God's Own Fool

Michael Card

Hear about God's Own Fool, Our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Will you be a fool for Him?

Max Lucado - The Roof

Beneath God's Grace Forgive Us Our Debts

From Max Lucado's weekly email comes the following:

Previously from this series:
The Kitchen, The Chapel, The Living Room, A Home for Your Heart
The roof of a house is seldom noticed. How often do your guests enter your doorway saying, “You have one of the finest roofs I’ve ever seen!”
Such disregard is no fault of the builder. He and his crew labored hours, balancing beams and nailing shingles. Yet, in spite of their effort, most people would notice a two-dollar lamp before they would notice the roof.
Let’s not make the same mistake. As God covered his Great House, he spared no expense. In fact, his roof was the most costly section of the structure. It cost him the life of his Son. He invites us to study his work by virtue of three words in the center of the prayer. “Forgive our debts.”
Debt. The Greek word for debt has no mystery. It simply means “to owe someone something.” If to be in debt is to owe someone something, isn’t it appropriate for us speak of debt in our prayer, for aren’t we all in debt to God?

Aren’t we in God’s debt when we disobey his commands? He tells us to go south and we go north. He tells us to turn right and we turn left. Rather than love our neighbor, we hurt our neighbor. Instead of seeking his will, we seek our will. We’re told to forgive our enemies, but we attack our enemies. We disobey God.
Aren’t we in God’s debt when we disregard him? He makes the universe and we applaud science. He heals the sick and we applaud medicine. He grants beauty and we credit Mother Nature. He gives us possessions and we salute human ingenuity.
Don’t we go into debt when we disrespect God’s children? What if I did to you what we do to God? What if I shouted at your child in your presence? What if I called him names or struck him? You wouldn’t tolerate it. But don’t we do the same? How does God feel when we mistreat one of his children? When we curse at his offspring? When we criticize a co-worker, or gossip about a relative, or speak about someone before we speak to them? Aren’t we in God’s debt when we mistreat a neighbor?
“Wait a second, Max. You mean every time I do one of these things, I’m writing a check on my heavenly bank account?”
That’s exactly what I’m saying. I’m also saying that if Christ had not covered us with his grace, each of us would be overdrawn on that account. When it comes to goodness we would have insufficient funds. Inadequate holiness. God requires a certain balance of virtue in our account, and it’s more than any of us has alone. Our holiness account shows insufficient funds, and only the holy will see the Lord; what can we do?
We could try making a few deposits. Maybe if I wave at my neighbor or compliment my husband or go to church next Sunday, I’ll get caught up. But how do you know when you’ve made enough? How many trips do I need to make to the bank? How much credit do I need? When can I relax?
That’s the problem. You never can. “People cannot do any work that will make them right with God” (Rom. 4:5). If you are trying to justify your own statement, forget ever having peace. You’re going to spend the rest of your days huffing and puffing to get to the drive-through window before the bank closes. You are trying to justify an account you can’t justify. May I remind you of the roof of grace which covers you?
“It is God who justifies” (8:33).

From The Great House of God
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1997) Max Lucado

Coming Soon to Speak at St. Peter's Seminary London

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast SJ


Co-sponsored by the: St. Peter's Institute for Catholic Formation,
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, & Family Formation.


Archbishop Terrence Prendergast SJ will be speaking on living the gift of our Catholic Faith and facing the challenge of our times.  Archbishop Prendergast SJ is the Archbishop of Ottawa (2007) and the former Archbishop of Halifax.

He is a biblical scholar who is particularly known for his ability to apply his faith to the social and moral
problems of the day.

Location: St. Peter's Seminary Auditorium.
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010.
Time: 7:30 pm.
Everyone is welcome.
Freewill offering.

