DailyConnections.net

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 7/1/09

TUESDAY THOUGHT 6/30/09

FRIDAY THOUGHT 6/26/09

Sliced, diced and pickled
 
Well, boys and girls, when we left our hero Peter (aka Simon), he was about to make yet another rash, brash, poorly-thought-out promise to Jesus:  “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” (Luke 22:33).  But just before that, Jesus made it clear that the devil was going to play a lively game of  kick-the-can with Peter … with Peter as the can.
 
BUT (aha, here’s the BUT!), after that, when all was said and done, Peter was going to be stronger, better, ready to quit playing tag-along boon companion to his friend, the itinerant preacher, and step in and take charge of Jesus’s surviving ragtag band of less-than-perfect followers.
 
My point:  God challenges us, winnows us, sifts us (picture that process for a moment, if you will), tests us, tempers us and, yes, lets us fail horribly.  BUT from the bruised and battered soul-core remains, some pretty amazing stuff emerges.  Trust in God.  He really does know what He is doing. — jri 
 
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift
you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you,
Simon, that your faith may not fail.  And
when you have turned back, strengthen
your brothers.”
        –    Jesus Christ
               (Luke 22: 31-32)

THURSDAY THOUGHT 6/25/09

Love God?
 
This one has always puzzled me.  I mean, yes, I believe in God (His awe, splendor and power), I trust in Him (the idea that He knows what He is doing and He really cares about the final score), and I definitely need Him (as, the older I get, I recognize that nothing that truly matters is in my hands).  But the love part?  I don’t know.
 
But then I realized recently what I’ve always told my children:  Love is a verb!  It’s not some squishy, warm ‘n fuzzy, doe-eyed feeling.  It’s doing the right thing, even when it’s the last thing you want to do.  It’s dedication or — in my opinion, the ultimate compliment — steadiness.  It’s putting your sword back in its sheath when you’d rather lop the head off some annoying person and, instead, seeing the pain and frustration that makes that person annoying.
 
My point:  I guess it’s really not all that complicated, that we love God by loving, forgiving, and sharing with our neighbor (oh, yeah, I remember hearing about that one) and by following the example that Christ gave us.  So, thank you, God.  Love ya. — jri
 
“But I am among you as one who
serves.”
        –    Jesus Christ
               (Luke 22:27)

MONDAY THOUGHT 6/22/09

Hope
 
Sometimes life just hurts … and hurts like hell.  And, no, God doesn’t swoop in like Batman to save the day.  I wish He did.  A man I know, in his 50s, is in the final stages of cancer.  Another I know of, in his 30s, died of a heart attack without warning, and the pain I saw in his mother’s eyes the other day will haunt me for a long time.  I also learned last week of a boy of 19 who was diagnosed with cancer.  Plus, like all of us, I see a growing number of people who are out of work and  living with an ice-cold ball of terror in their gut as bills pile up, mortgages go unpaid.  Lots of desperate people.  
 
Something brilliant should be inserted here, but I can’t think of what it should be  Sorry.  Sometimes it just makes no sense.  There are times when faith has nothing to do with proof or answered prayers … but just faith.  There are times when you can pray — Lord, please, please, please — ’til the cows come home … and they don’t come home.  But God has something else in mind.  This I do believe.  No, this I do know.  (Oh, and, no, I cannot prove it to you, which is kind of the point.) 
 
More to the point:  The only thing I know about God is that, yes, He is here … right here.  I’m not going to say “There, there, it’s all for the best” or whistle the final song from the movie, Life of Brian (”Look on the Bright Side of Life”).  In fact, the only prayer I know at these times is, “Lord, have mercy.”  Joyful?  No.  Comforting?  Not likely.   Just rocky, shaky, stumblingly, faithfully pure hope … without the slightest bit of proof.  — jri
 
“But hope that is seen is no hope at
all.  Who hopes for what he already
has?  But if we hope for what we do
not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in
our weakness.  We do not know what
we ought to pray for, but the Spirit
himself intercedes for us with groans
that words cannot express.”
    –    St. Paul
           (Romans 8:24-26)
 
