Author: Susie

Listen my dears! If you want to feel, I mean really FEEL, for 2 hours and then… feel really good… watch a new film called "Rescued by Ruby." It’s on Netflix. Made for 2022. I don’t have Netflix, but I watched it at my niece’s with her sweet husband Fred and her 2 rescue dogs, Finn and Zeke. What a heart-filled film!

I spent about 10 days with my sister Sarah, niece Jennie and her husband Fred, and 2 dogs, Finn and Zeke. What fun we had. I started painting on canvas again, and I felt "on vacation" and free. It’s the "I don’t have to make my bed if I don’t want to" kind of feeling we get when we stay in a hotel! Sarah and I sat outside every afternoon and shared memories of our lives… When the 2020 election was at its height I asked my sister her political leanings. In 2019, I am sure many of us were questioning who we would vote for. Sarah asked me who I would rather listen to and see if a big tragic event took place. Would I want to see bluster and ranting? or would I be comforted by a fatherly figure assuring me there are plans in place to protect us; that we have a fine military force trained and in place to protect us. I felt as I watched President Biden speak to the troops, that an astute fatherly figure is taking care of me.

President Biden spoke to the American troops in Poland on Friday March 25. The troops, "82nd Airborne" are serving the US in the NATO force. President Biden told the gathered men and women that they are (paraphrase): "The finest fighting force in the history of the world. This generation will make a difference between Democracy and our democratic values and Autocracy and their totalitarian ways. We are at a crossroads! We have a sacred obligation to equipping those we send to war and taking care of their families." … The world is looking to the United Staes for Peace. I say "the world" and maybe it is "the Western World" who looks to the US for peace. We didn’t do too well in Afganistan… or VietNam… or Iraq. We can’t change everyone, but we can make a difference for those for whom English is their second language and many of them have relatives in the United States. In the church we are dedicating Russia and the Ukraine to our Blessed Mother, Mary. We ask Mary to pray for the fighting forces and for peace. Ukraine is claiming they have knocked Russians back, but Russia is claiming they have bombed fuel and ammunition caches. Each side is fighting: Ukraine fighting for their lives, and Russia fighting for a border on the water. Russia is landlocked except for the frozen reaches of the North sea… Let us hope Ukraine can hold on to their border on the Black Sea. Lord, Let the Russian soldiers lay down their weapons and "see" "this is an unjust conflict." God bless us.

Happy Sunday morning dear gentle readers!!!  Today we make a lot of prayer about our European friends: My prayer is not for death… but it is for knocking a bad guy off his horse… I think as soon as the world kicks Putin’s butt out of Ukraine,  Ukraine will need all kinds of experts in rebuilding! It is an opportunity for out of work Americans to volunteer to rebuild.  So I’m waiting for the news that Putin’s butt got kicked!!!  I hope God thinks that is a good prayer! St Michael knock him off his high horse and into a pit of mud.  OOOOO Putin, all muddy and stuck.

Today CBS Sunday morning celebrated comedy (Sandra Bullock) and music. Oh what fun both can be. The music made my soul soar. I wish I could sit at the piano and make trills and pounding crescendos!!! If you play a musical instrument, go and play! or make cookies! Enjoy a beautiful musical day and pray for Ukraine and our sick friends who need comfort and courage. Amen.  Have a sunny Sunday!!!!

