Archive for October, 2009

FRIDAY THOUGHT 10/30/09

October 30, 2009 on 12:09 pm | By John Ingrisano | In Faith & Forgiveness | No Comments
The Power of Weakness
 
I confess:  I’m a weak Christian.  Pretty much every time God gives me the slightest challenge, I start whining like a back-alley cat in heat (“Oh, why?  Oh, why?  Oh, why me, God?”).  I either begin to doubt (“God, are you really out there?”) or just get flat-out ticked off at the injustice to which I decide I am being subjected (“God, the way you treat your friends, it’s a wonder you have any!”). 
 
Of course, if it gets old for me to wallow in the same stupid mud hole every time, imagine how God must be shaking His head  (“Oh, here, we go again.  Yes, John, I love you, but there are times….”) or wondering when/if I’ll ever get it right (“And with friends like you, my son….”).
 
Is there a point to this?  Oh, yeah, sorry.  It is that as clay-footed, stiff-necked and mud-covered as I am (and I suspect I’m not alone here … please say I’m not alone here), I know that when I’m done with my pity party, blink embarrassedly in the sunlight of God’s grace, and ask for faith and forgiveness, I do know that I am forgiven,  that I am loved, and that I am welcomed back … that I am given my twelve-hundredth second chance.  And for that I am grateful and I rejoice. — jri
 
“To keep from becoming conceited
because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given to me a
thorn in my flesh, a messenger of
Satan, to torment me.  Three times I
pleaded with the Lord to take it away
from me.  But he said to me, ‘My
grace is sufficient for you, for my 
power is made perfect in weakness.’
Therefore, I will boast all the more
gladly about my weakness, so that
Christ’s power  may rest on me.  That
is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,
in persecutions, in difficulties.  For
when I am weak, then I am strong.”
        –    St. Paul
               (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
 
Thank you for all your prayers and support in the past months.  I hate to be a whiner, but I have been at my spiritually weakest. So, I return your prayers with gratitude and am sending all those on-loan guardian angels back.  Please pray for those who suffer and are alone (something I am not, thanks to all of you).  God bless you.
John Ingrisano
DailyConnections
Custom Communications
204 Lakeview Drive
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722
October 30, 2009

TUESDAY THOUGHT 10/27/09

October 27, 2009 on 11:41 am | By John Ingrisano | In Faith & Forgiveness | No Comments
Me!  Me!  Me!
 
When I was younger (not all that long ago, I might add), I saw love as a possessive thing, very “me” oriented.  As I got older — and having children helps with this — I began to experience a massive paradigm shift:  Love, the real stuff, is  about wanting the best for and caring more about the loved one than myself. 
 
I’m learning (the hard way, as always) that it’s kind of the same with faith.  I always saw faith as being about getting goodies by behaving myself.  (Help me out; I know I’m not alone here.)  Now, I’m starting to think maybe, just maybe, it’s about what God wants and less about learning how to push the right button to make the food morsel slide down the chute at the end of the maze. 
 
My point:  Though it can be summarized in simplistic one-liners (we get by giving; we find ourselves by losing ourselves), it is an amazing, core concept that encompasses devotion and love for others … without counting the cost or ever turning in the invoice for services rendered.  – jri
 
“A happiness that is sought for ourselves
alone can never be found.”
        –    Thomas Merton
 
Please pray for all who struggle with personal sorrow and loss.  And let them know they are in your prayers.  That reminds them that they are not alone.  God bless. 
John Ingrisano
DailyConnections
204 Lakeview Drive
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722

MONDAY THOUGHT 10/19/09

October 19, 2009 on 12:10 pm | By John Ingrisano | In Faith & Forgiveness | No Comments

Freedom to Screw It Up!
 
Hang on, because this one rambles!  One of the things my father did right was to give me enough rope to hang myself.  And I did.  I made tons of wondrous, exciting, adventurous, sometimes dangerous mistakes.  And gradually (very gradually), I learned how to make good decisions … or at least better ones.  In the meantime, whenever I bit off more freedom than I could handle and ended up making that collect phone call home, Pop always accepted the charges. 
 
