Nov 26, 2023

Living in Unconditional Love (142)

 

“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.

11/26/2023                                      I hope all had a wonderful time on Thanksgiving. I had a nice house full as Barbara, Janet and my grandson Brendon were here, and we joined Tim and his family for Thanksgiving dinner. A grand success with a 25 lb. turkey for special guest. We played trivia afterwards, not keeping score but just sitting in a large circle with various ones reading the questions that we all could answer. All had a good time.

Janet and Brenden went home on Friday, as Brenden had plans that night and they needed to be home before he heads back to school. Barbara will be going home on Sunday. They put most of the Christmas decorations up on Friday so that the house is starting to look Christmassy. The tree will go up shortly before Christmas and be decorated Christmas Eve as usual, a long family tradition. The creche is up and looks nice as usual, and we added another house to the village I have on the coffee table.

I was tested for pneumonia on Saturday as I had started wheezing when I breath a few days ago. I have had pneumonia three times this year, so all were concerned. It seems to be not pneumonia and I was directed to talk to my primary and see if it could be a dose of asthma. So come Monday I will call in and see what she says. The wheezing seems to have stopped for the moment, but I will wait and see as it was back on Sunday.

 It is good that there is a pause in the fighting in Gaza to permit some prisoner exchange, and they are talking about periodic breaks for further exchanges. We can hope just a bit that things will calm down in the future. It is sad to see so many lives just filled with hatred and fear, let alone all those killed and wounded as bystanders, which I suspect may be the majority of those impacted.

Life continues to flow along, and I am enjoying life as it goes. I am extremely fortunate in that I have few aches and pains for my age, and I am content with life. No problems in the foreseeable future, so I shall see what occurs. I am looking forward to seeing all at Christmas time.

Our priest delivered a thoughtful sermon on Sunday based on Matthew 25 where Jesus said that it was those who served others, especially the marginalized, would be the ones who join Him in paradise. It was pointed out that the 10 commandments were not mentioned, not once. It does point out our concerns for the poor, including immigrants, is the key to joining paradise here as well. This does require that we pay attention to those around us who form most of our sense of community and offer us opportunities for loving care.

I wish all a blessed week.

Mediation

Gentle One, continue to rest in Your care, loving this time of life but missing my partner in life terribly. My life is full, and I am always surprised to wake up in the morning feeling well. Our world is full of pain caused by our fellow dwellers, and I off my prayers for them so that they can still find joy in parts where there is peace.