Max Lucado - The Kitchen

God's Abundant Table

From Max Lucado's weekly email comes the following:

“Give us this day our daily bread…”
Your first step into the house of God was not to the kitchen but to the living room, where you were reminded of your adoption. “Our Father who is in heaven.” You then studied the foundation of the house, where you pondered his permanence. “Our Father who is in heaven.” Next you entered the observatory and marveled at his handiwork: “Our Father who is in heaven.” In the chapel, you worshiped his holiness: “Hallowed be thy name.” In the throne room, you touched the lowered scepter and prayed the greatest prayer, “Thy kingdom come.” In the study, you submitted your desires to his and prayed, “Thy will be done.” And all of heaven was silent as you placed your prayer in the furnace, saying, “on earth as it is in heaven.”
Proper prayer follows such a path, revealing God to us before revealing our needs to God. (You might reread that one.) The purpose of prayer is not to change God, but to change us, and by the time we reach God’s kitchen, we are changed people. Wasn’t our heart warmed when we called him Father? Weren’t our fears stilled when we contemplated his constancy? Weren’t we amazed as we stared at the heavens?
Seeing his holiness caused us to confess our sin. Inviting his kingdom to come reminded us to stop building our own. Asking God for his will to be done placed our will in second place to his. And realizing that heaven pauses when we pray left us breathless in his presence.
By the time we step into the kitchen, we’re renewed people! We’ve been comforted by our father, conformed by his nature, consumed by our creator, convicted by his character, constrained by his power, commissioned by our teacher, and compelled by his attention to our prayers.
The prayer’s next three petitions encompass all of the concerns of our life. “This daily bread” addresses the present. “Forgive our sins” addresses the past. “Lead us not into temptation” speaks to the future. (The wonder of God’s wisdom: how he can reduce all our needs to three simple statements.)
First he addresses our need for bread. The term means all of a person’s physical needs. Martin Luther defined bread as “Everything necessary for the preservation of this life, including food, a healthy body, house, home, wife and children.” This verse urges us to talk to God about the necessities of life. He may also give us the luxuries of life, but he certainly will grant the necessities.
Any fear that God wouldn’t meet our needs was left in the observatory. Would he give the stars their glitter and not give us our food? Of course not. He has committed to care for us. We aren’t wrestling crumbs out of a reluctant hand, but rather confessing the bounty of a generous hand. The essence of the prayer is really an affirmation of the Father’s care. Our provision is his priority.

From The Great House of God
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1997) Max Lucado

Joy in the Journey

Michael Card

Michael Card is a unique performer, and has written many beautiful and thought provoking songs.  Here is another from The Life trilogy.

It is our story.

Max Lucado - The Chapel

Where Man Covers His Mouth

From Max Lucado's weekly email comes the following:

“I am not worthy; I cannot answer you anything, so I will put my hand over my mouth.” (Job 40:4)
The phrase for the chapel is “Hallowed be thy name.”
This phrase is a petition, not a proclamation. A request, not an announcement. Hallowed be your name. We enter the chapel and beseech, “Be hallowed, Lord.” Do whatever it takes to be holy in my life. Take your rightful place on the throne. Exalt yourself. Magnify yourself. Glorify yourself. You be Lord, and I’ll be quiet.
The word hallowed comes from the word holy, and the word holy means “to separate.” The ancestry of the term can be traced back to an ancient word which means “to cut.” To be holy, then, is to be a cut above the norm, superior, extraordinary. Remember what we learned in the observatory? The Holy One dwells on a different level from the rest of us. What frightens us does not frighten him. What troubles us does not trouble him.
I’m more a landlubber than a sailor, but I’ve puttered around in a bass boat enough to know the secret for finding land in a storm … You don’t aim at another boat. You certainly don’t stare at the waves. You set your sights on an object unaffected by the wind—a light on the shore—and go straight toward it. The light is unaffected by the storm.
By seeking God in the chapel, you do the same. When you set your sights on our God, you focus on one “a cut above” any storm life may bring.
Like Job, you find peace in the pain.
Like Job, you cover your mouth and sit still.
“Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). This verse contains a command with a promise.
The command?
Be still.
Cover your mouth.
Bend your knees.
The promise? You will know that I am God.
The vessel of faith journeys on soft waters. Belief rides on the wings of waiting.
Linger in the chapel. Linger often in the chapel. In the midst of your daily storms, make it a point to be still and set your sights on him. Let God be God. Let him bathe you in his glory so that both your breath and your troubles are sucked from your soul. Be still. Be quiet. Be open and willing. Then you will know that God is God, and you can’t help but confess, “Hallowed be thy name.”