Thank you for letting me into your lives today.  Please pray for all who suffer from anxiety due to loss and illness.  Also, if you would, please kick in a prayer for a special intention for me. Thank you and may God bless you and fill your heart with hope, faith and joy.
John Ingrisano
DailyConnections
204 Lakeview Drive
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722

THURSDAY THOUGHT 6/18/09

MONDAY THOUGHT 6/15/09

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 6/10/09

MONDAY THOUGHT 6/8/09

Your Greatest Power

The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

One of the most valuable lessons I have learned as the years have gone by is the futility of being concerned about things over which I have no control. And if it is true that the best definition of wisdom is ‘knowledge rightly applied,’ I’ve gained wisdom in that I now concentrate only on things over which I have at least some modicum of control.
• I can’t stop the inconsiderate person who thoughtlessly throws a wadded up paper towel on the floor of the men’s room for someone else to pick up; but I can pick it up myself and toss it in the waste basket
• I can’t make young people use their turn signals or old people turn their turn signals off; but I can drive carefully and courteously myself
• I can’t stop the DOW Jones Industrial Average from dropping like a rock; but I can be careful about my spending habits and prepare an annual financial plan to make sure that we’re doing the best we can with the funds that we’ve worked so hard to accumulate
• I can’t run the government; but I can respect the President and elected officials currently in power at any given time whether I voted for them or not
• I can’t stop racism or sexism or any other type of ‘ism’; but I can appreciate all cultures and show respect for all people regardless of gender or skin color
• I can’t stop the aging process; but I can continue to learn and love and laugh and cry and work and play with great vigor and enthusiasm
• I can’t prevent people from losing their jobs and facing difficult times; but I can be a friend when it happens to someone by being an encourager
• I can’t be twenty-five again; but I can share (when asked) my experiences, both victories and defeats, in the hopes of making the road a little smoother for younger people who have years and miles ahead of them
• I can’t stop negative people from being negative; but I can choose to avoid them when possible and attempt to be a beacon of light during times of darkness
• I can’t slow down the changes in technology that come at us with warp speed; but I can accept, respect and learn how to use the tools that help us learn, allow us to communicate with the world and provide entertainment
• I can’t control the world (nor do I want to); but I can prevent the world from controlling me by taking responsibility for my actions and becoming a life-long learner
And you? Well, you can make you own list of what you can and cannot control. It’s a truly liberating experience!

Bill Sheridan    Sheridan Writes, LLC     www.sheridanwrites.com

Becoming the Dad I Didn’t Have

Note: This essay was first published in the Des Moines Sunday Register on Father’s Day 2007 (Bill Sheridan, Guest Author)

My viewpoint of Father’s Day began to change on April 1, 1966 when the first of our three sons, Ed, was born. We named him after my father who, for reasons we will never know, ended his own life several months before my eighth birthday.

I grew up the fifth of six children in a single-parent home in the small town of Lawler in northeast Iowa, secretly envying my friends who had a dad. I longed to have a father to play catch with, cheer me on a Little League games, teach me to fish or hunt and attend the myriad of father-son events that occur from first grade through high school graduation. Those were the hardest—I always had to have an uncle or family friend accompany me.

I never liked Father’s Day. The priest, year after year, gave the same sermon about how great dads are and how we should be grateful and honor them. To that end, I built up a personal mythology about how great my dad would have been, even though, in truth, I had very few memories of him. No real father could have lived up to the image of the one I had created in my childhood of fantasies.

When I became a dad as a twenty-one year old young man, things began to change. Three wonderful gifts were given to me in the years that followed, filling that empty hole in my life in the form of our three sons: Ed, Tom and Greg.

From the moment of their respective births to this very day, little by little, I have been able to put that sense of loss behind me and relish the joy of being the father that I didn’t have. In the process of loving each of them and watching them grow into terrific young men, I’ve found it in my heart to forgive Dad for abandoning my mom, my siblings and me by committing suicide.

Attending ball games, band concerts, weddings and various celebrations with my sons is a privilege that I’ve never taken for granted. I cheered as they achieved various academic and professional goals. I cried as each took the inevitable tumbles that life brings along. I made up my mind very early that they would always know that they are loved by their dad—not for what they did or did not do—but for just being.

It was not always easy to know exactly what to do as a father; I didn’t have a role model so undoubtedly made mistakes along the way. Instinctively, however, I somehow understood that the most important thing I could ever give them was my time, understanding, encouragement and moral support.

