May 30, 2021

  Living in Unconditional Love (12) 

“Love flows from God to humans without effort: 

As a bird glides through the air without moving its wings- 

Thus, they go wherever they wish united in body and soul, 

Yet separate in form.” 

–Mechtild of Magdeburg 

My wife Eileen died from esophageal cancer in February 2020 one year after being diagnosed, 60 years to the day that we met on Long Island. Then my brother Tom became ill, and I spent a total of six weeks being with him in Ohio, but he died in October 2020. My sister-in-law Sue Mahoney died from Covid-19 in January 2021. On top of it all stood the pandemic, locking everyone down for over a year. 

05/30/2021 The end of May! Wow! I believe I have mentioned the mysterious bond that my granddaughter Maria, who was born the day before Eileen died, has with Eileen. They obviously never met in person, but Maria knows her pictures and points and touches her face, now at 15 months calling her Mama or Mom. Her dad, Dan, the other day came across a photo he has of the two of us that she had never seen. When Maria saw it, she leaned over wanting to touch her face, and called her Mom. Dan sent a video of her with the picture in their bedroom of the two of us that she had not seen since they left for Peru in December, and she leaned and pulled Dan over to touch the picture and said Mama. They say that the veil separating us from those gone can be very thin to babies, and this certainly is pointing in that direction. It does give us scientists pause. Dan said that he has never prompted her, and she started doing this when very young. 

That is extremely comforting to me. It makes talking with Eileen seem more natural and less crazy to continue to chat with her when I am alone – most times in my mind, but often out loud (I do live alone). I have paint-by-number of Maria from a photograph taken at her first birthday party, the day before the first anniversary of Eileen’s death. Maria is all in pink, sitting up laughing, mouth wide open. I have just started it in recognition of these events. 

Janet, Barbara and Janet’s son Brendan are coming this weekend for the holidays. All are vaccinated, and Tim and his family said they will join us some evening. I am writing this earlier in the week than normal just so it won’t interfere with our gathering. I will travel to Dan and Alisandra’s (and Maria) in Verginia with Barbara and we will spend that Friday in the Washington Zoo. it will be great to see and hug everyone.  

We celebrated our 50th anniversary of our coming to Whitney Point on May 21, 1971. So much has flowed in our lives since then that it almost seems surreal. It was capped by our son and their two little ones (Emily was not feeling well and did not come) being here for all of Saturday afternoon, including supper. It is a joy being with the young (almost 4 and 18 months), busy inside mostly since it was cold outside. 

This past Sunday the church was totally open to all, with or without masks. I still wore mine and will continue to wear a mask in more crowded conditions, like in church or in a crowded grocery store. I have not been sick one day since I started wearing masks – no colds (I usually have two a year), no flu, so maybe there is something to keeping germs away, especially airborne germs. 

I received a phone call from the air conditioning company that an opening appeared in their schedule this week, and they installed the new units Wednesday and Thursday. Since the weather has cooled a lot, I have it set on heat for now. We will see how it operates. So far, so good 

A good question was asked by a member of my book group that is truly challenging: why are so many in such dire condition and why has not God done something? Another member answered these that these problems are mainly caused by human choices, and we have free choices to make; God will not interfere. Humanity generally rises to meet natural calamities in dramatic ways, but most human problems are caused by human’s inhumanity to humans. We humans seem to respond well to events not caused by other humans, such as hurricanes or massive fires. Then we seem to turn a blind eye on events such as a war crises or starvation and killings as in central America (especially there), shrugging our shoulders or feeling helpless – and do nothing. We do have the technical means to alleviate all these problems, but not the will. In fact, most would rather not hear about them – then they can pretend that refugees have no problems they are fleeing. I believe that God has done something: supplied us with the knowledge and means to alleviate these problems, but it is up to us, and that does mean you and me, to use these means for their intended purposes. 

I am going to Virginia next week, so there will not be a book reading on Wednesday. We will resume the following week. 

Meditation 

Gentle One, You give us keys to use to help others, but we seem reluctant to use them they were meant to be used. Instead, we use them to increase our greed and hiding within ourselves. Guide me to follow your will; give me the sense of purpose and the will. Open our hearts to the pain of others so that we can find the joy of service.