Do Not Complain

B-Movie’s “Nowhere Girl” was one of the first EP that I bought in 1983 from the now defunct Tower Record store in Westwood. On the back of the album cover was a quote in small print: “90% of all conversations are complaint. Don’t complain. Live.”

Today’s Reading from James 5:9-12 asks us to do the same. That is, don’t complain about one another. Just live. So, does that means that we can’t speak up against wrongs done to us? What is the threshold of tolerance before we can say “enough!”? I can see this is going to be rough… We all know the story of Job. If you don’t, I suggest you stop right here and go read it before continuing. In fact, that’s what I’ll do now…

Are You Salted?

Not exactly the kind of question that you’d expect a Christian to ask, huh? Usually we are asked “Are You Saved?” or “Who will be saved?” But to ask if I’m salted, hmm…, that’s like asking me if I want to be cooked. I’m sure there are people out there that would love to see me “cooked”. They would even offer to “salt” me. But that’s an entirely different story.

In today’s Gospel, taken from Mark 9:41-50, Jesus reminds us once again that we are “salted with fire.” That is, the Holy Spirit. For some of us, our salt becomes tasteless, bland. Oh, and we’ll try all kind of seasons and spices to kick up our taste, but nothing satisfies. I’m no cook, and I won’t even attempt to go on with the cooking analogy–hopefully, you get the point, which is: Only God can satisfy the desire. Only God can fulfill that taste. Only God can restore our saltiness. And when we have our salt back in us, we won’t need chase others down for a taste of their salt. That is peace.

If the Lord wills it

Today’s Reading from James 4:13-17 reminds me, oddly enough, of an 80’s Devo song titled “What I Must Do” that begins with “I used to plan and plot…” and ends with “I must do what I must do”. James, although not with the same intent, was basically singing the same tune as Devo. Our inclination as human beings is to plan out our life days, months, or even years in advance. While planning ahead is part of good practical living skill, I for one, tends to plan without God in the equation. I often would say, “I will do this job, collect the rewards, and then I can enjoy the fruits of my labor.” That doesn’t sound too bad, does it? James would totally disagree with that “perfect plan”.

So, how can I add God into my plans? James offered this enduring advice: “If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that.” Sounds simple, but is it enough? Or, how do we know that it is God’s will? These are tough questions, indeed…

…this is where I say “The Spirit is willing…”

Coming Down the Mountain

Loni and I just came back from the Caritas X retreat up in the mountains of Wrightwood. I’m still unwinding from the experience and really haven’t fully comprehended all that happened. But, I supposed you can tell from these blog pages that I am trying to channel the energy into something concrete so that someone out there can receive the Holy Spirit in the same way as I did. I will be sure to write more about the Caritas retreat in the next few days.

As if the weekend wasn’t enough for us, I was totally unprepared for today’s Gospel, Mk 9:14-29, read it here at the USCCB website. Basically, the passage described what happened as Jesus came down the mountain.

As Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James, John
and approached the other disciples,
they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing…

Apart from the obvious similarity that my name is Peter, the passage went on to describe my constant state of asking God to show himself:

“…But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Jesus said to him,
“‘If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.”
Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”

I went into the Caristas retreat with the hope for deeper faith. And today, I came down the mountain with Jesus, with a stronger sense of faith than when I went up the mountain last Thursday afternoon. But here’s the kicker:

When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private,
“Why could we not drive the spirit out?”
He said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer.”

Faith is not enough to fight evil. I need to work on my prayer life as well.

Thank you, Jesus, for showing me The Way.

I Believe. Help My Unbelief!

I Saw God Today

Recently, I’ve been listening to Go Country 105. I guess it’s a sign of age/maturity when your musical tastes start to fall in line with your faith and political beliefs. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m a Classic Rocker by nature, a Dance DJ by trade, and a Love Song romantic at heart. But Classic Rock tends to lack in Values, and Dance is basically Dumb (not in the sense of stupid, though, your brainwave activity is minimal when listening to Dance music), and Love Songs can be mushy and wishy washy at times. Not that I no longer enjoy those types of music, it’s just that my listening horizon have been expanded to include, gasp, Country music. Well, not to go into a deeper discussion of my recent auditory adventure, here’s a song from George Strait that reminds me that God is truly everywhere. I just have to look…

I Saw God Today

Just walked down the street to the coffee shop
Had to take a break
I’d been by her side for 18 hours straight
Saw a flower growin’ in the middle of the sidewalk
Pushin’ up through the concrete
Like it was planted right there for me to see
The flashin’ lights
The honkin’ horns
All seemed to fade away
In the shadow of that hospital at 5:08
I saw God today

I’ve been to church
I’ve read the book
I know he’s here
But I don’t look
Near as often as I should
Yeah, I know I should
His fingerprints are everywhere
I just slowed down to stop and stare
Opened my eyes and man I swear
I saw God today

Saw a couple walkin’ by they were holdin’ hands
Man she had that glow
Yeah I couldn’t help but notice she was startin’ to show
Stood there for a minute takin’ in the sky
Lost in that sunset
Splash of amber melted in the shades of red

I’ve been to church
I’ve read the book
I know he’s here
But I don’t look
Near as often as I should
Yeah, I know I should
His fingerprints are everywhere
I just slowed down to stop and stare
Opened my eyes and man I swear
I saw God today

Got my face pressed up against the nursery glass
She’s sleepin’ like a rock
My name on her wrist
Wearin’ tiny pink socks
She’s got my nose, she’s got her mama’s eyes
My brand new baby girl
She’s a miracle
I saw God today

Father Roderick Made Me Do This!

Yes, it’s all your fault, Father Roderick.

You and your podcast-minions at SQPN pushed me closer and closer to start my own outlet for expressing my faith. And now, just look at this, you’re going all out and streaming live all day today on UStream!!! This is getting ridiculous!!!

OK, it’s not all your fault. And I won’t even blame it on the Willits.

note: all websites mentioned in this blog are totally recommended by the author. And yes, it’s a thinly veiled attempt to advertise the aforementioned websites.