God's Grandeur

A poem by Gerald Manley Hopkins:

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not neck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs -
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

The Screwtape Letters: Chapter 6

Each week I will summarize a chapter from The Screwtape Letters.

In this chapter Lewis talks about how we must be concerned with the things we can control, and the things present in our life. We have a tendency to focus on the things that are out of our control, or the things that "might happen," and this can cause us to neglect the here and now.

"He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them." (28)

Lewis talks also about what we think of when we picture "carrying our cross," which Jesus tells us is necessary if we want to follow Him. When we think of it, we might think of the fears that we have, or the things that might happen but we are trying to mentally prepare ourselves for.

But then, at the same time we are preparing ourselves, we are complaining about some work project, or how we think we should make a little more money, or that so and so said something rude to us. And on and on. But those are the crosses we are called to carry, those are the things where we must simply submit to the Lord's will.

Let us then focus on the things that are in our control, the trials that we currently face in our life and just can't seem to get over or stop thinking about. Let us focus on the things we can change, and the people we can help. Then we will be doing the will of God and carrying out His plan.

The Prayer of St. Francis

This is a good reminder of how to live life:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

We Have a Responsibility to the Earth

You have possibly heard a quote along the lines of, "We did not inherit the earth from our grandparents, it is on loan to us from future generations."

After reading an article in National Geographic about Namibia (where almost half of the landmass consists of national parks, communal conservancies, and private wilderness reserves), it strikes me that we have a definite responsibility to take care of the Earth.

The Earth and creation will only be beautiful for as long as we sustain it. We can do this by not littering (few things drive me so nuts as when someone rolls down their window and tosses out garbage!!), or using energy efficiently. I am sure that you have heard countless suggestions and ways to keep the Earth clean.

If you are going to enjoy the outdoors (and you should), you must be respectful of it. Leave no trace, and all of that. I am sure everyone has heard it all before, but it is easy to not really pay attention. But it is so important to follow those rules, so that the wildlife, the plants, the landscape, all of it can remain beautiful.

If we don't care of our plane, who will? It is all of God's creation, and as much as we can be in awe of the beauty that is out there, we need to do our best to ensure that our children and their children on down the line have that same opportunity.

Scripture Sunday: Psalm 145: 1-3

Every Sunday on this site I will take some time to look at a passage from the Bible that I like and think is great... though they could obviously be presented by themselves without further mention, I will throw my two cents in on what the verse(s) mean to me.

Today we look at one of the Psalms dedicated to the greatness of God, and glorifying Him in our lives.

"I will extol you, my God and king; I will bless your name forever. Every day I will bless you; I will praise your name forever. Great is the Lord and worthy of high praise; God's grandeur is beyond understanding." (Psalm 145: 1-3)

A priest in a homily regarding this Psalm said that these were the thoughts of a person who is "child-like" (as opposed to childish)... someone that gives praise to God and glorifies Him.

If we live our lives with this attitude, it will make us more joyful people. If only we could fully trust in the goodness of the Lord, how many worries would simply melt away? Let us not always try to understand everything in the world, but rather enjoy the beauty and grandeur of it. Let yourself be swept away in its greatness.

The Screwtape Letters: Chapter 5

Each week I will summarize a chapter from The Screwtape Letters.

In this chapter they are discussing a war that is going on in the world. Initially, Screwtape is happy because he believes it an ideal time to make the person "bad," but Wormwood warns him to not think it so easy.

It reminds us that there can be good through any circumstance and any trial. Even terrible things such as war, we can learn and grow from them. We know that God means to bring out a positive in any situation. We must look at all of the hardships in life, and all of the bad things around us, as opportunities to grow closer to God and grow in virtue.

There is another line in this chapter that really hits home for me:

"And how disastrous for us is the continual remembrance of death which war enforces. One of our best weapons, contended worldliness, is rendered useless. In wartime not even a human can believe that he is going to live forever." (27)

This was good for me to read because I am still at the point in life where it seems like (in my mind) I will live forever. And most definitely that can lead to a sense of complacency, and that I will have forever to do the things that I want, to help who I want to help, and become the person I want to be.

