Inspired by Scholastica

On the liturgical calendar, the time between the Christmas season and the Lenten season is referred to as Ordinary Time. It's a period when there are no special periods of celebration or commemoration. It could be looked upon as a time between feasting and fasting, a time to catch our breath. Yet all time is holy, all time is extra-ordinary. Each day is amazing if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. The poet Mary Oliver has a recipe for life: "Pay attention. Be amazed. Tell about it." Much of her poetry is about nature and animals that she has taken time to observe. How often we walk through our days in a haze, missing the beauty that surrounds us, passing by people without seeing them. I have a painting of pears in a bowl on a table hanging above my computer. but I do not notice it unless someone admires it or I look up deliberately. Then I see the delicate shading, the stems with varicolored leaves, the folds of the white tablecloth reflecting the color of the

I've always taken good health for granted. I did have asthma when I was young, but it disappeared early on. I also had pneumonia a couple times, yet  medications alleviated that pretty quickly. Now that I am in my later years, my health has deteriorated. My walk is slower and not so steady. I can no longer do many of the things I used to do (although I still play ping pong regularly). Although my health is more precarious, I am grateful for each new day that I can be mobile and mentally alert (although somewhat forgetful). I love to read fiction and write poetry as well as enjoy a Kansas sunset. These days I also look forward to an afternoon nap. I often think of Mary Oliver's question:   "What Will You Do With Your One Wild and Precious Life?" It makes me think about what a gift life is and that I need to cherish it. It also reminds me that I have a special work to do that will be left undone if I don't do it. As my energy level decreases, I have to m

Most of the news in the media today is depressing, but this week I read an article in the Kansas City Star that was heartening . It rold   about a homeless man who stopped to help a driver who was stuck in a snow bank. The driver happened to be a Kansas City Chiefs football player on his way to the playoffs a week ago. The player, Jeff Allen, tried to locate the man called "Dave" on Twitter to give him tickets to the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead coming up. Allen finally located "Dave" on Twitter and so did thousands of other people. Someone set up a GoFundMe account and raised $10,000 in less than 24 hours. A reporter located him and found out that this homeless man has a habit of helping people with his old white truck in which he lives. "Dave" admits his background is bleak. He was in a reform school in his teens, spent seven years in prison, and suffers from addictions. But he has started to put his life together. He has a fiancee and a s

Kristy Childs tells story of sexual exploitation Most people would have looked at Kristy Childs as a hopeless case when she came to El Centro, a social service agency, about 20 years ago. Sister Linda Roth saw her as a woman with possibilities. She told Kristy she could learn some marketable skills and enrolled her in the computer class she was teaching. Sister Linda believed in her and that was the beginning of a new life for this 36-year-old woman who had been a prostitute since age 12. Kristy got a job at the Kansas City, Ks. Chamber of Commerce with Sister Linda's help and experienced success for the first time in her life. She took advantage of several assistance programs to get counseling, food stamps, and eventually bought a house. She knew she wanted to help other women get out of prostitution. After a few years she started a program called Safe House in Kansas City. Mo., which assisted women who were caught in a life on the street with no way out. In 2002, with a

A new year. What will it bring? What will we bring to it? We want it to bring peace, love, joy, success, and all kinds of blessings. But if we just sit back and wait for good things to happen, we are going to be disappointed. We have to extend ourselves to make these things happen. If we want to experience peace in our relationships, we have to be the first to forgive and seek reconciliation. If we want to be loved, we have to reach out in friendship and appreciation. If we want to have joy, we have to extend ourselves to those who may be grieving, poor, sick, or alienated. If we want to be successful, we have to work hard to achieve results not just stay in our comfort zone. When I watched the CNN Heroes Special recently, I was struck by the generosity of these honorees who reached out to others.They did so many amazing things like building tiny houses for homeless veterans, making beds for children who had to sleep on the floor, providing therapy and classes to help women tra