The Secret

Something simple to share on the Solemnity of Christ the King

The Secret

One day, one friend asked another,
'How is it that you are always so happy?
You have so much energy,
And you never seem to get down.'
 

With her eyes smiling, she said,
'I know the Secret!'
'What secret is that?'
To which she replied,
'I'll tell you all about it,
But you have to promise to
Share the Secret with others.'
 

'The Secret is this:

I have learned there is little I can do
In my life that will make me truly happy.
I must depend on God to make
Me happy and to meet my needs.
When a need arises in my life,
I have to trust God to supply
According to HIS riches.
I have learned most of the time
I don't need half of what I think I do.
He has never let me down.
Since I learned that 'Secret', I am happy.'
 

The questioner's first thought was,
'That's too simple!'
But upon reflecting over her own life
She recalled how she thought a bigger house
Would make her happy, but it didn't!
She thought a better paying job
Would make her happy, but it hadn't.
When did she realize her greatest happiness?
Sitting on the floor with her grandchildren,
Playing games, eating pizza or reading a story,
A simple gift from God.
 

Now you know it too!
We can't depend on people to make us happy.
Only GOD in His infinite wisdom can do that.
Trust HIM!
And now I pass the Secret on to you!
So once you get it, what will you do?

The Man and The Birds

Last Tuesday evening was several days ago, when an idea for a blog came to me. In fact, I thought it a good enough of an idea to come back to and type it up. 

I spent more hours at school in the evenings planning last week. Mostly because I neglected to do any extra planning the week prior or over the weekend. Sometimes you just have to let your mind get away. Thus theses extra hours might have caused me to be a bit more stressed. Perhaps I was just that frustrated with a particular group of students. Some of them don't understand the concept of come to class (prepared!), listen, do what the teacher asks, put forth some effort and try. On this particular Tuesday morning, I was utterly frustrated with a few particular young individuals. I am not typically a mean sort of person and thus disciplining students is not my strong point. Yet, I must also learn not to let them walk all over me - or things will be miserable for everyone involved. The class ended with no one getting hurt and the rest of the day went on as planned. Still, I must care because I was about fuming over the course of the first 50 minutes of the day. Sometimes I think it would be easier to become a student, get on their level, show them how to act, lead by example and be a stronger influence in their lives. 

I was able to relate this experience to a couple of scriptural passages. The first is that day's Gospel passage. John 2:13-22. In short, Jesus clears out the temple of those who had made it a marketplace (emphasis removed). "Zeal for your house will consume me." In class that day, I was zealous for the classroom to be used as it was intended. I sent a student or two away. Hopefully I've learned something and the days will improve.  

The second new and deeper understanding of the day, I've already slightly mentioned. Take this story, "The Man and the Birds," made popular by Paul Harvey.

The man to whom I'm going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn't believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time. It just didn't make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn't swallow the Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man.

"I'm truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, "but I'm not going with you to church this Christmas Eve." He said he'd feel like a hypocrite. That he'd much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound...Then another, and then another. Sort of a thump or a thud...At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They'd been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn't let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it. Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them...He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms...Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn.

And then, he realized that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me...That I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him.

"If only I could be a bird," he thought to himself, "and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to safe, warm...to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand." At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells - Adeste Fidelis - listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

 If I could better remember what it was like to be a student, perhaps I could better reach them. At the same time, it is also my job to look at the research done by numerous education professionals and allow their wisdom to guide me in becoming a better teacher. Guide me, Good Lord, to do your will. Thank you for the insights. Aww-spiration.

STOP STRUGGLING

I receive a daily e-mail from a distant cousin of mine entitled, "Morning Tea." Today was one of those days where I felt as though I was flailing - stressing more than I've stressed all semester. Today's e-mail is exactly what I needed to read - in more than one way. God is really talking to me today. I've taken some time to listen, but probably not near enough. Have you noticed God talking to you, lately? Aww-spiration. God is great!

