Life in the Fast Lane

Ever get behind a REALLY annoying person on the road? You know, someone going like 10 miles under the speed limit on a road with a double yellow line… a truck that just HAS to pass another truck that’s going one mile per hour slower than the passing truck wants to go… It’s enough to tear your hair out sometimes! Or what about when you make a wrong turn and have to go WAY out of your way… you miss an exit and the next one isn’t for five miles… It’s so easy to get frustrated with yourself for being so stupid.

I’ve gotten a lot better with being patient with these people (and myself) on the road with this simple thought: You never know what God is protecting you from. It could be a speeding ticket, an accident, passing by an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/friend… Or He could be improving your timing so you see someone you need to… You never know.

On Saturday night, I was driving myself and my roommate home from swing dancing, and there were at least three other cars of people we were out with going the same way.

If we had left about 2 minutes earlier, we might have been killed.

You see, a 27-year-old man was driving his SUV 80 mph the wrong way on the freeway and crashed head-on into another car, killing both drivers instantly. 1-3 more cars were involved in the accident.

The first car in our group passed the accident right as people were stopping and getting out of their cars to see if the crash victims were okay. Two of us were stopped about 5 cars back from the accident. We were able to call the other car in our group in enough time to tell them to take a different way home.

As sorrowful as I feel for the families of those who died, it’s a scary thought to know that timing is everything, and the 2 minutes it took me that night to accidentally pass the entrance ramp, turn into a driveway, get back onto the road, and get on the ramp… Might have been the difference between life and death that night.

So next time you literally want to jump out of your car and wring the neck of the guy in front of you… or beat yourself down for going the wrong way… just roll with it and thank God for a few extra minutes and for life, instead.

Patience is a Virtue

It’s a virtue that I don’t have lately.

Just different interactions I’ve had with people at work and things going on in my life that have been a complete annoyance.  I know that I am just being impatient and my attitude isn’t in the right place.  I know it’s mostly me.  Even if it isn’t my fault, I know that these annoyances will always be there. There will always be a stupid question or someone who doesn’t take time to do something right the first time.  I need to still have patience with all of them.

The saddest part is I haven’t once called upon God to help me through this time of minimal patience levels.  Until last night when I was talking with a friend who suggested I pray for patience. DUH!

So I’m praying for patience. So far I don’t feel any better but the thing with prayer is it’s not really like an advil. It doesn’t take just 30 minutes to kick in.  But I hope that through prayer and guidance that I can become more patient and loving to my coworkers.

I found this nice prayer too, A prayer for Patience:

Blessed Mary, Mother of Consolation, pray with me for the virtue of patience. There are so many times when my lack of patience keeps me from becoming the kind of person God wants me to be.

Guide my thoughts to you and the example we have in your own life. Help me to become patient, as you were patient. Through your guidance, may I become more accepting of others around me. Assist me to welcome difficult times with a patient heart.

May I be patient, Mary, as was your beloved husband, Joseph. His quiet acceptance of the will of Our Loving Father should be an example for me always. His patience was most wonderful in the eyes of God.

Pray for me, dear Mother of God, that I will allow the Father to come into my heart and help me grow in patience. Amen.

What a good example of patience. How many times did Jesus have the opportunity to slap his head and tell the disciples how stupid they were.  Can you imagine, “Guys, I’ve TOLD you this before.”  But he never really yelled. Never got impatient with them.  Just told the truth.  That’s the example I need to have.

God be with me.

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me… for meeee… for MEEEEEEE…

Wow, sorry for the hiatus there.

My good excuse (for not posting so often) is that work (at a church, so no fair yelling at me!) was crazy busy with our spring retreat, then Confirmation, then prepping to go on vacation for a week (it was loverly!).

My bad excuse (for not posting at ALL): Holy cannoli has the Devil been working at me lately!

Honestly, I think Lucifer’s afraid of the strides I’ve been making in my spirituality.

Have you ever noticed how much you get spiritually attacked RIGHT when you’re on the path to something really good? How you start out all fired up, but then all these doubts and distractions start pushing in at the edges?

Some people say that the Devil isn’t real. But he is. Not the little red horned, pitchfork-wielding, spiky-tailed incarnation that we’ve made him out to be, but rather, a fallen angel, the embodiment of pride, jealousy, and temptation who works at your mind and leads you astray — especially when you’re closest to doing the best work for God! The one who talked Eve into falling, the one who tempted Jesus using Scripture quotes and everything, the one who incited the mobs with such anger and furor on the way to Calvary.

