Retirement

What is retirement?  Is that when you have come to the end of the line?  It could be. It could be a time when you sit and ponder where has the time gone and what did you do with your time.      I think there is a lot of that going on when you retire.  It is very scary to retire.  It should be a great time to celebrate and relax a life well lived, but it is also a time when you know that you are running out of stations and that soon you will get to your last stop and that is it, your done, bye, bye.

For me, I hope it will be a time to enjoy doing things that I never took the time to do before and enjoy it not just rush through because I don’t have time.   It is hard to break these hurry-up habits and another thing that is hard to do things because someone else thinks you should.   I still have responsibilities but hopefully, I will enjoy life and smell the roses and dance like nobody is watching.

Stayed tuned because I am going to finish the book I have been writing, I am going to hem the pant legs that I need to hem and I am going to play my organ music, sand and paint the cellar stairs, mow the lawn, weed the flowers, work out, go for walks, bake pies and muffins and casseroles.   I am 68 and have just officially retired, I think.  I have a full-time job caring for my husband and that keeps me very busy.  The rentals we have is a side job more or less and I hope it stays that way and of course being a Third Order Carmelite completes my connection to the Universe and all its wonders, hope, and promises.                            WE NEVER REALLY RETIRE.

 

 

 

The United States of American and The Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception a Holy Day in the Catholic Church.   Who belongs to the Catholic Church.   Well here are some facts. The flagship of Christopher Columbus on his epoch-making voyage across the Atlantic in 1492 was named not merely Santa Maria, but according to some historians Santa Maria de Concepcion. To the second island he found in the New World, Columbus gave the name of La Concepcion after he had named the first San Salvador. From that time on, countless rivers, lakes, towns, missions in Hispanic America were named for and placed under the tutelage of La Purisima Concepcion.

It is interesting to note that among these documents there is one which tells us that Bishop Carroll had chosen the Blessed Virgin as patroness of the diocese of Baltimore at the time he was made bishop. The document in question is the minutes of the fifth session, on November 10, of the Diocesan Synod of Baltimore held in 1791, which was really the first national synod of the United States.

Long before the American bishops, in 1846, chose the Immaculate Conception as Patroness of the United States, a large portion of our country, namely that which has been called “Our Spanish Borderlands,” had been placed under the patronage of Mary Immaculate.

We have been encouraged today to pray the Rosary in honor of Our Blessed Mother and for continued intercession and protection of our United States of America.

Please pray for the United States of American today and think of Mary our Mother when you do.

Thank You

Dee and Joe

First Day of “Fall”

“This poem is dedicated to all those who lost their lives , homes, and life as they knew it in the recent hurricanes and earthquakes”

I Smell the Forest, I an smell the trees.

The different scents of Oak and Fruit trees, I smell all these.

Sweet grass just cut on the first day of Fall.  Corn is being harvested, the farm stand still sells watermelon and the apples are being picked.    Oh, the crisp smell of Fall.

Great big orange pumpkins, yellow, red, and golden trees. Oh I smell all of these.

The Sun is shinning brightly as the blue sky sends a breeze.

Oh how I love all of these.

Make believe the world is peaceful, make believe the wars have stopped.  How can the world keep declining, how can people not believe.

When the Sun just keeps on shinning and the rainbow comes out of the storm.

Though the people they are dying see the love that God has shown.  For He has taken them Home.   “Christ is the Sun that Never Sets”.

 

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I love being a Catholic.

Joe and I walked into St. Matthews and were greeted by a lineup of the Knights of Columbus Plumes and all with swords ready.    The next in the lineup were the beautiful children making their First Communion and Confirmation.  After that was our parish priest, followed by none only but Bishop Deeley and the entourage  of alter servers.

We went to our seats and the procession began.  I love the fluff but the music makes it perfect.  The selection of songs was upbeat and the choir was in full force.  But the part that brought tears to my eyes was a certain young man who seven years ago I worked with when I worked in the school system.   Small for his age this twelve-year-old was an inspiration as he stood up at the front of the church and played the trombone to accompany the choir.  Later during the Mass he played the flute.   As I said, he is small for his age.  He wore freshly pressed black pants, a crisp short sleeve white shirt and a red tie.  He is a blond boy he had a boy cut.  He had no fear and was very much into the moment.   He also sang along  with the choir while waiting for his musical part.

All the boys and girls where very well-behaved and when the bishops asked how they were doing, they said GREAT.   Bishop Deeley came down from the altar and sat with the children in a circle at the front of the church and taught a lesson in what a special day this was and how it would last the rest of their lives as long as they kept the sacraments.

The final song and procession out was just as wonderful and all were invited to come for refreshments after Mass.

The reason I felt like writing about this Mass today is because of the State the World is in.

When I saw these children,  I had hope for the world.  These children are the future of the Planet and we do live on a Planet.  A great big wonderful planet.  Our home.  Let us care for it and let us teach our children to care for it.

 

 

 

 

Carmelite Garden

 

 

 

Last month we talked about how we were called to Carmel and its contemplative way of life.  We shared what happened to bring us here . Now as I read our assignment for this week, it didn’t take me long to see the direction God was going in with this.

  He called us to come together even as different as we all are and in our own ways.  He called us to participate in each others growing.   On page 43 the author says, Carmel, the family of people who identify with the Carmelite Order and its chrism is described as a garden .

Our Community Meeting is a garden.  Did we really know this?  Have we been coming each month with the knowledge that we are here to grow?  Maybe in a way, but I think all this time, some of us, thought we were climbing and taking the climb a little to serious.  God is the one watering us and feeding us.  We should be the ones receiving and growing and also sharing.   We are all to grow in this garden.  All of us in different ways.  

