Jun 19, 2022

   Living in Unconditional Love (67)

“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 almost two years, and even though it is abating, I wear my mask anytime I am out among people, unlike many.

06/19/2022                                       First of all, happy Father’s Day to all dads. It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be a dad, not just a father. Am not sure if I was the best, but I did the best I could. I want to thank my beautiful wife Eileen, a wonderful mom. And all seven of my children for the opportunity to be their dad.

This has been a challenging month. Even Mother Nature has not been kind. As I had reported, a red squirrel has decimated my phoebe nest by the front door; they are trying again to occupy the nest, but I have a pessimistic view they will succeed, as the squirrel is probably still around. Then I have been reporting on the wild turkey nest that was in one of my flower beds and happy to see the nest. But last Monday when I walked around looking at the flowers, turkey feathers were everywhere. The nest was empty; something had killed the hen and eaten the eggs. My maintenance person believes from the wreckage that it was a fisher, a relative of the badgers – a really mean animal. But that is nature – beautiful to look at but brutal in action. Fishers are a protected animal since they form part of the chain of population control and have been hunted or trapped as they are indiscriminate in their killings to the point of being scarce, causing an overpopulation of things like wild turkeys.

Today (Saturday) is chilly, and I have changed my system from AC to heat, as it was in the 80s during the week. It will warm up in a few days, and I will change it back to AC. So goes spring.

My flowers have been better in the past, due to my neglect in previous years and a severe cold snap in mid-April after a warm spell, and a critter that has eaten many annual flowers. The daffodils were great, and no sign of any problem there. But my iris were so-so, only about a third of them bloomed. The cause was the late digging and planting last year of all, as I had neglected them for several years and they were quite over-crowded. Next year will be good. (Gardeners are always optimistic.)

The early Martagon lilies are scarce; only one group has shown above ground and is in bloom. I think the cold spell in April got the others; Martagon lilies tend to sulk if conditions are not the best. They will continue to grow in the ground and hopefully appear next year. The one group that is blooming is on a steep hill, perhaps protecting them from settling frost or deep freezing just a bit. I will wait until next year to see. The rest of my lilies (and I have many different kinds) all look good, so hopefully next month will be good. I did lose a few; I suspect to the same critter that is eating my annuals. Those in the midst of daffodils all look good. The critter apparently does not like daffodils. I will plant more daffodils to protect the lilies in those areas prone to critters.

It is amazing to me how God directly gives me advice good for my soul. After the scam last couple of weeks, I was not feeling very “loving” to those responsible. I went to our Tuesday morning communion service, and the gospel was very direct: “Love your enemy, those who have caused you pain. For anyone can love those who love you, but you must love all, even those who have harmed you.” (Paraphrased into today’s language). Sigh! Lesson heard, but it is hard. Acceptance is fairly easy, but actually feeling love towards those who perpetrated this? A challenge! I will need to work on this, for they too, are children of the God who loves them. It is a sad commentary on their life that they feel comfortable doing this to others.

Upon thought, I don’t know why I am always surprised when God talks to me directly like this ( usually through another medium, in this case the Gospel) as God has done this countless times in my life.

Meditation

Gentle One, I accept Your challenge in this phase of life. You ask us to love all, even those who spit in our face. I know You are sad for them, for their soul has been shriveled by lack of love in their lives. I bow before You and will offer prayers for their souls and internal peace. Your universe is still awe-inspiring and beautiful, and I find much peace and love everywhere I look.