From The Great House of God
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1997) Max Lucado

Baby Gianna Part 2

From Creative Minority Report

H/t My Chocolate Heart

From Matthew Archbold at Creative Minority Report comes the second part in a week long report on a little baby and her mother that should touch your hearts about life.

Rebecca had been on the fence for months over whether to abort her child as her boyfriend wanted her to. But through Jessica Chominski’s efforts and prayers, along with volunteers at the crisis pregnancy center, Rebecca made the brave decision to keep her baby. Unfortunately, Rebecca’s boyfriend upon learning that she’d chosen to keep the baby kicked her savagely and repeatedly in the stomach.

While treating her, doctors discovered fetal abnormalities in the 18-week-old fetus, including diseased kidneys and underdeveloped lungs resulting from a dearth of amniotic fluid. Despite being in a Catholic hospital, the doctor stunned them by saying that since the baby had no chance of living he recommended an abortion.

Jessica was stunned but managed to remind him that they were in a Catholic hospital but the doctor, according to Jessica, merely said that while he couldn’t do it there, Rebecca could come to his office in Abington where he could arrange it.

“'Utter frustration', 'Disappointing', 'Infuriating'” are still some of the only words Jessica can use to describe her feelings regarding the doctor's suggestion in a Catholic hospital.

After months of working with the baby's mother to help her choose life, the doctor at the Catholic hospital "kicked back all the work we’d done."

"We were backtracked to where we’d been in June. I was devastated,” she said. “It just seemed that there was no safe harbor for this child. This poor little sheep had no shepherd.”

Jessica knew that if she hadn't been sitting right there next to Rebecca, the pregnancy likely would've ended in an abortion. She said so many people seek out Catholic hospitals because “they believe that they’ll respect the dignity of the person. And when recommendations such as abortion come from a Catholic institution people accept it. There’s so much authority there.”

The hospital, according to news reports, insists that it follows the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. The USCCB guidelines state that “First, Catholic health care ministry is rooted in a commitment to promote and defend human dignity; this is the foundation of its concern to respect the sacredness of every human life from the moment of conception until death.”

Further along it states that “employees of a Catholic health care institution must respect and uphold the religious mission of the institution.” That, of course, would preclude abortion but here's how those rules seem to be gotten around.

Lester A. Ruppersberger, D.O., a pro-life gynecologist on staff at St. Mary’s, said a doctor at a Catholic hospital recommending abortion is hardly an anomaly. He said that Catholic hospitals cannot turn away doctors from renting space in their medical offices. He said that while doctors may not perform procedures like abortion in the hospital, administrators “draw a line” between where the hospital ends and the medical office building begins.

“They’ll say they can’t control the philosophy of the people who are renting from their medical office building, they can’t tell them what to do in their private practice,” he said. “You can have the world's number one abortionist at a Catholic hospital. They can’t legally keep him off staff.”

So doctors affiliated with St. Mary’s actually dispense contraception and can have abortions performed in another building.

John Stanton of the Pro-Life Union of Southeastern Pennsylvania said, “The people who run the hospital make a point of saying that he’s not going to do it at the hospital. So somehow it becomes not an objective evil because it’s not done there? It’s wrong to kill a baby here but somewhere else it’s OK?”

Jessica brought Rebecca to a Catholic hospital because she believed that Catholic meant Catholic. “Sadly, we had to be the ones to respect the baby because they wouldn’t,” said Jessica. “This baby needed someone to fight for her. I wonder about all the countless other babies that we’re not there for.”