Hello dear listeners. I can’t find a Biblical or Poetic quote for "Words lie heavy on my heart," but I didn’t make up the phrase either. My mind is full of desire to speak out to Putin… but what can I say? What can we say? "Stop it you big bully. Or…." "Or what?" he snears as he turns on me with dead eyes… Yesterday we pondered "What can we do?" I have wondered that for a few years as I wish I could make a difference and stop the "talk and name calling" that our country has descended into. I am called various names that I find offensive as I don’t call myself anything except, "Child of God." But others want to label. Others say, "You are Woke, Karen," (Whatever that means!)… or "You are liberal." Again, whatever that means. Today I am awake, thank God after a long night of talking to myself and making up stories in my head. I try not to do that, using phrases a sleep therapist once said, "This isn’t happening NOW!… Go to sleep!" But the story telling in my mind all just continues. We are supposed to get up and read or write when this happens, and my sister Sarah said, "Didn’t you pray?" Unfortunately I did not… I did however make up some plans I would like to send to our President for how to stop the war in Ukraine… Again, Sarah tells me, "I don’t make plans for others." Oh dear, what’s a fellow to do?

Yesterday and today in Mass, the readings were very clear: A rich man whom the Lord punished for his selfishness wants a drop of water from a man he ignored. "Just a drop." "No," says Abraham. "God sent the prophets to give you water, and you rejected it. You did not help anyone when you were alive; you rejected the laws of the prophets." We sputter, "But, we miss seeing the poor and the suffering; we are too busy ‘getting and spending.’ We have agendas, things to do, rules of politics." Whatever… (see Jeremiah 17 and Luke 16). "But they are not the rules and things of God." says Jesus. A lot of people don’t believe in the future because we can’t see (beyond our noses.) Today we read the story of Joseph thrown into a dry well and then sold down into slavery into Egypt by his brothers. "That’s a terrible story," my sister says. "Yes it is an awful story," I ruminate. It’s exactly what man has done since Cain and Abel. Wow we are a loathsome bunch. How does a human being dare to enslave and mutilate other human beings? And believe me, we mutilate with knives and our tongues both equally. Every day we listen to the Good News (Gospel) say, "love one another; pray for your enemies."… about Joseph, "You (Joseph’s brothers) meant your actions for evil, but God turned it into Good. You reject the cornerstone, but God turns it into good." Look out and up! The blue sky, maybe no flower buds yet! but the promise of flower buds, and Thank God!

My step father Jack Harlan used to ask this question when we girls, daughters of Jack’s beloved second wife Grace, would ask…. "Jack, what do you think…?" He was so concerned about not hurting our feelings and not stepping on any toes. We are three sisters of great difference, all carrying our differences and our hurts and joys on our shirt sleeves. We would go to Jack for guidance, and he would look to Mom as if to say, "I don’t want to get into any trouble here!" It’s almost laughable, how cute that was….

In a much more serious way, our world is watching an awful, serious destruction of the cities of an independent country who declared their freedom in 1991 from the communist Supreme Soviet. "You go brothers." Ukraine has been invaded (2014) and lands taken by Russia. Now again, bombings create great holes where cities and hospitals used to be. We watch pregnant women holding their bellies with tears running down mud covered faces, and we hear about a mother and child dead after doctors try to save them in a torn up hospital. What are we to do? Rush in there and start a battle we can’t back down from or possibly finish except at great expense between giants with nuclear weapons? There are actually world laws against us fighting in Ukraine. What are we to do? The hornet’s nest has been hit by the little boys and the hornets are circling and their buzzing is like yelling. Other countries seem to have caught the negative energy as India and Pakistan, China and Taiwan bicker and make noises with nuclear weapons… Next we will hear of more ugliness and destruction in Africa. Our own country is divided and infighting about … well you know. Never has a Presidential election been debated for over a year and 1/2 after election day; never has the past president created such animosity against the current leader; never has a country been so split… well yes it has and that ended (or it didn’t end) in a bloody civil war. My dears. What’s a fella to do?

What is all this except frail ephemeral life in a world that is only meant to be ours for a few years before we go to the permanance and beauty of heaven. Do some research on heaven in Scripture. Pull the book off the shelf and do a litte reading in the New Testament. Read the words of Jesus. Pray we change our hearts. God bless us.