But the funny thing about life is that we don't actually have all of that time. Things can change in an instant... the only certainty in life is that it won't go as planned. It reminds me of a quote from Steve Jobs Commencement Speech (emphasis mine):

"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

--------

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma–which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Today is the day to start doing the things you really want in life, to become the person you've always wanted to be.

Because I am a nerd :)
Populations are based on the 2010 census, just the population in the city (not surrounding areas):

How To Quit Your Job

A lot of people don't like their jobs. They would love to quit, do something else, retire, or any number of things. But they don't, usually because they can't (or don't think they can) afford to quit their job. Sometimes, they are right.

However, the disappointing thing is that most people in this situation don't actually do anything to try and change their life. This generally is because they have a fundamental misunderstanding about money, and the affect that it has in their life.

After reading Your Money or Your Life, it has driven the point very hard into me - our society does not understand money and what it does to people. We are ruled by materialism, and it is making a lot of people lead unhappy lives. We live in a society where "more is better," and where it is looked down upon to live a simple life where you don't need new gadgets.

This type of attitude seems to make people think (in my opinion) that they need certain things, or that their life will be happy if they can only afford [new car, huge house, etc]. No longer is it enough to simply take care of your needs, we need more and more stuff (even if it doesn't make us any happier).

Of course, this has an averse effect on our life in the big picture. If we buy more stuff we don't need, we will have less money for savings, for retirement, for having some money just in case we decide we want to pursue a different direction in our career.

In the long run, we buy things we don't need (or really even want) with money that would be better used for savings, which means we have to work more and longer at a place we don't like. Seems kind of funny, no?

If you find yourself in a situation where you are dissatisfied with your career and your job, you have a choice. You can look for another job, and you can also rein in your spending as best as you can, to put yourself in a better position for you to make changes.

After all, cutting back on some non-necessities sounds a whole lot better to me than continuing in the rat race you never wanted to run in the first place.

Happy Independence Day!!

God Bless the USA, and God Bless our soldiers.

I for one am not thankful enough for the privilege and joy that it has been to grow up where I have, and live where I do. I am truly blessed to live in America!



Hope you have a safe and blessed holiday, filled with family, fun, fireworks, and barbecues! :)

Scripture Sunday: Romans 4: 19-21

Every Sunday on this site I will take some time to look at a passage from the Bible that I like and think is great... though they could obviously be presented by themselves without further mention, I will throw my two cents in on what the verse(s) mean to me.

God has promised us that if we follow Him, we will have eternal life. He has also promised us that He works for the good for those who believe in Him. Do we really believe this? Do we believe it even when it seems like this are going the exact opposite of how we want them to go?

"He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body as (already) dead (for he was almost a hundred years old) and the dead womb of Sarah. He did not doubt God's promise in unbelief; 6 rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God and was fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to do." (Romans 4: 19-21)

In the Old Testament, God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, even though they were old and well past child-bearing age. Yet Abraham never resolved in his belief that God would come through, because he knew that God does not renege on His promises.

We must have the same attitude at all times. If we work for the glory of God, we must always have the belief that God in turn is working for good for us. Even at times when it seems hard to believe, or when life is against us, or we lose something we love. Those are the times where it is hardest to believe that God means good by it, but we must follow the example of Abraham.

Do we believe God is capable of keeping His promises?

The Screwtape Letters: Chapter 4

Each week I will summarize a chapter from The Screwtape Letters

This chapter deals with prayer. Oftentimes we find our prayer simply meandering... our mind focuses on something else, and all of a sudden we are not really praying, we are thinking about what is on our to do list. It is then that we stop listening to God for advice, and simply try to follow our own path, which does not lead us anywhere.

Lewis writes:

"He may be persuaded to aim at something entirely spontaneous, inward, informal, and unregularized; and what this will actually mean to be a beginner will be an effort to produce in himself a vaguely devotional mood in which real concentration of will and intelligence have no part." (20)

For me, this definitely is true at times. I will go in with the intent of praying, and leave not really sure I actually listened to what God was trying to tell me. I let myself be distracted and therefore miss the prayer itself.

We must focus on aligning our wills with God when we pray. Focus on talking and listening to Him, and what He wants to tell us. When we are able to zone into this... and not simply think about what we have to do when we stop praying, that is when prayer can and will have a transformative affect on our life.