So Father’s Day now has a different and joyful meaning for me. I am living proof that healing and forgiveness can occur for those of who have lost a father through death, divorce or abandonment. That healing for me began the first time that I became the dad I didn’t have.

Bill Sheridan 
Sheridan Writes, LLC
www.sheridanwrites.com

FRIDAY THOUGHT 6/5/09

THURSDAY THOUGHT 6/4/09

PENTECOST THOUGHT 5/31/09

Pentecost:  Ground Zero
 
As a writer, I’ve lectured students about the importance of finding their “voices,” their unique and special ways of expressing themselves.  (Even these simplistic ramblings took about 25 years to evolve.) 
 
Pentecost is when the Apostles got their voices.  This is the exact moment when the old, unreliable Peter (first to race in, first to cut and run) became the rock that Jesus proclaimed.  He and the others — filled with the Holy Spirit — spoke boldly and with such persistence and resolve that, eventually, all but perhaps John were put to death for what they had to say.
 
My point:  Give voice to your faith.  Speak up.  This week, why not end every encounter with a “Good bye and God bless you” (even if nobody has sneezed)?  Cherish your faith.  Share it.  Oh, and God bless you. — jri
 
“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice and addressed the
crowd.”
    –    Acts 2:14

THURSDAY THOUGHT 5/28/09

Egoistic or Righteous?
 
A friend of mine was once accused of being “so God damned righteous” by her philandering husband who objected to hearing about the principles and morals she held sacred … and how he was violating his promise to her and their family. 
 
What struck me was that many people think of righteousness as arrogant and egoistic.  I don’t know much, but I don’t think so.  Righteous means doing what is right in the eyes of God and according to God’s law.  No amount of fancy footwork and windy arguments can change that.  Sometimes — or so it seems to me — black and white are black and white, and right and wrong are right or wrong.
 
My point:  Though I am far from righteous, I work on it by trying to do what is right (and battle my chin-jutting arrogance every day).  It’s a good goal, one of which we should be pleased, not ashamed.  Celebrate the gift of this day … in righteousness.  — jri
 
“Light is shed upon the righteous
    and joy upon the upright in heart.”
        –    Psalm 97:11

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 5/27/09

A Prank Offering
 
Forgive me, but this one will be longer than usual.
 
My brother and I have always traveled different roads in search of our demons to wrestle, our dragons to slay.  He uses his gift of medical healing in remote corners of the world, but he had always done so with anger at a god he hoped didn’t exist (because random suffering made more sense than a cruel god).  On the other hand, I tend to use my small gift with words to educate and inform and, these days, wearing my faith on my sleeve, to attempt to spread the knowledge of The God who is ever watchful over us.
 
This fall those roads will meet … in Swaziland, Africa, of all places.  The “fun” part is that I’ll be joining Lou as general grunt labor on a two-week trip through Medical Ministry International. 
 
But the best part is that … well, let me put it this way:  On the phone the other night, we were discussing plans for the trip.  I said I hoped my inexperience in remote travel and lack of medical skills would not prove futile.  He assured me there would be plenty for me to do, and then added, “There are many ways to serve the… ” and then lapsed into silence, as I processed what he had just about said.  Finally, “Gotcha,” I said, and he replied with a joyful, pure laugh.  “Oh, Little Brother, you have no idea.  Good night.  God bless.  I love you.”  And he hung up the phone.
 
Now here’s the prank part.  (You were probably wondering about that title, eh?)  Lou and I have always pranked each other and playfully competed with and tried to amuse each other…from sending dead animal body parts to each other through the mail, to borrowing each other’s credit cards to … well, never mind.  Most of all, we’ve always looked after each other, coming as close to unconditional love as I imagine exists on this earth. 
 
What I’m looking for here really isn’t a prank at all.  Lou has been in my daily prayers for years.  The realization that he is being graced with faith thrills me beyond words.  So, today, I’m asking for your prayers — to join me in a prayerful prank, if you will — that Lou’s road to faith be blessed and straight, especially after so many years of uncertainty and skepticism.  I also ask for your prayers that this trip we will be setting out on at the end of October may be fruitful.  Thank you and God bless. — jri
 
“He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me.
    and he prepares the way
    so that I may show him the salvation of God.”
        –    Psalm 50: 23
 
BTW:  All profits from the sale of my book, A Perfect Day, from now until the end of October, will go as a donation to Medical Ministry International.  
 