It’s January already? Where have we (I) been? I think I love best the weeks before Christmas when we sing and dance with yearning for the beauty of a birth that means new life and salvation in what is right now… a time of angst. Angst: It’s hard to ignore the red color on maps where Covid lives and reigns screwing up lives and filling hospital beds… It’s hard to ignore the Russians standing on the Ukraine border. The Russians have been known to sneak in and start the fight before… Pray for peace in Ukraine…. and…scary Chinese and Koreans leaning out over the Pacific making a giant dark shadow. I read that we actually went on alert in California when a missile went up last week. I live in a very small town where an occasional siren makes us all look up. Do you say a prayer when an ambulance goes by? It was something my mother used to say… "That is someone who needs a prayer." Do we remember to pray for others in need? An airplane going over is usually a signal that someone is approacing or leaving the tiny airport over by the golf course! Noises in the neighborhood might mean 2 squirrles or two blue cranes are dancing on the roof! We watched the other day an amazing feat of nature when a great blue crane ate a large fish he caught off our dock. That’s life here in the orange groves!!! If we can keep our attention on the water and the grass then we can tap our fear down over what is happening in the big world!!! I find my peace in church, in talking happily with neighbors, and in keeping my home gardens nice. I have joined the garden club here in Lake Placid and we beautify a small garden at the intersection of Main and Interlake! Keep on keeping on. Let us read good books, poetry and positive. Let us remember our Creator wants us to be happy. Let us pray for those in need (friend Lois from our lake is in rehab after a broken hip.) God bless the aching hips and knees of our friends. God bless us and bring us peace in our hearts.

During the Civil War, guns were heard in our city streets. Brothers and fathers died in our towns. Disease abounded (Washington made his men get vaccinated!). People died fighting in a Civil War that made no sense. Does War make sense? Christmas came… Henry Wadsworth Longfellow heard the bells and wrote a poem… As he wrote … he bowed his head in pain…

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

The words of the poem are a statement of faith that we cannot live without. On Monday night I gave a talk at church on the 4 last things. The first of the 4 is death. We are all facing death that is followed by meetings with Christ and the review of the "choices" we made in life. What follows our meeting with Christ is Heaven or the cleansing of Purgatory then Heaven. Or Hell if we totally rejected God. … The last thing is Final Judgment. We have been taught that Christ is merciful. He wants us to have faith and join him in the "Afterlife." When I despair that life stinks because people fight and say awful things. Because people hate. Because people kill. Because 15 year old boys pick up their father’s automatic weapons and go to school… When I despair…. If I dwell on this and call it reality, then I can descend into darkness. Matthew Arnold gazed at the Dover channel and wrote.. in "Dover Beach" that "The Sea is calm tonight," but the end is awful as he describes a beast slouching to Bethlehem to be born. WWI was on the horizon and Englanders knew that.

Let us spend some time in church. A lot of time in church… Even just sitting quietly and not saying anything can help us get closer to our Creator God. He wouldn’t have done all this beautiful work (flowers, clouds, small birds, puppies, babies) if he didn’t mean for us to enjoy them. If he didn’t mean for us to protect his creation. Let us lift our heads. Let us ring bells and light lights. My house is decorated and the yard sports lights and we cleaned up the weeds! Come to a house that embraces Joy! Come to my "Circle of Joy!" Let mine be a house that embraces Hope. God bless us and keep us safe in a world that seems to be crumbling. Let us listem to the still small voice of God and let us shout "Peace on Earth, Good will toward Men!!!" God bless us.

It’s been a while since I wrote. That doesn’t mean you and I haven’t been debating… Sometimes i think I have my back to the wall and I can only say… "this is what I believe and I can’t handle the arguments!" One was the political argument at election time, one is vaccination, one is the existence of God, one (big) is abortion, one is starving children, and one is the behavior of priests and people in charge… In all cases, I recognize these are hot points with 2 sides… Each of us has solid opinions and we believe what we believe and cannot be pursuaded otherwise. But we must continue the conversation… What happened to us that we are not able to be persuaded to change our minds in situations where compromise won’t work? When did "What would Jesus do?" leave our mentality?