Pondering the scriptures, sharing the Sacraments, trying not to look at  another as less than, but as equal, for surely we are all equal in God’s eyes. WE should honor each other as individual and equal.   We are here in the garden, in the vineyard , where God put us.  

We are here in the Garden of Carmel , climbing the Mountain and growing.  Here is where we blossom, where we become beautiful and where finally we will be picked.

Dee Mahoney, Arc of the Covenant, T.O.C

 

There is a hole in the coal.

Truly I have lived my life covered in black shoot.   A lump of coal with no eyes to see and with no ears to hear.   Struggling from the inside to break through this darkness and into the light.   Pawing at the walls of my imprisonment.

Years of making sorrowful bad decisions.  Thinking I can fix this person or that person without regard from the darkness from which I work.  All the years of trying.  All the years of suffering.   So much time lost.   Oh God, if only I had heard you sooner.   The path you made  for me would have been sweeter.  Would have been longer.

But, I can see the shine now beaming through the darkness.  A bright light.  So bright under the layer of dark dust.  The whole time I was afraid.  Yes I admit, I was afraid. The light was there all the time.  I just needed to be brave.  I just needed to trust.  I trust now.   Now I am a shinning precious stone in the land of hardened rocks.

As I look out on the rocks, some dark some not, I see the twinkling of others.  Other like-minded souls.  Lead me to them lord.  I promise to follow.

 

Embrace the open vastness of heaven.

I recently read this post and was drawn in by the way it says what I feel.   I don’t know this writer but I recently started following him.   It so nice to read content that is good.

I look forward to reading more of this person’s inspirational thoughts with golden words of truth.

We don’t need more political programs. We don’t need more ideologies, systems, quarreling parties. What we really need are awake and conscious individuals with an open mind. Open as the sea. Open like the wide sky. Open to beauty and grace. Open to the spirit that leads them to the place of their highest destiny. […]

 

 

You Make the Change

Sometimes it takes the effort to search on souls and find that we are not perfect.   We grow up with certain prejudice thoughts and feeling.  We believe we are right and others are wrong.  Are they really wrong just because they don’t think like you or I do.     We may be right but what good does it do to be right when we hurt our friends, family, and even a stranger.

I am thinking of a situation where an entire community has fallen apart because one person thought she was completely right.  She was hurt when others did not agree with her.   I think it would be better, if we can, to let the situation go because holding on to that feeling and the hurt and most especially the anger only made things bad.

This person held on so tight to her anger and hate that she literally took on are aura of dark green.  The glare that comes out of her eyes burns your skin making it crawl.  She is infected with hate and she won’t back down.

For several months now , I felt that this person was poisoning our community meeting with her anger.  She was telling others of her feelings too, and with such anger.   The poisoning spread and the tension and unrest fell upon the meetings with such strength that people stop coming.   It was hard for people to say what was really wrong because to be truthful this is supernatural.   A poisoned heart sends out energy.   You can’t see the energy but you can feel it.

When I saw this little quote picture, it all made sense.   Our friend and community member drank the poison and expected everyone to die and then she would have her way.   Is there anyway out of this?  How do we fix all the hurt,  the relationships destroyed, and the damage that has been done?

For me I think I will need to let it go.   I won’t keep hold of the hurt.  I won’t keep hold of the grudge.   This little picture taught me a great lesson.   I don’t want to drink of the poison.  I will let it go.

 

 

 

 

 

Inauguration 2017

Look how it stands flying in the wind.  

I took this picture a few years ago and this is the coast area near Kennebunkport Maine where I live about twenty miles inland of the Ocean.  The picture reminds me that our Flag does still stand.     I believe that as Americans we can keep our country strong by believing that we are One Nation Under God with liberties and justice for all.   But that we need to remember that these liberties and these justices are under God.  He is our Sovereign and the one we need to count on, not any man or women.

I will not be watching the ceremonies today because I have a luncheon date with a friend and fellow Carmelite to discuss life and going skiing.   After that I will go to work.  I work with a girl who has aspergers and we have several things planned.   Life goes on no matter who is being sworn in as President.  But,  if I wasn’t doing these things would I be glued to the TV and listening to all the comments, good and bad?  I most likely would.  My husband will be home listening.   I don’t like Mr. Trump but someone has to sit in the seat and try to make our country work.    I am hoping that in 4 years my man Evan McMullen will be seriously considered.

I believed that we lived in the Promised Land and it is our land to care for and cherish.   If we want to make American Great Again, let us be great by being kind to the elderly person in line at the grocery store, giving to those that have less, and forgiving to those who have hurt us.

God Bless You and may God Bless the United States of America.

Dee M

“Who am I and why am I here”

The title of this written assignment reminds me of my first Catechism lesson.  Who made me and Why did God make me.  That was the question to me decades ago.   Now it seems, I am still searching for who am I and why am I here.   Knowing who made me and why I am here does not answer the question of why I am here because finding oneself through the turmoil of life is difficult indeed.  I once thought I knew the answer but as time goes on and life happens, we find ourself in different stages of the exploration of our own inner self.   Who am I really?   I think the reason I want to write in this stage of life is because sometimes I think what I have to say may actually mean something.   In the past, I had low self-esteem but by the different jobs I have held and positions I have held I learned that I was not who I believed myself to be.   In the past what others taught me about myself was not what I thought either.   

Learning to do some public speaking along with being placed in leadership and management roles built up by low self-image a great deal…   I will say that one of the exercises that was also helpful was learning to downhill ski.   Downhill skiing is a sport that once you have succeeded in mastering, helps in all aspects of life.   You can no longer look down on yourself.  It seems sports accomplishments are a gift from God.   That is how I look at life today.

I want to write because I have things to say and I am no longer afraid to say these things.  
Dee M