John Ingrisano
DailyConnections
204 Lakeview Drive
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722
www.DailyConnections.net

THURSDAY THOUGHT 5/21/09

The Gift of Failure
 
I used to think that when I embraced God, my life would be a piece of cake, a walk in the park, an easy ride up the escalator to heaven.  Boy, did I have another think coming!
 
I’ve learned that God doesn’t take away our challenges and our suffering.  But what He does give us is the ability to get up with joy and the knowledge of forgiveness and love each and every time we fall on our faces or get knocked down by one of those two-by-fours of life.  It also seems to me that it is those setbacks — those stumbles and tumbles — that help us grow into the men and women we were meant to be … and that is growth we would not realize — ever — if life were one big, joyful and juicy bowl of pit-free cherries.     
 
My point:  Several, actually.  For one thing, forget about this perfection stuff.  It just ain’t gonna happen.  Just do the best you can and leave the rest up to God.  Second, give thanks for the gift of failure and for the struggles of each day.  My prayers for myself each day have been whittled down to one simple request:  “Lord, please give me faith and strength and guidance.  Everything else is Your business, Lord, not mine.” — jri
 
“The main thing we learn from a serious
attempt to practice the Christian virtues
is that we fail.”
    –    C.S. Lewis
            (Mere Christianity)

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 5/20/09

Tomorrow?

What me worry?  You bet!  I don’t know about you (though I have a sneaky suspicion you’re kind of like me), but I waste way too much time pondering the future. 

Well, here’s what I know about tomorrow:  (A) it will come, like it or not; (B) eventually we will die, be gone, departed from this earthly orb; (C) it’s all in God’s hands … all of it.  Soooooooo, from birthday until deathday, we have a few decades to live, laugh, give thanks, cry, suffer, rejoice, and pray.  That’s it.  I suspect we should make the most of them in joyful fellowship and faith-filled living. 

My point:  Just for today, I will try to not give a single thought to tomorrow, but live in the radiance of God’s present love on this day.  I will give thanks and rejoice.  Tomorrow?  Ditto. — jri

“Can any of you by worrying add a
moment to your life-span?  Even if
the smallest things are beyond your
control, why are you anxious about
the rest?  Notice how the flowers
grow.  They do not toil or spin.  But
I tell you, not even Solomon in all his
splendor was dressed like one of
them.  If God so clothes the grass of
the field that grows today and is thrown
into the oven tomorrow, will he not
much more provide for you, O you of
little faith?  As for you, do not seek
what you are to eat and what you are
to drink, and do not worry anymore.
All the nations of the world seek these
things, and your Father knows that you
need them.  Instead, seek his kingdom,
and these other things will be given you
besides.”
        –    Jesus Christ
               (Luke 12:25-31)

MONDAY THOUGHT 5/18/09

Give it your little/some/most/all (circle one)
 
I got home last night from an incredibly, wondrously, spiritually uplifting Cursillo (Cur-C-O) weekend during which people said things like “God bless you” and “Jesus Christ,” even though nobody had sneezed or skinned a knuckle.  (Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all hugged and cried, too.  Got a problem with that?)
 
What I loved best (well, there must have been about a hundred best parts to the weekend, actually) was that people — many who before that would be inclined to say “my faith is private” or “I just don’t get into that spiritual hocus pocus; I’m not some holy roller, you know!”– well, they unfolded, discovered their faith, opened up like flowers blooming or caterpillars emerging from cocoons (the group’s name is Monarch, as in the butterfly).  If you’ve never seen an honest, open transformation like that before …  Wow!  No, double Wow!  You’re missing something incredible.
 
My point:  I know I’ve not expressed it well, probably left you thinking, “Who cares?” or “Words finally failed the fool”  But my point (yes, I do have one) is that — and this I know — the faith we carry around inside of us today is just a minute part of what it could be.  So, I encourage you to explore your faith, discover it, nurture it, let it grow and let it unfold and open like the wings of a butterfly.  Wow!  God bless. — jri
 
“Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph.’