Jessica had worried that after what happened at St. Mary’s Hospital, Rebecca only needed the slightest push in order to abort so she accompanied Rebecca to almost all of her prenatal visits. She says they were all the same, even those at the Catholic hospital. “She’d leave these prenatal visits crying because these doctors would make her feel so guilty that she wasn’t going to kill her baby. I had to yell at some doctors. I feel really bad about it, but I had to.”

Rebecca went to four hospitals and all of them didn’t just recommend abortion. “They shoved it down her throat,” said Jessica.

It got so bad that Rebecca was often too frightened to ask questions herself for fear she’d be berated for not aborting her child. So Rebecca would give Jessica questions in the car for her to ask. Rebecca was hardly able to look up at the doctors.

When Rebecca was twenty weeks along she went to a secular hospital in Philadelphia. Jessica couldn’t make that visit, but Rebecca assured her it would be alright.

But it wasn’t. From the hospital, Rebecca called to tell Jessica the hospital was sending her to have labor induced. Rebecca had specifically told the medical staff that she didn’t want an abortion but they told her that she could deliver the baby then and would be allowed to hold her baby, giving what they called “comfort care,” and say goodbye.

“That’s an abortion,” said Jessica.

“No,” said Rebecca. “The doctors said it wasn’t.”

“Your baby will not have a fighting chance,” explained Jessica. “Your baby couldn’t possibly survive right now.”

When Jessica hung up the phone she had no idea what would happen. Rebecca, still unsure, had her mind made up when the hospital asked her to sign autopsy papers for research purposes. “She was horrified,” said Jessica. “Autopsy papers?!”

Rebecca finally told the doctors that she wanted God to decide when this baby would be taken. Not her. Not the doctors. Nobody but God.

“I was so proud of her for that,” said Jessica. “That was such a beautiful moment.”

Just when it seemed that nobody could quite see a reason the baby should be born, Rebecca had found the strength to stand up for her baby. Rebecca was affirmed in her faith by a surprising source. She read a piece online by Father John Zuhlsdorf concerning the second miracle attributed to St. Gianna, about a mother with no amniotic fluid giving birth to a beautiful baby girl after doctors had recommended an abortion.

Rebecca became fascinated by St. Gianna and her amazing example of motherhood. At one point, Rebecca was even visited by members of the Society of St. Gianna who laid the glove of St. Gianna on Rebecca’s womb. “She was so touched by these people who didn’t even know her, affirming her, how they were praying for her, and their empathy,” said Jessica.

Rebecca began attending Mass again with her Mother, the experience moving her in her faith.

And shortly after, Rebecca even asked doctors for a “super-hydration” injection she’d read about in Fr. Z’s article to help the baby’s lungs. This woman who’d been too afraid to open her mouth in doctor’s offices weeks before was now demanding that everything be done to save her baby. Medical staff were surprised and wondered aloud how she even knew about the injection. They attempted to dissuade her but she insisted.

Rebecca was fighting for her baby.

Jessica got the call on January 9th that the baby was coming and she rushed to Abington hospital. Rebecca had asked Jessica to stay in the delivery room with her. Moments before the baby was born, Jessica pulled the doctor aside and told him ,“You promise her that you’re going to treat her baby like you’re treating your own daughter?”

The doctor promised.

When the baby was born, there were no cries from the baby. The child never even opened her eyes. Her little lungs struggled for each gasping breath. It was apparent to all that the baby wouldn’t live long.

The nurses handed the baby to Jessica. She looked at the beautiful baby in her arms and for a few moments she couldn't be sad, not faced with the chubby cheeked miracle of life. She held the precious little life in her arms. “I took her over and she met her Mom and it was absolutely beautiful,” said Jessica. “The anesthesiologist was crying. Everyone was totally blown away. She lived for about an hour and a half.”

There wasn’t time to figure out if she had her mother’s hair or her grandmother's nose. She had a soul that belonged to God that it seems just couldn’t stand being away from God for more than nine months and ninety minutes.

