Sunday, July 8, 2007
Homosexuality
Here's an extremely interesting article: Homosexuality and the Church: Two Views. I must admit, it's a little unsettling to me. I definitely need time to digest it. But I wanted to pass it along (as if anyone really reads this).
Thoughts on the Eucharist
As you may have guessed from the title, the topic of today's post are my thoughts on the Eucharist. I wonder how many people believe that it is actually the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. I wonder how many people even know that is what the Church teaches. I know I didn't until I was in college. No one ever told me.
Ok, that reminds me of an anecdote. I used to teach kindergarten Sunday school. We had a lesson on the Eucharist and I made it a point to tell the kids that yes, we actually do believe it is the body of Jesus. It's not just a symbol. Not that kindergarteners would understand it. I don't know what I was thinking. But anyways, I got a lot of "eeewww's" and "yuck's". Some weeks later, one of my students asked me why she never got to eat the potato chip at church. I just shook my head and it took everything in me not to laugh out loud.
Alright, now for some semi-substantial thoughts. So our Lord came to us in a manger 2,000 years ago or something like that. He was born into a poor family and the circumstances of his birth were, shall we say, not ideal for normal human beings. Basically, he was born and laid into a trough that animals eat out of. Humble, right? Fast forward 33 years and Jesus hung on a cross and died to save us from our sins. Selfless, right? Fast forward to now, you and me sitting in Church. The priest elevates the host, speaks the words, and He's there. Really. It wasn't enough for him to take on human nature in such a humble way. It wasn't enough to suffer pain, humiliation, desolation and death for us. He finds a way to pour Himself out for us even more and in an even more simple and humble form. He comes to us as bread. So simple, so humble. Oh yeah, and there's also all that stuff about being the bread of life and nourishing our souls as well as our bodies. It just strikes me that in addition to satisfying our hunger, He also provides such a radical example of what it truly means to pour yourself out for others. It means so much more that we think we can give.
Sometimes I wonder if we're crazy for believing that something that looks like a piece of bread is actually God. Sometimes I even doubt it. When I was in Italy I went to Orvieto, where a Eucharistic miracle occurred a long time ago (I don't remember when). The priest saying mass was struggling with believing that the Eucharist is actually Jesus' body. As he elevated the host, it actually turned into flesh. A study was done on the flesh (many years later, obviously) and it was determined that the type of flesh was that of the heart. Wow. Also, doesn't it just make sense in your heart that God would give Himself so radically to us? Knowing that satisfies our deepest needs. At least it does for me.
Final thought: I read somewhere (don't remember where - as you can tell, my memory is not terribly good) that usually when we eat something, it becomes a part of us. With the Eucharist, the opposite thing happens. When we eat the body of Christ, we become a part of that body. We are united with all who do the same. Holy smokes. I wish everyone understood and had this joy.
Ok, that reminds me of an anecdote. I used to teach kindergarten Sunday school. We had a lesson on the Eucharist and I made it a point to tell the kids that yes, we actually do believe it is the body of Jesus. It's not just a symbol. Not that kindergarteners would understand it. I don't know what I was thinking. But anyways, I got a lot of "eeewww's" and "yuck's". Some weeks later, one of my students asked me why she never got to eat the potato chip at church. I just shook my head and it took everything in me not to laugh out loud.
Alright, now for some semi-substantial thoughts. So our Lord came to us in a manger 2,000 years ago or something like that. He was born into a poor family and the circumstances of his birth were, shall we say, not ideal for normal human beings. Basically, he was born and laid into a trough that animals eat out of. Humble, right? Fast forward 33 years and Jesus hung on a cross and died to save us from our sins. Selfless, right? Fast forward to now, you and me sitting in Church. The priest elevates the host, speaks the words, and He's there. Really. It wasn't enough for him to take on human nature in such a humble way. It wasn't enough to suffer pain, humiliation, desolation and death for us. He finds a way to pour Himself out for us even more and in an even more simple and humble form. He comes to us as bread. So simple, so humble. Oh yeah, and there's also all that stuff about being the bread of life and nourishing our souls as well as our bodies. It just strikes me that in addition to satisfying our hunger, He also provides such a radical example of what it truly means to pour yourself out for others. It means so much more that we think we can give.
