This morning at Mass I heard the reading of Jesus walking on the water, coming out to greet the apostles in their boat. Peter asks to come out onto the water to greet him but as soon as he does, he gets scared and begins to sink. Jesus reaches out his hand to him to pull him up and says, "Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Jesus' question really hit home with me when I look at my life and wonder, why do I worry so much? Why can't I just let my worries and concerns go to God and be happy?
God wants us all to be happy. Do you realize that? God is not an angry God, but a loving God. He wants us to make good choices but out of love for Him not fear. When Jesus asks Peter why he doubted, he is also asking all of us the same question. Why do we doubt? Do we make the sun come up every morning, or the air to have enough oxygen in it for us to breathe? Do we control our bodies to make our blood course through our veins? So why do we think we can solve every problem without God's help?
Some of us say we don't want to bother God with small problems, but isn't that doubting like Peter? He got out of the boat totally expecting Jesus to make it possible for him to walk across the sea towards him, yet when he got out there, the winds and waves whipped up. He got scared and began to sank, totally forgetting that if Jesus led him out there he would keep him safe and prevent him from drowning.
Isn't it funny how we just go along in our lives making decisions yet freak out when something out of the ordinary comes along and disturbs our peace of mind?
Let's remember that if Jesus allows us out of the boat onto the sea, even with the wind and waves, that he is going to take care of us while we're out there or else he wouldn't have let us come. Let's walk across the water towards him and have faith without doubts!
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Oh The Ups and Downs of Life Lived
I came out of the chiropractor's office the other morning after having an 'adjustment' on a rib that insists on popping out of place every few months. It really isn't as gross as it sounds, most everyone has a rib or two that gets out of whack on occasion. Mine originated about 20 years ago when I was holding a board for one of my martial arts students to break by punching it.
It has taken me SEVERAL years to learn that by going to see a chiropractor I feel less pain and am able to move my arm and shoulder. Before doing that I had a tendency to just let it go and hope the rib would fix itself again because I knew that at some point in the future it would just pop back out again because I cannot stay in a resting state for the rest of my life.
It's kind of like going to confession. You get to clean out your soul knowing full well that as hard as you are going to try to not sin ever again, the human in you does. Now I don't mean confession with the intent to sin again. I mean no matter how hard I try I will most likely be back to confession in the future because I have to live in a world that tempts me into letting my anger unleash or juicy gossip escape. But when I leave confession I know I am clean again and I try to enjoy that feeling for as long as possible and not let my guard down. The problem is knowing you need to go on a frequent basis, not just once a year or every couple years, but several times a year to keep the sins at bay.
But Just like when I leave the chiropractor feeling good, my muscles once again limber and soft. I don't plan on injuring my rib again, it just happens no matter how careful I am.
Two years ago, my hubs and I visited our daughter and her husband in California. It was our daughter who finally got me to see a chiropractor for the first time for my rib condition. Before I would always just visit my family doctor who knew how to get the rib back in place, but unfortunately he had left his practice leaving me with an aching shoulder and lots of scarred, inflamed muscle.
The chiropractor in California was great. He told me I had a lot of scar tissue that had built up over the years from the initial injury and it needed to be dealt with on a regular basis to keep from being in constant pain. He suggested I find a doctor closer to home to supplement my once a year visit to him, who could at least keep my ribs more in line and prevent more scar tissue from building up. I thought that sounded like a good idea until I got home and got busy and never found anyone.
A year later, knowing I still hadn't found anyone at home yet, my daughter set up another appointment for me with the California chiropractor when we came out to visit again.
