness and replace it with care and attention. My hope is to become personally more intentional about doing ordinary things with care and focused attention, while inspiring others to maybe do the same.

HOME ALONE

Eleanor Rigby

The Beatles

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby
Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window
Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Father McKenzie
Writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working
Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby
Died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie

Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved

All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all belong?

SONG WRITERS: John Lennon/PaulMcCartney

The day I drafted this blog post, I had not been out of the house all day - for several days in fact - but I never felt lonely. It was because nine people called or wrote to me just that day. In a typical day, I may be here alone, but I am certainly not without human contact. Their calls, cards, texts and lunch invitations validate the words in the picture above. "The worst feeling isn't being lonely...it's being forgotten." It was comforting to know that I may be out of people's sight, but I am not out of people's hearts and minds! For that, I am "simply amazed and forever grateful!"

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

STORES ARE PRACTICALLY GIVING SCHOOL SUPPLIES AWAY HERE....

......THEY COULD REALLY USE THEM IN SAINT VINCENT

IN AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER I AM COLLECTING SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR THE ISLAND MISSIONS

One of the best things in Saint Vincent, in spite of its poverty, is the Catholic School system and the pride that people have in their children and the value they place on education.

"Operation School Supplies" and "Operation New Priest Rectory" are in progress in my garage. Since I am always working on boxes to the missions, I have to keep my poor car outside most of the time!

Theodora McKenzie Pre-School

Saint Mary's Cathedral School
KINGSTOWN
(@400 children)

Saint Joseph Convent Secondary School
(one class)
KINGSTOWN

(girls high school)

Saint Martin's Secondary School
KINGSTOWN

(boys high school)

Saint Joseph Convent
MARRIAQUA
(boys and girls high school)

THE RELIGIOUS SISTERS OF SVG

Corpus Christi Carmelite Sisters
Sr. Nyra Anne and Sr. Carmen

Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny

Sr. Martha, Sr. Augustine, Sr. Natania and Sr. Jacinta

Of course, we will take whatever items you find, but we prefer the less heavy items since it costs quite a bit to send a very heavy box (spiral notebooks and filler paper). Crayons, pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, glue, scissors, markers, paper clips, backpacks, erasers. rulers and the like are much lighter to ship.

If you don't like to shop, we of course, will take monetary donations as well. It costs money to send the items down there and we maintain a small "Sisters' Request Fund" for emergency needs throughout the school year.

MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO:
Saint Bartholomew Church - SVG Mission Fund

SEND CHECKS TO:
Rev. Ronald Knott
1271 Parkway Gardens Court
#106
Louisville, KY 40217

FOR DROPPING OFF SCHOOL SUPPLIES CALL:
Father Ronald Knott
1-502-303-4571
jrknott@bellsouth.net