Mar 29, 2026

Living in Unconditional Love (261)

 

“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.

03/29/2026                             A full week, with Madison’s birthday (turning three), several Easter parties, and slightly cooler weather as it is turning to fall down here while it is spring at home.

Madison’s party was small but full and held in the condo. The celebration was marked by Cinderella coming and entertaining all. It especially awed Mackenzie as she was certain this was the real Cinderella from far off. Lots of fun with about 8 kids and parents, so all fit well in the living room. She also had a party at her school so her day was full.

The Easter parties were held in small parks. One was just across the street from Maria’s Catholic school, and I had a chance to go into the church which is small for Lima but at least three times my own church in Whitney Point. That park is some memorial with a train engine and cannon scattered about a small fort, and many large, beautiful trees. It is small and spotless. They close at five, so we all left about that time. There appeared to be a wedding about to start in one area of the park.

Because the parties were held after school and on Saturday and ran late even on Saturday (which held an Easter egg hunt), so we ended up going out to eat close by the parks. It is a happy time for the kids, which translates to a happy time for all.

The ocean was quite volatile this week, with whitecaps every day across the front. There is almost always a cloud bank on the horizon that is dark, but it never moves in except for fog banks many mornings obscuring all, sometimes so heavy I couldn’t see the ground or any other buildings that are present.

One of my good friends at home died about two weeks ago. Jack Taylor was the long-time postmaster (31 years) before retiring. I started bringing him communion each week after he could no longer attend church, and we had many great conversations. He had many tales about the area, and I was an avid listener. I was at his place just before I came to Peru and he was weaker but still alert, and I was surprised to learn of his death, and I will miss that visit each week.

The world remains volatile with no end in sight. T’s war continues, holding much of world’s oil as hostage. I don’t know what he though Iran would do, but I imagine he thought he could go in and kill the leaders and Iran would fold up. It appears he is shocked that they did not fold. I suspect what happened is that he received intel that all the leaders would be there, and he could kill them all if he acted quickly, which was true, but he had not thought as to what would follow.

Meditation

 

Gentle One, I keep coming back to You pleading for help as our planet wonders about trying to kill everything. I ask for forgiveness for all, for indeed, they do not know what they do. Our leaders do not seem to have a sense of morality, and I can only pray that Your grace will cause them to change.