Should billionaires contribute 2% of their wealth to help starving children? Should abusers be jailed? Is abortion the killing a human being? These are huge questions and we need to think long and hard about them as we near the end of our lives. God bless us!!!

At the beginning of the Covid lock downs we joked about sitting around in our pajamas… I am in the crowd that didn’t go back out as soon as Florida said, "It’s OK!!! Go out!" I remained isolated with Chuck for almost a year. I didn’t go to church for a year! The first time I went to church with mask on, in April 2021, I was freaked out with being around people! I have been going daily ever since, with a short stint of yoga taking the place of Mass. Sometimes we have to choose… and I chose Mass over yoga due to my need to talk with Jesus there in church and to pray the Mass. I miss yoga as it is great stretching. OH! so great stretching and breathing. Now, with 30 pounds too many on me, and both knees swollen and in great pain… I’m starting a diet that includes "no drinking." I became a ""it’s 5 o’clock; time for wine" wino. I was drinking too much after 5 o’clock and eating ice cream sometimes twice a day, and eating too much on my plate. Anxiety does these things to me… My choice: daily Mass, walking every day (as soon as I get my knees back – I have a doctors appointment on Wednesday.) Let’s see: No wine, diet, No sweets, No bread or pasta or white potatoes (you know the ritual.) Get the weight off the knees. Keep praying. Let’s see what good that does!

It’s a choice to stop drinking, to remain positive. It’s a choice not to say anything awful. Not to complain. It’s my choice. And I have to add in No worrying. My friend and I are reading the Bible! I read with my friend Kathy for two years in a row, we read the Bible twice! But now I’m reading from a different perspective. My friend asks hard questions like "Why is God vicious?" I wince when he asks questions like that and I patiently say, "God is not vicious, weather and nature can be vicious". In the very old days, 4000 years ago, People had to explain natural phenomena like floods, fires, earthquakes, famines, rampant diseases… add some you think of. Every civilization has flood stories and they were oral until writing was invented. "Back then," 4000 years ago, the stories were oral. When it thundered when I was a little girl, we used to look up and say, "The gods are bowling." Zeus threw lightening strikes. Mother Earth holds up the rain when she is angry. They weren’t such peaceful gods!!! So I gently remind my friend that in the Bible, written by man and inspired by God, God or priests of God are trying to tame a people who are accustomed to sacrificing virgins and babies to get a rainfall and good crops. "Here let’s give Mother Nature a choice virgin…" Today is not nearly as uncivilized is it? Oh yes it is! Men and women are mean. They shout evil stuff. I get sad when I hear the ugly things about the President or Vice President. I try not to get engaged except to say, "I have one vote… otherwise there’s not much I can do about the border, the Covid, etc…" Like that. Try to be at peace in our hearts. Try to keep ugly words in until I find some weeds… and then spit the ugliness out onto weeds. Maybe our venom would kill weeds…. Hmmmmm. God bless us. Angels with us. Peace in our hearts.

My friend wrote a separate email to me to thank me for offering to help her with sending out group emails. "Of course, I’ll help," I thought and I wrote back to her, "It’s what we do." I’ve said this to people in the past, and within the last year, I’ve gotten some push back. I’ve also said, "We don’t do that," when the argument came to lying, breaking into the Capitol building and spitting on things, or being mean in government like we are being mean in the past year… I might say, "Americans are better than that; Americans don’t do that." What I am expressing is what I think are ingrained values, norms, even ‘institutions’. When I was a small child I think I was taught "this is what we do, this is polite, this is the rule." And we obeyed. When I became a teenager, and I began to sneak around…. it was accompanied with my own guilt and (I was misbehaving due to personal anger against parents). My girlfriends who knew about my sneaking called it "Irish guilt or Catholic guilt." And we laughingly said, "Susie, you need to go to confession….. "

Sometimes when I’m alone, I leave CNN on … one time I watched Sully Sullivan land a plane on the Hudson. Another time, I watched a plane fly into the World Trade Center… So if alone, CNN plays in the background. So guess what an announcer said today…. "The previous administration was precedent shattering;" "the end of shame," ignoring subpoenas indicates "basic norms are being shattered." It went on, but this was enough. Shattering precedent and norms, ignoring institutions and law? And, so what? Ignore the legalities. Run out the clock.

