Sep 14, 2025

Living in Unconditional Love (234)

 

“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.

09/14/2025                             The bonsai group met this past Friday, and I brought in two of my neglected trees for trimming. They now look great. Only a few trees have not been trimmed, and even they look good at this time of late summer. It is hard to believe that fall starts in a week.

The garden still looks good. I did mow this past week, and the front looks good. I may wait another week to mow again and that will include the lower pasture. The pond looks nice as I mowed that area, and the front looks very nice. even though there was no rain this week and rain is only forecast late this coming week things looks good, and the fall blooms are great. The gladiolas still look good with bright splotches of color that brighten things well. The fall bulbs are starting to bloom to add to the beauty.

The parish picnic was fun even though the weather was very cool, and all wore jackets to keep off the wind. It was held at the local lake and the adjoining county park which has long been an attraction in our little town. Both Barbara and Janet were at the picnic, but Barbara had some events on Monday and left for her home afterwards. Janet stayed until Monday, and we went out to the local restaurant Sunday evening as I usually do.

The country is in a poor condition with assassination of a young man with a large following of angry young white people who preached hatred and anger to a large following. Death is never a good response, and I truly pray for the pains of the family, but it is ironic that one of his beliefs was that a few deaths would have to be accepted to keep guns in our country. I don’t think he meant his own death though, only children and other defenseless people. It is sad that our president is flying the flags at half-mast, and they are trying to make this hate-filled person who preached death and destruction into a martyr.

Our country is in a poor place tight now as being a dangerous place to be as gun killings continue to increase – 47,000 last year. We must remember there are more guns than people right now, and there is no sign of relief.

Meditation

Gentle One, I know You are weeping for our once great nation to have fallen so swiftly into the abyss of fascism and killing. Our president revels in the destruction he has caused throughout the world with thousands dying of starvation and malnutrition so the richer can get richer, and now that killing has returned to the front of our efforts in revenge and hatred. Help us I beg of You.