Rebecca, still on the surgical table and groggy from the pain medication, gaves Jessica a job. Make sure the baby is baptized. “That was my one mission,” said Jessica. “And it’s really the best mission.”

Jessica said, "I was like a pitbull in that delivery room. I told them they had to find a priest to come in there and they were so confused. When I said "priest", the nurses must have heard "non-denominational clergy-person who believes in God" because in came this guy who thought he was baptizing the mother, and was extremely confused when I explained exactly how he needed to perform an infant baptism. I had called my friend, Fr. Kevin McGoldrick, on the way to the hospital and he had given me the correct formula for the baptism."

The minister seemed confused but was willing to do what the Catholic Church called for.

Just as the baptism was to take place, a nurse ran out of the room and came back with a little white dress, booties, and a hat for the little baby's baptism. “There wasn’t a dry eye there,” said Jessica.

The baby was baptized “Miracle Gianna.”

“It was an honor to be there. A witness of God’s mercy. And they all treated this baby like a person,” said Jessica. “And she died with Christ and as tragic as it was it, was the most beautiful thing we could’ve asked for. Now the baby’s in heaven.”

The nurse pulled Jessica aside and told her that she'd go to Church on Sunday and pray for little baby Gianna. Jessica told her that baby Gianna would be praying for her as well.

Baby Gianna had finally found her safe harbor. For so long Jessica had worried that this little lost sheep was without a shepherd, but that day little baby Gianna found her eternal home in the arms of Christ the Shepherd.

Baby Gianna had a mother who fought for her and a God who loved her. “As a parent it’s your job to get your child to heaven," said Jessica. "That is what parenthood is supposed to be. And she did it.”

After the funeral, Jessica asked Rebecca if it was all worth it. Rebecca looked her friend in the eye and told her, “I know I did the right thing. I would do it all over again.”

Nine months and ninety minutes changed everything for so many. Jessica said, “This baby moved mountains. Brought me closer to God. Brought her mother closer to God.”

And little Gianna’s life may have had more of an impact than anyone in that room that day could’ve realized.

Because of what occurred in the Catholic hospital, many pro-life organizations are focusing on Catholic hospitals upholding Catholic principles.

The Philadelphia Bulletin ran a story concerning Doctor Stephen Smith's recommendation of an abortion at St. Mary's, a Catholic hospital. That article has begun a firestorm of criticism.

John Stanton, Public Affairs of the Pro-Life Union of Southeastern Pennsylvania said, “This one burned. This isn’t going away,” he said. “This baby’s creation and death is not going to go away. Some good will come of this. I can tell you that.”

(Calls and emails to St. Mary’s Medical Center went unreturned.)

Next Up: The Baby Gianna Story: Eulogy

Note: This is the second part in a week-long series telling this incredible and gut-wrenching true story about life, death, abortion, and betrayal. We ask all of our readers and blogging friends to help us in any way they can to share this story. Please stay with us this entire week.

Baby Gianna Part I

From Creative Minority Report

H/t My Chocolate Heart

From Matthew Archbold at Creative Minority Report comes this week long report on a little baby and her mother that should touch your hearts about life.

Jessica Chominski fights for the lives of others. Little lives. The ones many don’t think are worth fighting for. She is the sole full time employee of the Bucks County Community Women’s Center, a crisis pregnancy center in Pennsylvania.

About once a week a woman calls or walks into the center asking about abortion and Jessica asks them why they feel the need to abort their child, she tells them about other options, explains what abortion is, and tells them about the dignity of every human life. “Hopefully they leave thinking twice,” she says.

It’s nerve-wracking work. At 24 years old, Jessica works daily under the weight that lives depend on her. Every phone call. Every conversation. And she knows that she can’t control what a woman does when she walks out of the center so she just does all she can. And when there's no more she can do she prays. But to her it’s all worth it because in the end Jessica knows, “there are babies crawling around right now because of the work we do. And that is miraculous.”