 ”‘Nazareth!  Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked.

 ”‘Come and see,” said Philip.”

             –    John 1:45-46

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 5/13/09

FRIDAY THOUGHT 5/8/09

God Bless the Mothers
 
It’s the mothers, guys, whether we want to admit it or not.  As I’ve often written, it has been the women in my life (especially my mother and grandmother) — their prayers and belief in me — that are the reason I’m alive and not wearing prison stripes today.  This coming Tuesday evening, May 12, I will be speaking about “Women of Faith and Strength” at a Knights of Columbus gathering honoring mothers.  One of the things I will share is a bit of family folklore about my mother.
 
Sarah Helen Koch was born in 1918.  She was raised Lutheran.  She met my father in January of 1942, in the early days of World War II.  She was an army nurse, he a doctor.  As the story goes, they met in January, became engaged in February, were married in March … and he was shipped overseas in April to Australia and New Guinea,  not returning for 30 months. As a good Catholic Italian boy, Pop insisted that Mom convert to Catholicism when they wed.  She did while he was gone.  (That was perhaps the only time she actually listened to him, though she adored him until the day she died.)  Unfortunately, life and war being what they are, he returned home in 1945 and said he wanted a divorce.  My mother and God being what they are, her response is now part of our family history.  It is a response that saved our family and, though it was often an uneasy truce, kept them together until her death in 1981. 
 
My point:  Thank you, all you wondrous women of faith and strength.  I admire and miss it in my mother.  I beam with joy as I see it in my daughter, Angie, and in my daughter-in-law, Liz, two ferociously loyal mothers and wives.  Us guys would be nothing without you.  God bless you. — jri
 
“I cannot divorce you.  I am a
Catholic.”
    –    Sarah Helen Koch Ingrisano

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 5/6/09

MONDAY THOUGHT 5/4/09

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 4/29/09

On Butterfly’s Wings
 
The other day, an unpleasant rift between myself and another member of our church simply dissolved into peace, when the deacon asked if I would drive my estranged friend home.  It was a pleasant drive.  We did not reconcile.  We did not hash it out.  We just resumed pleasant and friendly discussions … spontaneously and effortlessly.
 
This mini-miracle reminded me that God decides such things … actually, ALL things.  We can flap our wings all day long like a lead-butted duck trying to gain altitude … or we can let the Good Lord lift us effortlessly, like a butterfly soaring gently on the breeze.  (As one who tends to be a lead-butted duck, I rather like that imagery.)
 
My point:  All we can do is the best we can do, trying to live our lives God’s way, leaving the rest in God’s hands.  Or, as some of us are prone to say:  “Let go and let God.”  Rejoice and may your day be filled with the peace of the Lord. — jri
 
“But if we walk in the light, as he is
in the light. we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of
Jesus, the Son, purifies us from all
sin.”
    –    St. John
           (1 John 1:7)

MONDAY THOUGHT 4/27/09

Faith & Reason
 
I have friends who think that I have had to throw away my common sense and rational faculties to embrace my faith, that faith and intelligence are mutually exclusive. 
 
Wrong!  I for one do not believe in things that do not make sense.  This does not mean that I have to understand everything or have all the answers … just as I do not need to know how my smarter-than-me computer and even cell phone work.  It means that I have reason to believe in God.  That was/is my starting point.  From there, I have tried to open my heart to grace and my mind to reading and studying … and reason.
 
My point:  I believe that faith embraces both the freebie gift of grace (aka unearned blessings) and the results of intellectual study, reading and discussion; both kumbaya, tear-filled experiences and Eureka moments of discovery built on rational study and thinking.  Cherish this day and celebrate the many and blessed routes to faith. — jri
 
“Religious faith is not blind.  It is not irrational.
It is about trusting and loving someone we
have come to know.  It you haven’t come to
know Jesus personally and as a providential
God — one who is on our side — it is
irrational to put your trust in him.”
    –    Father Jonathan Morris
           (The Promise)
 
Not sure what you think about God?  Try this:  (1) Discipline your mind to read about Him just 30 minutes each day; and (2) open your heart and mind to the truth of the message of Christ’s love.  
John R. Ingrisano