They say in the movie The Usual Suspects, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist.” And though it’s just a movie quote, that’s a great observation. If we don’t believe he exists, then we never tell him to go away, and we give in to his temptations because we think it’s just following our instincts. Because if the Devil doesn’t exist, then all these bad things we do, all these primally evil things, are only part of our humanity, and that makes humans innately evil, and that means that God created evil, which disproves His existence entirely, since by definition, God is all-good…

Now, I realize that this is both bordering on the complicated and a watering down of millions of pages of theological discussion, but the point is that spiritual warfare is very real, and it’s a very dangerous thing not to believe in it, because you will ignorantly be sucked right into it.

If you want more, read C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters: letters from Screwtape, an upper management demon, to Wormwood, an entry-level demon, coaching him on how to handle humans. C.S. Lewis, the greatest Catholic writer never to convert to Catholicism, really (and quite scarily) breaks down the snares of the Devil in a very creative modern day parable.

So when you feel attacked, tempted, apathetic, etc… try starting with telling the Devil (Beelzebub, Lucifer, Satan, Lord of the Flies, Baal, Sparky: whatever you wanna call him!) to GO AWAY.

See if it helps. I think it might. It works for me.

The Pope, Our Father

I’ll be honest… I’ve been somewhat disappointed with Pope Benedict’s pontifical term so far. He seems a lot colder and less willing to reach out to his people. It’s my perception of the media coverage which very well could be just that. We all know that the media isn’t always exactly unbiased in their reporting.

I guess it’s hard because as a young woman, all I’ve really heard about Pope Benedict is all the things that he disagrees with regarding World Youth Day, the way that the youth enjoy music, the liturgy… And whatever else – especially in terms of his visit to the United States. As someone who learned how to appreciate the Catholic faith through this “unliturgical” music, it’s quite frustrating. World Youth Day Toronto was an AMAZING experience. To be with hundreds of thousands of other Catholics and celebrate Mass together in one place is one of the greatest experiences. I got to visit University of Stuebenville my first year of high school and went on the weekend conference. This is the moment my Sacrament of Confirmation really kicked in. I knew that I was Catholic, I owned my beliefs.

I agree that liturgy is really important! I don’t want the Church to fall victim to the world’s ever changing standards and moral code. I believe that the Holy Spirit works through Her and the Pope to guide God’s people. I also would agree that while these experiences are great, may not be essential to the foundation of our faith. But it’s still frustrating to not feel the same connection that I did with John Paul II who loved the youth of the Church. These extraordinary experiences help to keep us going.

That really is another topic but the truth of the matter is, no matter how disconnected I feel, Pope Benedict was appointed to his position for a reason. Because I believe the Holy Spirit works through the Church, I know that he has a purpose for our Church. And like God’s law, obedience is vital. Even if I don’t understand or quite feel right with it.

I think it’s important that as Catholics we stick by our Pope. Now, this doesn’t mean that we have to be quiet and not be willing to question or try and clarify when we disagree or don’t understand. I think some amount of discord helps to get us all thinking and learning. But when it comes down to it, I think we’re called to obey the Church. I realize that this is pretty controversial among the youth. Shoot, most of young adults seem to shy away from the Church because they feel this disconnect and it’s really hard to obey when you don’t feel a connection.

So while Pope Benedict may not be as charismatic as his predecessor, that’s ok. He has his purpose and he is the figurehead of the Catholic Church. God has a purpose and a reason for his strengths as well as his weaknesses. The Holy Spirit is doing something through him.

What Coffee and the Mass Have In Common

I love when people can break complex ideas down into simple analogies! It’s how Jesus taught (parables) and I stumbled upon a column by Steve Skojec called The Rubrics of Coffee.  This is a beautiful anaology of the liturgy.  Steve takes the process by which we make coffee.  You can make coffee that’s been ground about 3 months ago, stick it in your Mr. Coffee coffee maker and drink it.  You can also buy and grind the beans yourself, you can use a french press, etc.  The difference in tastes between the processes is pretty big. He compares this to liturgy.  How sometimes it seems rigid or ridiculous, but in fact it’s necessary.  It’s why we write out grandma’s chili recipe that’s so good so that we can recreate it when she can’t make it for us anymore.

God imbues a sacramental order into the things of this world to help us grasp these higher concepts. In writing down the detailed instructions that would help my sister-in-law make good coffee, I became aware of the presence of implicit ritual — ritual that was not the result of desire or personal taste, but of necessity.

It’s a very cool analogy that I hadn’t thought about before. Read the full column at InsideCatholic.com.