BOYS, BOYS, BOYS!

By -
There are boys everywhere in my house tonight. Big boys, little boys...tall boys short boys.
I don't know if it's summer or something brewing- but the boys are back in town. Actually one is leaving town...Johnny my oldest, is readying for a journey that is sure to alter the very course of his life. So I guess the guys who will always be boys in my book, are gathering for the last hurrah...

Knowing someone is about to exit our lives changes our lives. We see more clearly the gift before us, before they're gone. We feel the impending absence, even when they're still here.
It's a wake up call and a reminder that too often, we take people for granted, forgetting the familiar faces because they're always around.

They say familiarity breeds contempt...I don't know about that-I think it breeds laziness. Lots of laissez faire attitudes that allow precious time to slip away into oblivion.

In these last days before my son's departure-I am acutely aware of the impending void that will be left by his absence...So I will carry with me the indelible imprint of his life in my world and in the world of his brothers...who I am certain will miss him more than they realize now...Because when brothers come in bundles of five...the pack rats are always trying to outrun one another...When one turns up missing...the other one usually fills in...but never for long, because the rotation always comes full circle. Soon-though, one of their own will be on his own...out the door...beginning a life resurrecting odyssey that will bring him back to life...to our lives- with a boldly brilliant dimension that I am sure will inspire our family and just about everyone who is blessed enough to get to know him.

Knowing this-I will keep him front and center-right where he -and his brothers belong...now...and always!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SUBLIME AUDACITY!

By -
Image
I have all the signs and symptoms of something I just learned about today...Sublime Audacity. That's right...I have the audacity to believe-that anything is possible-anything at all-with God. In fact, I believe that there is one cure for all the world's ills...and that cure rests with -and in God. In a world of material wealth, individual desires and carefully orchestrated managed care...When people search the world over for the answers that never come, the healings that rarely happen and the hope that always gets dashed by the next person...I believe that there is only one steady stream of consciousness that always gets it right...and that is God. I've personally experienced it time and again and every time I look elsewhere or seek some other solution, I always come crawling back to the staying power of my higher power...Because let's face it...Once we have the audacity to tell anyone-anyone at all that God is responsible for all the good in our lives or the Love that
Read more

OUR LADY OF JOY, HANCEVILLE ALABAMA

By -
Image
High atop a hill in Hanceville Alabama, broken hearts are being healed and hope is being restored. Our Lady of Joyful Hope is a community of young men who are finding new freedom through a life of authentic truth. Once lost in the darkness of addiction they are now living in the light of Christ who is transforming them from the inside out...And their families, if they are open and willing, are being transformed right alongside them. Recently, I spent three days with this community, listening to the young men, their parents and to the foundress, Mother Elvira, who flew in from Italy for the anointing of the new community house and the celebration that followed. Mother Elvira's life story is on par with Mother Teresa. She is an Italian nun who heard the call from God to snatch souls from Satan by delivering young men and women from the demonic grip of addiction. She gave up everything familiar, walked straight into the wilderness and wound up becoming a living legacy for desperate fa
Read more

CONFESSIONS OF FATHER JOE BENSON

By -
As we sat in silence, meditating...I nudged my friend Terri, "What do we have to complain about?!" I whispered. There he hung, pain stricken, vulnerable in his nakedness, sharp thorns cutting into his head, pleading eyes fixed on the heavens. What I thought, on God's green earth, do I have to complain about?! That's probably why they do it...place the life like crucifix dead center-above the altar, just above the Blessed Sacrament, right where you can't miss it...just to remind us-things could be worse, but they're destined to get better-if we keep our eyes focused-on the solution. Another friend-likes to remind me-he's not on the cross anymore...So why do we keep him there? Every one's got an opinion, but to tell you the truth, I need to be reminded of the sacrifice...and every painful moment in between. Puts my problems in perspective...helps me see clearly...gives me strength to proceed. We went to first Friday adoration in the upper ninth ward..
Read more