Last June Jessica's phone rang. It was the call that would change her life. Jessica had no idea how her struggle for one baby would change her forever. And in the end, that one little baby may change many more lives than hers. All Jessica knew was that every time the phone rang a life might depend on her. She simply answered the call.

“Do you guys help out with abortion?” a woman nervously asked.

Jessica informed the woman that they didn’t perform abortions at the center. She offered to discuss options. “We can provide information,” she said. “Would you like to come by?”

Silence.

Sometimes Jessica fills the silence. Sometimes she just gives space. Jessica waited for a response. She heard breathing. But she knew that as long as the woman stayed on the phone there was hope. She knew what a sudden dial tone would likely mean. She listened to the breathing on the other end of the line until she heard a barely breathed “OK.”

When meeting with a pregnant woman Jessica says the first thing she tries to understand is why the woman feels an abortion is her only option. When Rebecca (not her real name) came in she explained she was already a mother of three and her boyfriend, the father of her unborn child, was adamant she have an abortion.

Jessica told Rebecca about fetal development. She talked about adoption. She told her there were other options. But Jessica couldn't tell if she was getting through. And when Rebecca left that day, Jessica’s hopes were not high. “I know she was a little unsure," she said.

And then she didn’t hear from Rebecca for weeks. Standard policy for the center is they follow up with two phone calls but Rebecca didn’t answer or return the calls. Jessica thought she’d never hear from Rebecca again.

But weeks later, a cousin of Rebecca’s, a former client of the center who’d considered abortion but eventually chose life, brought Rebecca back to the center because she was trying to talk her out of aborting her child.

Rebecca and Jessica spoke for hours. Rebecca told her about her boyfriend’s abuse and her estranged relationship with her religious mother. And how she felt she had nowhere to turn. And that started a period of two months where Rebecca vacillated back and forth on whether to abort. At one point, Rebecca actually scheduled an abortion for the following Friday at a local abortion clinic in nearby Warminster. That week, Jessica was on pins and needles.

The two women spoke often. Jessica could just be there for her, a voice urging life. Volunteers at the clinic babysat her children while they spoke. Jessica said, "When she had scheduled the appointment...I initiated my prayer-chain of family and friends. I emailed about 40 people at first, but the story ended up spreading literally across the country. These people were amazing- they did novenas, they fasted, they prayed, a bunch of priest friends offered Masses, I contacted a few deeply prayerful orders of religious sisters and we stormed the Heavens for 4 days. Local parishioners offered to be at the clinic. The prayer support was astronomical. That is why she didn't have the abortion on Friday."

Just to make sure though Jessica gaves Rebecca and her cousin grocery cards to keep her away from the clinic all day while she babysat both their kids. But she insists it was the prayers are what did it.

Rebecca didn’t keep the appointment at the Planned Parenthood clinic that Friday. And finally Rebecca told Jessica that she chose to keep the baby. “We all breathed a sigh of relief,” she said. “It had been such a long process but she made a decision for life.”

But the relief would be short lived. When Rebecca's boyfriend learned of her decision he repeatedly and savagely kicked her in the stomach. While examining her, hospital doctors said they saw something alarming in the baby. There was no amniotic fluid which would likely cause the baby's lungs to not develop properly.

Jessica and Rebecca decided to have the baby checked out together at St. Mary’s Medical Center, a Catholic hospital in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Jessica was worried about the baby but she was also worried about how Rebecca would take any news. Would she consider aborting the baby again, she wondered.

Jessica explained that often when a woman makes a decision for life, it's not a one-time decision. It's a decision made dozens of time. Maybe more. Any difficulty can make the woman make and remake her decision. Jessica simply tries to be there to guide.

The appointment they headed to that day would surely be a difficult one. “But I was excited she was going to a Catholic hospital,” said Jessica. “I thought this will be difficult but at least they’ll have compassion for life of the baby.”

Rebecca, at 18 weeks pregnant, had an ultrasound done. The two women held hands while waiting together. Unfortunately, after the ultrasound, Doctor Stephen Smith had some terrible news. The baby was sick. Very sick. The baby was also diagnosed with polycystic kidneys –a fatal disease that assured the baby likely wouldn’t make it to term and would most assuredly die shortly after birth from its underdeveloped lungs.

