stfranman Holy Days and Holidays, Living Life, Spirituality/Religion

Remember, O Man

Remember, O Man thou art dust and
unto dust thou shalt return

from the Liturgy for Ash Wednesday

Thinking about our mortality, of how fleeting our lives truly are is not something most of us prefer to dwell on.

This tendency we have to avoid thinking about the inevitability of our own death does not serve us well.

On Ash Wednesday, we are invited to take a look at this truth, to wrap our minds around it, as the saying goes.

Our lives have little meaning if we try to make sense of them outside their proper, natural context. That is, while pretending that our deaths are not the consummation of our lives; the final chapter in our lives’ stories.

You don’t need to know exactly how that last chapter of your story will read.

Just know that the story’s entire meaning, its true significance is blunted, perhaps even unknowable if we drift through the autumns of our lives clinging to the fantasy that God’s hand will not soon take up that pen and begin to write.

.

Brother Ben

© 2020 The Fellowship of St Francis, Inc.

stfranman Bible/Sacred Literature, Humor

Friday Funny for February 21st

One day while little Johnny was visiting his grandparents, he opened their cherished family Bible and began to read.

He leafed through it and took particular interest in the first chapters of Genesis.

As he pondered on the meaning of those early chapters, an old oak leaf that his granddad had pressed between the pages many years before fell out.

“Grandma, look what I found!” he shrieked with excitement.

“What’s that?” his granny asked.

With mixed surprise and delight, Johnny answered, “I think it’s Adam’s underwear!”

I hope you’re blessed this week with wonderful and unexpected surprises.

Brother Ben

stfranman Bible/Sacred Literature, Living Life

When the Dam Breaks

14 Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;
    so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

Proverbs 17:14 NIV

This verse in Proverbs tells us something we all know. But it’s good to be reminded of how this works, as it’s a truth we don’t often think about.

Now, it’s also true that going to great lengths to avoid confrontations is not always a good strategy.

But it’s also true that for so many of us, we often fall off the other end of the pier, so to speak.

Too often we behave as though quarrels and full-on fights are just a part of life and they’re no big deal.

Like the writer of Proverbs, I’m not of that school of thought. Framing this in that way can definitely set us up for a lot of unnecessary conflict in our friendships, relationships and in any other sphere of life as well.

It’s a good thing if we think twice before we say or do things that could easily lead to an argument or an interpersonal “slugfest”, as it were.

Before the dam breaks.

Brother Ben

© 2020 The Fellowship of St Francis

stfranman Living Life

Begin at the Top

No person, family, organization or Nation can thrive while discarding our long-held practices and values. While acting out our darkest, worst behavior and insisting on always getting our own way.

That doesn’t mean that people or businesses or whatever don’t behave badly and carry on their business in wanton disregard of the rights or the welfare of others. We all know that that sort of thing happens all the time.

But the behavior of some of our leaders, elected officials and their appointees these days is really over the top.

Decisions are being made and strings are being pulled to suit the whims of one man whether or not those goings-on are in anyone else’s interest, the interest of our Nation as a whole or are even legal.

This is not merely a matter of simple selfishness, of someone putting themselves first. It is to our Nation’s detriment and is most definitely affecting the way things are done. The way they are done by individuals, in the business sphere and by those whose job it is to run our corporate affairs.

The petty, self-serving behavior in Washington–combined with gross and obvious incompetence–is wreaking havoc among us.

And it won’t stop until we find our way back to sound corporate values, until we begin once more to treat others with respect and reign in those selfish and meddlesome impulses that can harm others and sully our corporate life.

And that must begin at the top.

Brother Ben

© 2020 The Fellowship of St Francis, Inc.