Then there’s my other father (that would be God).  Well, He did the same thing.  When I slipped my collar and jumped the fence, He let me go.  And gradually (yes, very gradually and still) I learned that there are many wondrous choices and also many not so.  (Sort of like the moral equivalent of learning that just because I could eat two pounds of Cherry Twizzlers at one sitting and no one could tell me No, well, that doesn’t mean I should.)  However, I found that it is that freedom to screw it up — to try, fail, learn, and fail again — that has made my life rich, helped me learn and appreciate compassion, empathy, patience and love.  Best of all, whenever I get in over my head, God always  takes the call, accepts the charges, and welcomes me home. 
 
My point:  God gave us freedom.  We can use it or abuse it.  Our choice.  Best of all, when we come to God, we should come freely, of our own choosing.  I think that’s the best part about God and the best part about being a clay-footed human.  Enjoy the many gifts God has given us this day, including the wondrous gift of freedom.  — jri
 
“The moral freedom enjoyed by human
beings is the greatest risk God ever took,
a risk without which his creation would
have been something altogether different.
It would lose both its greatness and its
tragedy.”
        –    Bernard Haring

               (The Virtues of an Authentic

                Life: A Celebration of

                Spiritual Maturity)

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 10/14/09

October 14, 2009 on 12:24 pm | By John Ingrisano | In Faith & Forgiveness | No Comments
A Christian?  You Bet!
 
Several months ago, as part of a Cursillo training weekend, I awoke early in a church basement filled with perhaps two dozen others and wandered to the kitchen for coffee.  Over the next hour, a handful of men collected there, and in the quiet of the morning, we spoke of God and faith and blessings and challenges and grace.  It was a wondrous, gentle, spiritual time. 
 
What made this especially special is that I grew up in a world where God was kept in a small box that we opened on Sunday mornings and Christmas and closed on our way out of the parking lot after church.  The only ones who ever talked about God were priests, nuns and a few nut cases.
 
My point:  God is not a private possession we keep to ourselves, whether out of fear or indifference.  I have come to believe that He is something we can and should (and must?) share.  No, that does not mean becoming a Jesus freak nut case, but I think it does mean making sure that others know we are men and women of faith and that, yes, we do take it seriously. — jri
 
“Whoever acknowledges me before men,
I will also acknowledge him before my
Father in heaven.”
        –    Jesus Christ
               (Matthew 10:32)
 
Please pray for all who seek to heal that vague, unsettled ache in their lives, that they may be blessed with the gift of faith.  God bless.
John Ingrisano
DailyConnections
204 Lakeview Drive
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722
October 14, 2009

MONDAY THOUGHT 10/12/09

October 12, 2009 on 11:29 am | By John Ingrisano | In Faith & Forgiveness | No Comments
The Slogging Christian
 
I have a confession:  I’m like Mother Teresa.  Well, not exactly.  I’m like her only in that she once confessed that she hadn’t felt inspired by the joy of God since she had been very young.  Same with me, though a full-bagpipe rendition of “Amazing Grace” can stir me to tears.  Other than that, no halos top my head; no angelic voices fill my hoary soul; and only rare moments of clear and beatific vision wash over me. 
 
I’m a slogger, a believer who knows there is a God, has found him personally, and knows He’s pretty amazing.  My faith is a knowing beyond knowing, an unshakable touchstone of truth in a world of vague and shifting semi-realities.  But it is not a sop, a spiritual comfort food that makes me glow, or even bless the idiot driver who just cut me off.
 
My point:  I don’t know much, but for me, at least, faith is not a feel-good inner warmth or the expectation that I will finally get my pony this Christmas.   It is a quiet strength, a deep down realization that there is one complete and total truth that guides my choices and even sometimes helps me make sense of the tough times.  And that’s worth feeling pretty good about. — jri
 
“That is why the Christian is in a different
position from other people who are trying
to be good.  They hope, by being good, to
please God if there is one; or — if they think
there is not — at least they hope to deserve
approval from good men.  But the Christian
thinks any good he does comes from the
Christ-life inside him.  He does not think God
will love us because we are good, but that
God will make us good because He loves us.”
        –    C.S. Lewis
               (Mere Christianity)      
 

FRIDAY THOUGHT 10/9/09

October 9, 2009 on 12:01 pm | By John Ingrisano | In Faith & Forgiveness | No Comments

 

All Things Are Possible
 
I witnessed a miracle recently, as I joined a handful of others to celebrate the one-year, clean-and-sober anniversary of a person I cherish.  A year ago, this person was on track for an early grave, but today is joyful, borderline happy, glad to be alive.  That transformation was and continues to be a pure miracle, a daily celebration of hope.
 