I had my adjustment and was feeling really good again. To celebrate, that evening my hubs and I took daughter and son-in-law out to eat to a restaurant near their home. Because it was close to their home, we walked. Everything went well but as we were leaving the restaurant and crossing the street, I somehow tripped. My life slowed down at that moment, because as I tripped I pulled my husband who had been holding my hand, down with me into a roll in the middle of a busy intersection, in the dark. The first thing I saw as I lay on the ground were the headlights of a car rounding the corner and coming directly at us. My daughter screamed, I jumped up with the help of my husband and got out of the way safely. We made it to the other side. I was limping because I had lost my sandal in the fall. Luckily my son-in-law had found where it had skittered away hitting the curb. Immediately I felt pain in my shoulder. I had popped the rib out again.
I didn't say anything to anyone about it because I had just spent a lot of money to get it 'fixed' that day and here I went and injured it again.
It has taken me SEVERAL years to learn that by going to see a chiropractor I feel less pain and am able to move my arm and shoulder. Before doing that I had a tendency to just let it go and hope the rib would fix itself again because I knew that at some point in the future it would just pop back out again because I cannot stay in a resting state for the rest of my life.
It's kind of like going to confession. You get to clean out your soul knowing full well that as hard as you are going to try to not sin ever again, the human in you does. Now I don't mean confession with the intent to sin again. I mean no matter how hard I try I will most likely be back to confession in the future because I have to live in a world that tempts me into letting my anger unleash or juicy gossip escape. But when I leave confession I know I am clean again and I try to enjoy that feeling for as long as possible and not let my guard down. The problem is knowing you need to go on a frequent basis, not just once a year or every couple years, but several times a year to keep the sins at bay.
But Just like when I leave the chiropractor feeling good, my muscles once again limber and soft. I don't plan on injuring my rib again, it just happens no matter how careful I am.
Two years ago, my hubs and I visited our daughter and her husband in California. It was our daughter who finally got me to see a chiropractor for the first time for my rib condition. Before I would always just visit my family doctor who knew how to get the rib back in place, but unfortunately he had left his practice leaving me with an aching shoulder and lots of scarred, inflamed muscle.
The chiropractor in California was great. He told me I had a lot of scar tissue that had built up over the years from the initial injury and it needed to be dealt with on a regular basis to keep from being in constant pain. He suggested I find a doctor closer to home to supplement my once a year visit to him, who could at least keep my ribs more in line and prevent more scar tissue from building up. I thought that sounded like a good idea until I got home and got busy and never found anyone.
A year later, knowing I still hadn't found anyone at home yet, my daughter set up another appointment for me with the California chiropractor when we came out to visit again.
I had my adjustment and was feeling really good again. To celebrate, that evening my hubs and I took daughter and son-in-law out to eat to a restaurant near their home. Because it was close to their home, we walked. Everything went well but as we were leaving the restaurant and crossing the street, I somehow tripped. My life slowed down at that moment, because as I tripped I pulled my husband who had been holding my hand, down with me into a roll in the middle of a busy intersection, in the dark. The first thing I saw as I lay on the ground were the headlights of a car rounding the corner and coming directly at us. My daughter screamed, I jumped up with the help of my husband and got out of the way safely. We made it to the other side. I was limping because I had lost my sandal in the fall. Luckily my son-in-law had found where it had skittered away hitting the curb. Immediately I felt pain in my shoulder. I had popped the rib out again.
I didn't say anything to anyone about it because I had just spent a lot of money to get it 'fixed' that day and here I went and injured it again.
There are certain weaknesses in our lives that seem to constantly get us in trouble, whether it's losing our temper, giving in to certain gossip, or whatever. But you never ever feel quite right until you go in and get rid of that weakness and get consistent 'help' with keeping it in line. The grace from confession can do that for us. And going frequently helps prevent a lot of scarring and pain that sin can cause us.
Upon returning home, I finally looked up a chiropractor closer to my home and I began to go see her and get that more frequent help I needed. I had learned my lesson.
God wants us all to seek help for our needs. He inspires the leaders of the Catholic faith to provide those opportunities for us to receive His help such as in confession, spiritual counseling and Communion. It would help us all to take advantage of those opportunities to get rid of our scars and get healed on a frequent basis! God bless you!
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