What's In Your Head?

Last summer I spent a week doing Zumba everyday with my wife. Let me tell you it is quite a workout.

For those of you that don't know, Zumba is an exercise program designed mainly for women. The music, the moves and so on are all designed to appeal to women. At least that is my experience. It was a really tough workout. I did enjoy it. After a couple of days I started having fun with the girly songs and tried to have as much fun as possible with it.

Anyway, these catchy songs get stuck in your head and this was certainly the case with me. One of the songs had a line in it that went, "La, la, la". It was so stuck in my head that I finally texted the instructor and said, "La, la, la GET OUT OF MY HEAD". Luckily this did not stay forever. I am back to "normal" now, kind of. 

My journey so far through diaconate formation has been good. I realized last night that God seemed to be stuck in my head. It seems that everything going on around me suddenly reminds me of God.

Last night we were trying to get my son to practice his guitar. He like the guitar but because practice was going to interrupt what he was doing, he came back with, I don't like guitar, I never liked guitar and so on. I was getting frustrated with him and then it dawned on me that this is the same way we treat God.

Oh God, I love you and will do anything for you. At least until it interrupts what I want to do. I love you, God but the big game is on. I love you God but I have to work more to make more money to buy more things. I can only imagine how frustrated God must be with us when you emotions and devotion can just turn on a dime. We can easily fall into the trap where we only want to follow God when it is convenient for us.

The good news in all of this is that God is way more patient than I am.

A Love Like No Other

One of my college girls challenged me to think about Valentines Day differently this year. To think of it in the terms of Christ's love for us. 

As I think back over the years, I see so many examples of His love for me. Mostly, I see this in my wife of 25 years. This is our 27th Valentine's Day if I am doing the math correctly. When I try to recall those past Valentine's Days, I really can't recall much. Rather, what comes to mind is all of the other days. The days when my wife would continually put my wants and needs ahead of hers. The countless times she gave up what she wanted for our children. 

She truly shows what it means to love in the way Jesus loves us. Now, understand, my wife is not Jesus, none of us are. We all still have our human side that we have to deal with everyday. not just our humanness but that same humanness in others.

When God came to Earth as Jesus Christ, he came as God and man. He had the capacity for love just as God does for he is God. He had to deal with all of us humans, with all of our shortcomings. How frustrating that must have been. 

When my wife and I got married we made vows to love each other with a Christ-like love until death do us part. It is a choice we both make everyday. To love each other in that way. Our human sides to get in the way, our hurts, disappointments, anxieties, and desires all pull us away from living that Christ-like love. But, I thank God for a good wife that continually strives to put aside those human things for the things of heaven. She is my inspiration for doing the same with with my selfish human side.

Dearest wife,

Thank you for being the best example of Christ's love here on Earth for me. I love you. 

Your loving husband, 

Rob

Running

I have an extremely strong dislike for running. Or at least I did. Something strange happened last June, I started running with my daughters who were training for a 5K. I was only doing it to help them out, or so I thought. I found myself strangely attracted to running. I started running as often as I could.

I would generally run in the 3 mile range. Then, I decided to start running longer distances. Once you get past the initial hump of running on a regular basis, you can generally add distance without too much issue.

I have worked my way up to longer and longer distances. This last weekend I ran 13.2 miles. When I started pushing for longer distances I realized that running farther was more of a mental discipline issue than a physical issue. Yes, your body aches but it is the discipline that will allow you to push through the discomfort and continue on. When I set my mind to the fact that I will run a certain distance the largest factor is my mental attitude. 

Running has given me a great opportunity to learn discipline. Discipline to keep going. Discipline to pace myself so I can get the distance I desire. Learning discipline in any activity is good. Successful discipline will help you anytime you start something new.

This can be done by anyone. Just start small and celebrate your successes.

Custodians

In my deacon class on Saturday, we learned a lot about the theology of ministry and orders and in specific the role of the deacon. Something caught my attention. It maybe just went by the others but in one document it said that the deacon is the presenter and custodian on the Eucharist. It is the word custodian that struck me. not so much at first but it kept coming back to me. What does that mean to be the custodian of the Eucharist?

I usually think of a custodian in context of school custodian. That is someone who cleans the school. Not all that glamorous. The dictionary defines custodian as: a person who has responsibility for or looks after something. Some synonyms for custodian are: keeper, protector, guardian and steward. Honestly, I like the synonyms better but perhaps custodian is the better word. For me, the word custodian implies a role requiring more humility and servitude. Perhaps that is why the word captivates me more. The role of a deacon will certainly require more humility and servant attitude from me.

When I stop to think of Eucharist as the body of Christ and then put with that the words; keeper, protector, guardian and steward, I understand the noble cause for which I may be appointed. 

The Knights of Columbus talk about knighthood in service to our King and the importance of constantly forming yourself in the faith. A knight was to always be ready to defend, protect and guard their king. How much more so for us as custodians on our Lord Jesus Christ.

I would be lying if I said I feel worthy of such responsibility. It is a great honor to even be considered for such an honor.

The other day we were having praise and worship at our church. After some praise and worship time, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for adoration. Our deacon was unable to make it that night so I was asked to bring Jesus from the tabernacle to the monstrance. I said, yes but then immediately felt unworthy as I realized that I would be carrying Jesus in my hands. 

I prayed the whole time leading up the moment that I would be able to worthily present Jesus to all who were present. So, I left the youth room, called the Upper Room(because it is upstairs) to go the chapel to get Jesus from the tabernacle and carry him to the Upper Room. I was overcome with emotion as I realized the symbolism that these actions carried with them. I was carrying Jesus to the Upper Room. To say the least, it was a very moving experience.