And then it happened.

While the women wept together the doctor coolly added that he could schedule a “termination” because there was no reason Rebecca should go through a pregnancy and deliver a child since it would die almost immediately after.

Jessica couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“The worst part is he just told her that her baby was going to die and we’re both crying. And the next thing out of his mouth was termination. I know I kind of gave him a look and I said ‘We are in a Catholic hospital.’ I probably looked pretty angry,” said Jessica. “And he just said ‘I know but she can come over to my office in Abington.’”

Abortion was back on the table...

Read The Baby Gianna Story Part II

Note: This is the first part in a week-long series telling this incredible and gut-wrenching true story about life, death, abortion, and betrayal. We ask all of our readers and blogging friends to help us in any way they can to share this story. Please stay with us this entire week.

The Wooden Bowl

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

Here is a story that a friend sent me yesterday, that I hope you will enjoy:

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.  'We must do something about father,' said the son.  'I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.'  So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.  There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.
Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.
Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he drooped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.  He asked the child sweetly, 'What are you making?' Just as sweetly, the boy responded, 'Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.' The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table.   For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

Along with the story were some life lessons, that make good sense to me, and I hope to you:

On a positive note, I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: rainy days, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as making a 'life..'
I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back sometimes.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you.  But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone.  People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

I Heard There Are These Olympic Games Going on in Canada

The Southwest American View

So, here we sit, My Dear Wife and me, in sunny Tucson in the Arizona desert.   And there some of you readers sit, in Canada, a country known for having its balmy summer season on July 1, followed by 364 days of winter.  NBC has been regaling us for 3 hours a night with these here Winter Olympic Games y'all been hosting for your American neighbours.  Seems that along with the half a million American competitors that y'all invited a few foreigners as well, which was mighty neighbourly of y'all.

The Fox Pass (faux pas) began with Meredith Vieira speaking about who might carry in the torch for the lighting ceremony in the Opening.  She was all for Betty Fox, the mother of Terry Fox, who somehow got morphed into Michael J. Fox, who actually has his own mother, and didn't need to adopt a fox of another colour.  So, I guess Michael ran across Canada on one leg, while his TV show was in hiatus, and along the way he met a guy named Parkinson, who gave him the flu, or something.

Since then, nothing much has changed.  For example, there was the short track event the other night.  Three Koreans were taking it away, when two of them tried a roller derby style ending, leaving two less leaders standing.  For some reason, NBC figured that they only presented a silver medal and a bronze, and Yoko Ono became the oldest female athlete to win a men's silver medal, and JR Ewing, became the oldest fictional male athlete to win a bronze medal.  (That was my little Yoke-O.  I know it was really Anton Ohno, and JR Celski).

Yesterday, I was playing Pickle Ball (tennis for seniors) here at the RV Park, with about 6 Americans, who winter here, and although we spoke about many things, the Olympics were not mentioned once.  Hmmm!!

Seems that down here in the Southwest, the Winter Olympics are something that the folks from the north do to keep warm in the winter.  We're warm already, so it's not important here.

But, in the greatest affront to North American relations, NBC has decided not to show the Canada USA Olympic qualifying hockey game live.  Seems there is some figure skating going on at the time.  NBC by the way holds the NHL TV rights here in the US of A, and obviously values that product greatly, such that they will not be showing what amounts to an All Star Game.

Although I would not kill to be at the Olympics or die from being there, I do miss the unbiased Canadian Olympic coverage, pretty much 24 hours a day of coverage, including warm ups, stretching exercises, preliminary events and medal rounds, and in the winter games, hockey, hockey, hockey.  At least, when you see the Canadian coverage of the Games, you know that there are lots of athletes from other nations in the world.  They aren't as good as our Canadian athletes mind you, and it's a fluke or bad judging when they beat out our guys, but it is otherwise unbiased.