Looking Back to the Days of the Naked Barbies

I remember when the biggest irritation that my daughters caused was leaving naked Barbies around the house so that I Might step on them in the middle of the night . They would always be strategically placed so the toes of the doll would be pointed straight up so to puncture the soft arch of my foot . It would drive me bananas. That's when the girls were three and five. Now they're 15 and 13 and I would welcome back the days of the naked Barbies with oh sooo open arms - Yeesh- No details needed
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Cheney

My wife sent me the story of the vice presidents shooting his good friend when the story broke. I immediately wanted to cry FOR MANY REASONS. I felt bad for the man who was shot. Poor guy just wanted to pick up a downed bird and KABLAM he takes a shell in the face. He didn't deserve that. It wasn't right.
I also feel deeply for the vice president. I knew that the media was going to make this a story of national importance. And now many days have passed and they are still all over him. As a hunter myself I know the responsibility one must take when you pull that trigger. Life and death depend on the shooters vigilance about safety . In one split second tragedy can strike . It can strike be cause of absolute negligence or even when someone is trying to do everything right.
Dick Cheney didn't wake up that morning and decide to shoot one of his best friends in the face. He went to shoot a bird and and shot a man. He may have been totally negligent, I don't know.
I do know that in my life I have inflicted horrible injury on a person never ever intending to harm them . I weep thinking about it to this day. I can not take back what I did neither can Dick Cheney . He hasn't really commented on the shooting yet and people have been sharpening their knives for days. I know why he hasn't - and it has nothing to do with public opinion and scrutiny. The man shot himself when he shot his friend. He never thought that he could be the perpetrator of such a tragedy. Whether he was negligent or not HE IS RESPONSIBLE. It was his finger that pulled that trigger and he knows it. I believe that he should have spoken right away but I understand why he hasn't. Life sucks for him right now. People are laughing, blaming organizing anti gun and hunting crud but Cheney has to go this one by himself. His friend could have died ,Cheney probably wants to at moments.
We tend to disqualify certain people from being worthy of our compassion for one reason or the other. The man that got shot, he gets it, absolutely. But Cheney? Most people who are joking and commenting never liked him to begin with. I never much cared for him myself. But I have compassion for him. And yes, I have had a similar thing happen in my life. But I would like to think I would still have compassion for him.
I pray that no one else ever has to feel the pain of being the cause of a tragedy .

Refrigerator Zombie

We have all stood in front of the fridge with the door wide open and just stared. Our eyes tracking side ways and down. And after three minutes we decide there is nothing to eat. the truth is that there is plenty to eat , but it doesn't excite us. It's not delectable.
We often do this with our spiritual fridge. We stand there with the door wide open looking for something to put in our spiritual stomachs but can't seem to find anything that is worth eating. There's plenty of stuff in there but nothing excites us. That's because we have been deceived to think that we need constant gratifying stimulus. Let's face it guys , you can't eat ice cream all the time (Yes Alena , you could give it a good shot though) If you look closely at those shelves you will find Prayer, Worship, Sacrifice, Surrender and Service. These definitely don't look delicious but I you don't know just how nutritious this stuff is. I guarantee that a balanced diet of this stuff will give you spiritual health that you probably never thought attainable. And God will provide a dessert tray of blessings after you eat the stuff that tastes like broccoli. So don't just "zombie out " in front of the fridge, grab some spiritual food and wash it down with a cup of faithfulness.
This entry was inpired by Canon Gary's "Spiritual Snacks"
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More on Pain

I once was chaplaining in a hospital a while ago and a nurse asked me to please see a certain patient because they crying and carrying on. The nurse looked as if she was gonna snap. I leaned in and whispered "do ya think it could be because she's sick and in the hospital?"The nurse softened, smiled, made the sign of the cross and said "bless me father for I have sinned " I hugged her and went in to see the patient.
This nurse is the only one that has a hard time dealing with other peoples pain. we all do that at times. Some more than others. It says in scripture that our Lord looked at the crowd and had compassion on them. He felt their pain. I have experienced that - It's hard! But on some level it is necessary for all of us to do so that we are truly imitating Christ as we ought to. It's scary to feel someone else's pain when we don't even want to feel our own. But we are "one body" and if one part hurts the whole body suffers. Be bold , allow yourself to get close enough to others to feel their pain then their joy.
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