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I just read that there’s a mystery phisher out there who is scamming authors out of their manuscripts, but has in no way shared or monetized them.
Why do this? It’s making my brain hurt.
It’s causing a fissure in my understanding of evildoers in the world, to wit:
a. They do bad things.
b. They profit from said bad things.
Maybe miscreants don’t even know why they do the wrong thing themselves. It could be they don’t set out to cause harm. And you never know; good people might have a whole other side we know nothing about.
Maybe it’s our own writing professor, SueBE, who just happens to be working on a cozy mystery and needs an unexpected plot twist. She and the Mystery Phisher both like books. Coincidence? Hmm?
Or our poet-in-residence, Lori, looking for new sources of inspiration for her work. Like the mystery phisher, she, too, uses email. Coincidence? Hmmmm?
Best bet would have to be, well, me! The Kindly Auntie who spins humorous little yarns, knits on a round loom, and has a cat named Squeaky. Who would ever suspect such a sweet soul? And admittedly, I, too, have used the internet. Coincidence? Hmmmmmmm?
This may be the year when we all finally, collectively, decide it may not be possible to understand all the Whys in the World — chief among them, why did we have to suffer through a pandemic? — but we can help each other with the How.
Fissures are divisions, and we’ve had our share of those this year. Politics. To wear a mask or not. To gather socially or not. To shut down towns or not. It’s a mystery why we’ve decided to stop getting along.
If 2020 was a wounding time, let’s make a resolution for the coming year: to resurrect compassion. To allow the tincture of time and the poultice of prayer to heal all these fissures. It’s no mystery Who to call on to help us write this story of hope.
I am not seriously into making resolutions. I know what I need to do. You know what you need to do. If we were inclined to do it . . . well, we would. Right?
But sometimes we need a reminder. The week before Christmas I wrote this note to myself and left it on my desk.
I had taken a job that sounded like a great opportunity. But every contact I had from them meant more work or less income. And if I had to approach them with a question? Forget it. I never got a response.
It got to the point that I had a tiny tantrum every time they e-mailed me. It was clear that I needed to back out but I kept putting it off.
“Just do it first thing tomorrow morning,” my husband said.
So I wrote myself a reminder note. First thing the next morning I quit. And the last week before Christmas was probably the best week of the year. I felt lighter than air!
There are always going to be tasks we don’t want to undertake that we still need to do. Scooping the litter box. Cleaning behind the refrigerator. Writing ‘thank you’ notes.
But other times we weigh ourselves down. Sometimes it is a job we used to love but now dread. A change in management can turn a great job into an ordeal. Other times it is a volunteer opportunity that used to recharge you but now you dread. Whatever.
When I was waffling about what to do, I read Ruth’s post about calling something a project vs calling it a problem. Take action to change your attitude and your situation. Check! Her post was the encouragement I needed to write myself that note and quit.
Time and time again in the Bible we are told to avoid carrying a grudge, to avoid dragging negatives around with us in our daily life. Sometimes it is a matter of changing our attitude. Sometimes it is time to cut something loose.
Take a look at what you are carrying into 2021. Is there something you need to let go so that you have the space and energy to carry God’s light and love into the New Year?
–SueBE
A star atop a tree
can only be
a drowsy placebo
for something missing.
A sky-held star
is an echo, light hitting
earth like a memory.
Fix your ambition instead
on finding the true star.
You will know it by the way
it surges, hot stone,
crying for the love of something
it cannot name.
Follow the star
to the heart of you,
blind and ragged.
Find,
pure and bright,
a child
that is you.
That is He.
Know, at last,
Christmas,
breaking you,
laying you in straw,
lulling you to sleep with
the breath of sheep.
Hand writing with pink marker on white paper to create a list of projects to be managed.
This week, the idea of “maps” was on my mind. Some days, it seems clear what I need to do and where I want to go, but lately, it’s been murky. I decided to strip it down to basics, as if I was re-upholstering a chair. The cushion isn’t comfortable? Let’s get rid of it.
My early morning “routine” (scanning news headlines, scanning my body for what hurts most today) leaves me anxious, so I had to ditch it. Instead, I’ll start the day with “beditation” — meditation in bed, comprised of deep breathing, stretching and prayer.
The fabric on that armchair is rough? Let’s find soft, new material.
In the same way, sometimes it helps to re-define and re-design your goals.
What actually is working right now? Stationary biking for half an hour, praying as I go through the day and counting my blessings by name. That stays in the “best practices” category.
What really isn’t working right now? Not having the stamina to keep the house as clean as I’d like it to be. Always having pain somewhere in my body. Keeping track of appointments and zoom calls. That goes into the “project management” category.
What’s uplifting? Writing with Lori and SueBE. Not just our blog posts, but the emails we write to each other. We really do a deep dive into life. My low vision community. Bluebirds. Bach.
What’s troubling? Re-label that a project, not a problem. What resources are available to address it? Connect with others who face the same issues, and you’ll heal along with them.
Find comforts you can count on. Have some herbal tea or chocolate milk. And every morning, bask in your blessings. Breathe in grace. Breathe out gratitude. Calibrate your compass to align with Providence, and you’ll be heading in the right direction.
December 8 celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Conception, which (as anyone who reads me regularly knows) has nothing to do with baby Jesus and everything to do with baby Mary. The Immaculate Conception refers to Mary being conceived without Original Sin. She comes into the world, unlike the rest of us, sin-free. And she stays that way.
What would you do with a brand new, spotlessly clean soul? If the past is any indication, I’d probably just soil it again. Even after being absolved of my sins in the sacrament of Reconciliation — despite my sincere vows to not fall into the same traps again — I inevitably sin.
Is it the human condition to fail and fall, over and over again? Can we ever rise beyond our nature? Surely some of us do. But how?
What must it take,
once washed white,
to stave off soil and stain?
Love, mercy, justice,
wielded wisely.
Love launders.
Mercy bleaches clean.
Justice proofs the fabric
against what muck may come.
Lather liberally. Saturate spots.
Rinse and repeat as needed.
praypower4today 