I've been pondering a personal post all night. It's a perfect night; Monday in the still early springtime, a nice steady rain falling outside, my wife seeing the light at the end of the tunnel(CPA types understand this), and small tiny victories in hand.
Last week I moaned and groaned about the demise of my 10 year old John Deere. Which way do I go? How do I replace it? Who can help me? After careful study, I opted for a nice finishing mower to pull behind my large Kubota tractor. Sometimes in the very ordinary, we find extraordinary. I choose to purchase from a dealer some 50 miles away in a tiny hamlet called Poplarville in southwest Mississippi. What a pleasant experience; great sales staff, taking time to explain anything & everything, made me a deal and smiled and chatted away with me and my friend. And along the way, we experienced a beautiful drive, all on country roads, on a most excellent early Saturday morning in perfect weather. Once in Poplarville, our circuitous route took us past a beautiful Catholic Church, up on a hill overlooking the highway, resilient in the early spring sun. It is a most impressive Church and campus; I believe it is named for St. Joseph. For whatever inspired reason, seeing this Church was very hopeful to me. It reminded me that God is present in the "everything" we do and it gave me great hope that this impressive campus stood in an area, that dare I say, probably had few to none Catholics just 50 years ago.
My friend, Keith, was such a trooper. He dedicated his entire Saturday to my day. He drove his truck so we could pick up the mower, drove home and installed it on my Kubota, then spent the balance of the day working on my property. He and his better half Aimee are like this always. They give of themselves to me and my wife in friendship, never counting the cost. Way back when I was in formation, and my schedule was go, go, non-stop, they proactively came to us and offered to help around our 10 acre mini-farm, so I could devote more time to my diaconate pursuits. Over 4 years later they have never stopped helping. This reminds me that God shows me humanity and humble service and agape love in so many folks who are around us.
Today, I spent a larger than normal amount of time away from work and at my orthopedic doctor as my aging, falling apart knees were crying out for a little attention. Turns out, they are well on their way for lots of attention, with a scope in my near future and a replacement probable within a year. Soon after I left the doctor, in some pain from needle therapy and cortisone shots, I was aware that God was showing me that this is my "now" moment to live as I preach; having just explored the concept of suffering and uniting same to the sufferings of Christ. And in that "we all have those crosses to bear moment" I also was shown that this, while painful to me, pales in comparisons to the length and depth and breadth that so many go in courageously battling much greater pain, carrying much larger crosses. And if that was not enough, God placed me in that one doctor's office a chance to visit with a grandmother of one of the wonderful babies I have baptized, visit with one of my beloved brother "retired" Deacons, and a nice visit with a couple who attend MHT. Despite some pain and tough news, it was a blessed moment indeed.
Do we see God in the random? Do we see God in the small stuff? Are we aware of God's presence with us, all of the time? Do we only see Him in the spectacular? Do we only see Him on Sunday's and then struggle with seeing Him Monday thru Saturday?
I think, from time to time, these are good questions to ponder. All of know that God is truly "with us". Can we pray, on this rainy spring night, for Him to help us be more aware of His holy presence?
See God!
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