“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but . . . spirit gives birth to spirit.’  John 3:6

If you want to see God's promise fulfilled in your life this year, do not rush things - or you might give birth to an Ishmael!  Ishmael was born because Sarah tried to orchestrate events and bail God out.  And the world has been living with the consequences ever since.  Be sure that your plans are born of God's Spirit.  Do not try to salvage anything that is flesh-based. God said, '. . . my covenant will I establish with Isaac . . .' (Genesis 17:21), because Isaac was the result of God's will, done God's way, in God's time.

Jesus said, 'Flesh gives birth to flesh, but . . . Spirit gives birth to spirit.' Everything that is conceived in you comes from one of two sources; the flesh or the Spirit.  People will try to involve you in all kinds of schemes to rescue and promote yourself. But God does not need help to bless you; He can do it all by Himself.  That is why, whenever Satan attacks, you need to be able to point him to your spiritual birthplace and remind him that you did not begin this project, therefore you do not have to finish it.  What God ordains, He sustains!

Today, if God is dealing with carnality, pride or any other obstacle in your path, do not get in His way.  Like rescuing a drowning man who is frantically trying to save himself, until you stop flailing around God cannot do anything for you.  Give it up!  Try less and trust more!  The Bible says, '. . . he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion . . . (Philippians 1:6 NIV).  So relax and stop struggling!

Do Something for Someone Else, Every Day

In the life of a teacher, at least five days a week are committed to helping students learn and to making a difference in their lives. Some times, on days like today, when we don't have school, I am a loss of what to do with myself. I know that I should have spent a significant amount of time planning for the coming week, but I lacked the motivation and the drive. Spending a few hours in the classroom this afternoon, it just wasn't the same without any one else in the building besides the janitors. Even the few questionable arc welds I put out this afternoon did not motivate me to create those lesson plans that are vital to helping me be a prepared and effective teacher.  

Some of the rosaries I've made of late.

Finally, at a loss, I texted my good friend Torie, saying, "I'm in need of company and motivation. Any suggestions?" (It has been kind of a lonely day with out instructing several groups of students) Not five minutes later did I text her back saying, "Answering my own question. Do something for someone else." Her response came within three minutes of my second text, "You are good! If it was me... I would write a letter or work out or call a friend!"  By that time, I had grabbed some string to sit on the porch swing on this cool autumn afternoon to tie knots and make a rosary. I had also left my phone inside, and a short while later simply returned to read Torie's message, responding with, "Making a rosary helped some. I'll proceed through the list."


Well, I've not exactly tackled each of those items on the list that Torie sent me, but I did attempt to take my focus off myself and consider some people in my life who I've not talked to for quite some time. I had several facebook messages and wall posts I have been meaning to respond to for quite some time.  I've tackled those this evening. I had not talked to my brother Alfonse for quite awhile either. We got a good forty plus minutes of conversation in on his drive to Manhattan. I am not really one for phone talking, but with Alfonse, I can manage it.  Hopefully, and God willing, I will hash out a letter or two yet this evening before hitting the hay. 


All this reminds me of a story from sophomore year of college. It was spring break, and I was living in the Royal Towers complex in Manhattan with two close friends of mine. I had decided to stick around while they had gone home. Most college spring breaks met me with a sewing project, which was the same that year. At one point, I recall sitting on the couch with my laptop, browsing facebook and feeling sorry for myself that no one had written on my wall in quite some time. It dawned on me. "Jackie, people aren't just going to feel sorry for you and write on your wall from time to time. You've got to be generous and write on other people's walls." 

While my initial intention might have been to receive some affection from others, even through a simple facebook wall post, I learned in that moment that we often feel better about ourselves when we do something for someone else. That is, when we focus on others, we feel like a better person (even if that's not what we think about). This idea is also supported by Sean Covey's 7 Habits for Teens, in the chapter on the Personal Bank account. Make personal deposits into your own account and into other people's accounts by doing something for them, especially without them asking. There is a balance between gloating and humbly helping others. What have you done for others lately?

This evening, I feel much better about myself for the time I have invested in other people, even if through technology and social media such as facebook and cell phones, and not person to person. And hopefully, tomorrow, at the start of a new day, I will be more geared up for tackling the tasks I need to. Praise God. Thanks Torie for being a resounding wall. Aww-spiration.