Sometimes I wonder if we're crazy for believing that something that looks like a piece of bread is actually God. Sometimes I even doubt it. When I was in Italy I went to Orvieto, where a Eucharistic miracle occurred a long time ago (I don't remember when). The priest saying mass was struggling with believing that the Eucharist is actually Jesus' body. As he elevated the host, it actually turned into flesh. A study was done on the flesh (many years later, obviously) and it was determined that the type of flesh was that of the heart. Wow. Also, doesn't it just make sense in your heart that God would give Himself so radically to us? Knowing that satisfies our deepest needs. At least it does for me.
Final thought: I read somewhere (don't remember where - as you can tell, my memory is not terribly good) that usually when we eat something, it becomes a part of us. With the Eucharist, the opposite thing happens. When we eat the body of Christ, we become a part of that body. We are united with all who do the same. Holy smokes. I wish everyone understood and had this joy.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
How to tell if you have a good husband
So we spent most of the day dealing with plumbing problems. We have a toilet in our basement and apparently, last night the seal between the toilet and the drain that takes all the water from the toilet out of the house broke, resulting in water all over the basement. I didn't worry since my husband is such a do-it-yourselfer, especially when it comes to plumbing. So I went about my day as he fought the toilet downstairs. In the middle of the afternoon he called me down because he needed my help. The toilet was on its side in the middle of the floor, and the drain going down to God knows where was exposed. He needed my help because he was going to carry the toilet over to the drain and I had to tell him where to put it down so that it was directly on top of the drain and the screws, which were sticking up from the drain, came up through the holes in the bottom of the toilet. Now this doesn't seem complicated, but it was very hard to see and must admit, that I did not do a very good job doing what he asked of me. I was very stressed out about the whole situation and ended up telling him the wrong direction and not being much help at all. He had every right to get frustrated with me, but if he was, he didn't show it. It was obvious that the toilet was very heavy and he was straining to hold it up as I shouted out wrong directions to him, but he didn't say a word. In fact, once we got the thing in place, he even cracked a joke about the whole situation. Do I have myself a good man or what?
I know it seems like a really small thing, but it was and is huge to me. This self-control is not atypical for him. I think it's these types of small things over the course of a marriage that really make things work. Would you rather live with 30 years of your husband yelling at you because you did a bad job of helping him out with his plumbing, carpentry, whatever projects, or 30 years of him being patient and kind with you, even when you fail living up to what he needs you to be?
This seemingly small event also got me to thinking about the relationship between human action and human emotion. I think that human emotion drives human action a lot of the time, and I'm not so sure that's a good thing. But I also think that one of the great things about being human is that we don't have to live our lives this way. We are aware of ourselves and our emotions. We can choose to act based on love instead of how we feel at any given moment. I think this is one of the key things that people miss in their search for happiness.
With all this being said, I have to say that my husband is much better at grounding his actions in love rather than in how he feels than I am. I know he definitely wouldn't articulate it that way, but that's what I see in him every day. That's the man I live with and that I have given myself to. I think I got myself a good one ;)
I know it seems like a really small thing, but it was and is huge to me. This self-control is not atypical for him. I think it's these types of small things over the course of a marriage that really make things work. Would you rather live with 30 years of your husband yelling at you because you did a bad job of helping him out with his plumbing, carpentry, whatever projects, or 30 years of him being patient and kind with you, even when you fail living up to what he needs you to be?
This seemingly small event also got me to thinking about the relationship between human action and human emotion. I think that human emotion drives human action a lot of the time, and I'm not so sure that's a good thing. But I also think that one of the great things about being human is that we don't have to live our lives this way. We are aware of ourselves and our emotions. We can choose to act based on love instead of how we feel at any given moment. I think this is one of the key things that people miss in their search for happiness.
With all this being said, I have to say that my husband is much better at grounding his actions in love rather than in how he feels than I am. I know he definitely wouldn't articulate it that way, but that's what I see in him every day. That's the man I live with and that I have given myself to. I think I got myself a good one ;)
Blogger Extraordinaire!
Who knew that this girl had a blog? If anyone is entitled to post their thoughts on the internet, it's her. It's heavy stuff at times, but "be not afraid!" It's totally worth it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