At the very end of a football game the quarterback can "end the game" by taking a knee 4 times and running something like 2 minutes off the clock. It happened in the last Buccaneers football game. The Bucs scraped out a 2 point lead, but there was plenty of time for the opposition to score if that "knee rule or knee precident" wasn’t in place. So the great quarterback Brady, very capapable of playing, took 4 knees. "He ran out the clock and ended the game". Is this the way we play life now? If we delay long enough… We will run out the clock and the other guy won’t get a chance to play? Time to get back to paperwork my friends, and let the world play in the background. God bless us. Angels with us.

With Autumn comes cooler mornings! The temperature doesn’t get to 90 until noon. So now I rush off to morning Mass and pray for all my friends. Jack Harlan used to add a SALPF (say a little prayer for) addendum to his monthly letter and I think it is wonderful to dedicate prayer to someone. Recently cousin Carol’s daughter Jenee was sick with Covid, but I hear Jenee will be cleared for work next week so she has not sunk into bad illness. Thank God!!!! A neighbor told me of two young people (in their 50s) who caught Covid and died recently so we are still fighting the demon pandemic. SALPF those who are fighting vaccination. Let them decide to take on this protective cloak of vaccine. That’s the way I believe. Give me a cloke that protects me, and I’m putting it on. OH! And I am walking again with neighbors who wait for me. I invite them to Mass…. I am not doing Yoga as that is offered at the same time as Mass.

Amidst polarization of our society, lost friends with whom we cannot agree, dissention, anger, we are sure the world is ending. But it probably isn’t. Jesus invites us to settle into his lap like a child on its mother’s lap… Relax and settle our souls in peace. In church I can either gaze up at the Cross, at a stained glass picture of the Last Supper, or at a beautiful statue of Mary. This last Sunday I looked at Jesus serving bread to his disciples. I looked at the face of Jesus, calm, and beautiful. His blessed hands offer bread and wine which he turns into his body and blood for us. He prays in John 15 through 17 so beautifully for us, "Father… I have loved them." In his last moments on earth, he knows he is going to be beaten, derided, betrayed, hung up with nails in his feet and hands to die naked before a jeering crowd. He knows what horrors await him. He knows his own people will allow the horrors out of their own weakness, yet he turns his beautiful face to his Father and he prays for us, his betrayers who turn our faces away. My friend weeps for the awful things our generation does to children, women, migrants. He weeps for the hungry, the enslaved, the homeless. My friend despairs and asks, "Where is God?" My answer of, "He is with us" doesn’t satisfy the weeping heart. Jesus wants us to put our head down on his chest and have full faith. Who knows what luxuries await the bedraggled migrant orphans when they enter Paradise? We certainly can’t fathom the Glory! This place is earth. It’s pretty in a lot of places and pretty awful in a lot of other places, but it’s only earth. God blessed the earth, but we damaged it…. If we would just try to do good. Be kind. Each one of us. A priest told a story: A man fed a robber one night and his friend said, "What are you feeding that creep for?" "If I am kind to him and keep him fed, eventually he will respond. I must have hope he will respond." Get their attention. Feed them. Love them. Pray they will respond. If not to you, then to someone. I might not see the leper I feed healed, but I have hope he will be healed in heaven. I can’t change the world. I can only change myself. Climbing up, lifting my little arms, I ask, "Lift me up, Lord! Teach me to Love!" Thank God.