When I walk with my Lake Placid friends (there are two friends I walk with in the church parking lot where there are a lot of wonderful shade trees or on Placid Lakes Boulevard – lots of trees and we walk to Lake June park and we look out at the lake) … anyhow when we walk the talk is generally Covid, politics, the labels people apply to us (Conservative, Liberal, Dem or Repub etc), the future (election, socialism, riots, recession)… We generally talk about family and if someone listened in they would wonder how we ever have enough oxygen to walk we talk so much. I have iterated several time that I don’t believe in lables… I don’t want to have some say "you are this, this, and this, therefore you believe in this this and this." Suddenly I said, outloud as if I were with my friends, "I believe… in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ the only Son of God…" I laughed as I heard my voice out there on Placid Lakes Boulevard… and I continued…"Who was conceived of the Virgin Mary, was baptized, suffered, died and was buried. " Continue through the Resurrection, Ascension and Descent of the Holy Spirit. I recited the whole Nicean Creed there on the sidewalk. So I just continued with the Rosary. It is a 45 minute walk and prayer. Occasionally I would stop to breathe. If you walk and pray out loud, you run out of oxygen. Think about this next time you use a label. What is most important is to remember that we believe and that can’t be labled. And I think most Christian faiths say the Creed.
It’s Sunday and daily Mass readings (on TV; I’m not back to Church yet.) filled me with thoughtfulness. Scripture speaks of suffering….. In Romans 8:18, St Paul wrote, "The suffering of this present time are as nothing compared with the Glory to be revealed… wait for adoption and redemption." I wrote, "What is the Key Word? WAIT" In Matthew 13: 1-23, Jesus patiently explained the Parable of the sower: I’ll paraphrase. You dig a hole in the earth and plant a seed in the ground (the man in the parable scattered the seed). You water and watch the sun warm the earth. You know a good thing is coming! Remember early Biology classes. Didn’t we plant beans? and we rejoiced when two green sprouts came up! Soon (think here of Jack and the Bean Stalk), soon we had a vine full of beans! This always happens! Beans sprout. It’s a pretty good lesson for kids. It’s a good exercise for our times, for those of us who think our bean will never sprout. We are stuck here in the dark, on the couch. For those of us who accuse God of being hidden. Where are you God? Isaiah 55:10, Isaiah says God is at work. His end will be achieved. He perseveres and he rescues the Jews from Babylon. He rescues us.
My friend tells me our world is in chaos. Uproar. Burning. Police, symbol of protectors, are (some of them) being ugly (some) and they are attacked and ambushed. Chuck always said that police wear a target on their backs. People are violent, tearing down anything they can get their hands on (that they don’t believe in). There’s that word believe. So what about the bean? If it is cultured, taught, loved, watered, it grows deep roots and withstands storm. The roots grow deep and seek moisture that we can’t see. Drought comes, but we have faith in the success of that little bean. Let us pray that the bean’s roots hold; that his foundation is deep enough to withstand fire, flood, and drought. Compassion and love planted that seed, gentle values. Yes we had to fight for freedom of the states, and now we have to express the values we cherish. Save the bean!!!! How about intentional, random acts of kindness. Go meet the people on your street (keep a safe distance.) God bless us. Angels with us.