Dec 21, 2025

Living in Unconditional Love (248)

 

“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.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.

12/21/2025                             I am writing this on Dec. 20, my daughter Maureen’s birthday. We had three December births. I remember with a laugh a talk with one of my friends on L.I. who was an accountant. I was having babies late in the year and he was having babies early in the year, and he “complained” that my tax input was the same for both of us, and I explained that I am an engineer, and that is what engineers do: plan for the future.

I will not be writing a journal input next week as we will be on our annual trip to Mohonk with family. We will meet up Eileen’s brother Kevin and spend three great days being spoiled by the beauty and wonders of Mohonk. How much I will venture out remains to be seen, but the views from the windows are magnificent everywhere, and the house itself is always beautiful.

Karen and Maureen are coming tomorrow, Sunday, flying in from Columbus to Syracuse where Tim and I will pick them up. They will spend about two weeks here and join in our trip to Mohonk. Barbara is coming on Monday, and Janet and family coming on the 26^th.

The weather is unusual, and my comments about my private “winter wonderland” still ring true. We had about 8 inches of snow on the ground, but this past Friday was a day of heavy rain, and all the snow melted, except right before the rain ended it turned to snow up on my hill. I drove into Whitney Point today, and all is green and dusty colored with no snow. It was like that until I turned into my driveway, and lo and behold, all is white. Just my sliver of land covered with a slim layer of ice and snow – it is slippery so care must be taken when walking. But it does look like a white Christmas, at least for now.

I made my molasses cookies this week, and yes, it is a messy job, but I filled two tins with them. The girls will frost them this week using colored sugar frosting. I keep them in a tin sealed with a few apple slices in each tin to provide moisture to prevent them getting too hard over the time when they are eaten.

We will put our tree up on Christmas eve. More accurately the tree will be brought in and set in place earlier and decorated on Christmas eve as we have always done.

I am excited to see that our new Pope is replacing conservative bishops and cardinals with men whose background are like his own missionary background who will probably feel the way he does about refugees, including NYC Cardinal Dolan, who could have served another five years.

Meditation

Gentle One, I lay my burdens in Your care. In this time of awe as we ponder the wonder of Your coming in the form of an ordinary human being in the most natural of ways as a baby born of a woman, I look with gratitude at the beauty of the universe that You made to act as a footstool to Your gift of Self to us. I will remember all that joy You made possible and await your further gifts next year.