May 11, 2025

Living in Unconditional Love (217)

 

“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 after we met on Long Island. Then my brother Tom became ill (not COVID), 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. Covid has proved to be a persistent problem, and many of the long-term effects are quite serious, and it has proven much more serious than flu.

05/11/2025                             To all the moms reading this may your day be beautiful and filled with love: happy Mother’s Day. it is amazing the flight of time that continues, for which I am grateful.

This has been a monumental week, with the election of a new Pope who was born in America (Chicago) but has wide ranging experience, especially as a missionary in Peru and ten years as the head of his order. He was not even considered an American cardinal by the other American cardinals as was mentioned by Cardinal Dolan. It seems unusual that he has a brother who was as surprised as everyone else who still lives outside Chicago. Pope Leo seems to be following Pope Francis and is a humble and prayer filled person, deeply conscious of the poor and immigrants in our world. It seems as if America can produce deeply thoughtful leaders who will work to bring comfort to the poor, as well as to the better off.

I find it most interesting that his BA degree was in mathematics from Villanova, so he is conscious of science, is a user of Twitter (or X) ( much, I suspect, to the discomfort of T from reading his posts), speaks 8 or so languages, and holds a PhD in Cannon Law. No dummy. He speaks often with his brother, and it is amusing that the new pope tried to call his brother four times while his brother was talking with reporters, and quickly hung up when he learned reporters were in the house with his brother. As the pope’s brother said, he will no longer be popping in for visits during his world-wide travels.

The garden is going well, with the daffodils still blooming but well past their peak, the azalea group is starting to show color, and spring is in full gear. It has rained all week but is sunny Saturday and Sunday, but rain is forecast for most of next week. It has been a dry spring, so the rain is received with joy. My iris will start soon, and as noted the azalai season is starting and I always love all the colors.

It is still cool, high in the 60s, but with full sun over the weekend I have the ac on to keep it comfortable. It is easy to switch between heat and ac which makes it simple.

I had an experience with my emergency system this week that illustrates it does indeed work. I take a morning shower upon rising and shutting down the house security system. I always have my button system with me, and it is easy to trigger. I apparently set it off before getting into the shower (the system calls me to see if I am ok, if I don’t answer they call 911), and I did not hear the phone ringing while in the shower. I was getting dressed when the phone rang from the local 911 system informing me that help was on the way. Just then I heard voices, and someone called me from inside the house. They had found their way in and was trying to see if I was alright. They were easy about it, and I am happy that it worked as planned. It is comforting to know that it indeed works and works rapidly.

Meditation

 

Gentle One, I bow before You in supplication for our poor world. I trust in Your guidance as the pain escalates and children and all that suffer and die because of the selfishness of our leaders. I pray that Your love can penetrate their hard shell and show them how You love them as well as the suffering poor. I am thankful for the new pope that appears to be all we could ask for at this time of dire need.