This person’s demons didn’t have Halloween horns and cute, barbed tails.  As is the case with all of us, or so it seems to me, our demons are our weaknesses, our unhealthy, destructive desires and flaws, whether an uncontrollable desire for alcohol or a simple failure to reach out in love to one another.  I guess that’s why we confess our sins and ask for mercy and forgiveness on a daily basis.  None of us is perfect.
 
My point:  It seems to me that (A) we are all flawed, clay-footed creatures, prone to be disappointed with ourselves over our failures; and (B) all things are possible — no, not through sheer willpower and determination, but through God’s transforming love and mercy.  God bless, and I invite you to joyfully celebrate the wealth of blessings that surround you this day. — jri
 
“Listen to my cry,
    for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
    for they are too strong for me.
Set me free from my prison,
    that I may praise your name.”
        –    King David
               (Psalm 142:6-7)

TUESDAY THOUGHT 10/6/09

October 6, 2009 on 11:51 am | By John Ingrisano | In Faith & Forgiveness | No Comments
Can You See the Road?
 
I regularly travel a strip of lakefront road between Algoma and Sturgeon Bay that is prone to soupy fog in the summer and blinding snow storms in the winter.  When I drive through these weather phenomena, I take it on faith (or perhaps previous knowledge) that the road is still in front of me, where it is supposed to be, leading me to my destination.
 
It seems to me that (and this is an imperfect analogy, I admit) this is how it can be in our faith journeys.  We travel roads that — if we trust in the Lord — we know where they should and will lead.  In the meantime, there are times when we can’t always see what is one mile, one step, even one inch in front of us, and the spot we’re in may seem pretty desolate.
 
My point:  As seekers on a faith journey, we may find ourselves from time to time on long sections of lonely, isolated, unfamiliar road — filled with teeth-jarring potholes or obscured by bone-chilling ice storms — leaving us flat-out lost through mile after mile of mind-numbing tedium, without a mile marker in sight.  Still, the road is there, the destination is ahead.  Just keep on.  Just keep on.  — jri
 
“They departed in tears,but I will
console them and guide them;
I will lead them to brooks of water,
    on a level road so that none shall
    stumble.”
        –     Jeremiah 31: 9
 
Please pray for all who struggle in these challenging times and who cannot seem to find the road..  Also, thank you for your prayers. Yes, they are being answered (surprise, surprise) and the fog is lifting.  God bless.     
John Ingrisano
DailyConnections
204 Lakeview Drive
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722
October 6, 2009

THURSDAY THOUGHT 10/1/09

October 1, 2009 on 11:46 am | By John Ingrisano | In Faith & Forgiveness | No Comments

Stroll in the Wilderness

 
I know I’m writing about tough times a lot these days.  Well, the desert’s where I am right now, but I’ve been in worse places.  Still, one might think that being a good (kind of), God-fearing (sort of) Christian boy (you bet), I should be immune from hardship, living under the super protection of my Super God, right?  Who says? 
 
In fact, one of my favorite sayings is: “Thinking that life will treat you well because you’re a good person is like thinking the bull will not charge because you’re a vegetarian” (source uncertain).  Life can be a bear sometimes.  However, I’ve always found (and, yes, I am a reluctant learner) that it was through the tough times that I grew, learned a thing or two, ultimately found the genuine “Right Stuff.” 
 
My point:  The good stuff, the right stuff — that’s all inside, God’s gift of grace (undeserved blessings) and faith and strength … not a free pass out of life’s challenges.  For those who are struggling, hang tough and just believe.  For those who know others who are struggling, that kind word of support and caring you offer can make the difference between a lonely and a wondrous day.  — jri
 
“The rain came down, the stream rose,
and the winds blew and beat against that
house; yet it did not fall, because it had
its foundation on the rock.”
        –    Jesus Christ
               (Matthew 8:25)
 
BTW: For those I have not informed, my brother and I saw problems with the organization of the planned trip to Swaziland next month, so we pulled the plug.  We learned yesterday that the entire trip had been scrubbed.  We’re thinking about a cruise instead.  
John Ingrisano
DailyConnections
204 Lakeview Drive
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722
October 1, 2009

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