The upcoming Election

I'm sure everyone is drowning in conflicting ads about which person to vote for or which prop is the right one to go through and become law. I won't add to your stress by giving my opinion on who to vote for or what is the right prop to choose. I can only suggest to do what I have been doing and research and verify some of the facts. I have found what might be true one place is not true where I live. Here is an example. We have all heard the ads about prop 8 and how it will or will not effect education. So I did a bit of research. The two things that got me to thinking something was not right was when they said in Massachusetts kids in second grade will be taught about marriage and on the opposite end the superintendent from the L A unified school district said that its not taught at all. What I found is this, different states and cities for that matter have different ways of doing things, it's not a across the board type of deal. In the city of Burbank family type classes are not taught till high school, the same with the Los Angeles school district. So if you really want to know how to vote, do lots of research, then let your heart, your conscience and maybe some prayer lead you in the right direction.

We are not alone

These are very scary times we are all in right now, the economy on a downward spiral, drastic weather changes, a change in leadership, all very scary things happening at once. I'm sure many us are going through many stressful things in our own lives, money, work or lack thereof, but if you noticed at the beginning I said "we all" meaning you are not the only one going through these hard times. The only way we will get through all this is faith in God and trust in our friends and family. Be a rock for someone, be the one to give them strength and you can be sure that you will realize that we are not alone.

The Olympic Spirit

I want to first take this moment before I began my blog topic by apologizing for the recent lack of posts. To be honest nothing has motivated me to post or draw anything, until today. I don't think it's fair to you or myself to force myself to write something or draw something unless I feel committed to it. The Olympic Spirit, what does that mean, is it about a protester trying to snatch the Olympic Torch from someone, who has probably waited all their lives for this one moment, or is it a political leader exposing how his country is not going to attend because of who is sponsoring the games this year.No, that is not the Olympic Spirit, and though the cause may be justified the Olympics are not a political venue. This is suppose to be where all the nations check their attitudes and animosities at the door and as the advertisements say "where the World comes together". I don't care how right or just the cause, the Olympics need to be above all that. I can't began to tell you how infuriated I was when I would see over and over again protesters trying to yank the Olympic Torch from some innocent runners hand. Its so contrary to what they are advocating, they are using a venue that promotes peace and unity to further their own political agenda of social justice. China certainly does have social justice issues to correct, but this is so not the way or venue to promote this. Lets keep the Olympic Spirit as it was meant to be Peace and unity for the World.

Would it really matter?

I was reading an article the other day in regards to the DaVinci Code and what a controversy it made because of the ideas that it put forth, being that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had a child. The other thing was it questioned Jesus' divinity, which if I remember correctly was never done in the book. When I read the book, which I enjoyed very much it made me think, if Jesus did have a family what effect does it have on my faith. I found that to me it made no difference at all. I found that if those facts were ever proven to me it just made the idea of "Family" that much more of a powerful idea. I mean even if he did have a family, he still did all the things we know him for, his ministry, his miracles, and finally his dying on the cross, which makes his own personal sacrifice that much more important! I can't speak for anyone else but myself but if anything my faith was made even stronger. In the end it comes down to one fact, he sacrificed himself on a cross for our sins so we may have a new life. So would it really matter if he was married and had a child, not at all!

The Journey Begins

Today is a momentous day in our families lives, our son Michael is graduating from High School. Now begins his journey on the path of life. It can be scary, it can be exciting it can be any number of things for different people. It is sort of like stepping out of childhood and into adulthood. Now is a time to increase ones learning towards a career or simply going straight into a job. The choices seem endless, but as we all know we all go through it and survive. It's also a transition for us as parents as well, our children become more independent and maybe not needing us as much as before and maybe even moving out or going to a college out of state. So we as parents also go through a lot of emotional changes. All in all it's an exciting time and no amount of words can express how proud of my son that I am. I hope you will join me in wishing him well and keeping him in your prayers because now truly The Journey Begins.

Be Still...Be Quiet....Be With God.

Have you ever just sat still for a minute and just listened to the sounds around you, did you say something like, " I didn't know we had songbirds in that tree" We miss so much when we rush and run all around. It's the same way with our relationship with God. We are so intent on our destination that we miss how we even got there or what we even saw. Sometimes we think if we do lots of things in our Parish we are doing a good thing, but it's important to remember that we also need to be served and to do that we need to be still... be quite... and be with God. Take just twenty minutes and sit still and be quiet and don't try to actually listen to anything just sit and let things come to you and appreciate all you hear or smell, even that noisy leaf blower, imagine if you were deaf and could not hear it, so count your blessings and remember, be still... be quiet... and be with God.

Rosebud

Now for those of you who have never seen Citizen Kane and don't want the end spoiled, please by pass this entry. The other day I came into the later half of the movie Citizen Kane, I had always heard of it but just never caught it on amc. I can now see why it was so popular, the movie is of the highest order. What I was struck by was the end of the movie, everyone is trying to find out the importance of the Kane's last words "rosebud" and I believe unless you have watched the entire movie you won't understand the significance of his last words. I did a little research into it and found like the word the answer was simple. It was the only happy memory he had of his childhood and playing with his sled in the snow. In the final scene somewhat similar to the final scene in the first Indiana Jones movie you see this wide shot of a massive warehouse with what seems like miles and miles of crates of things kane had collected over the years, the warehouse is just massive! Then as the camera comes in closer you see a man tossing things into the furnace of things that could not be sold at auction and their in the furnace is tossed his sled whose name was rosebud. So at the very end of this man who had virtually everything and I mean everything, his last words were of the only thing that gave him happiness in this world, the sled from his childhood. That really got me to thinking about what is really important in life. It's not the collecting of "things" or even "wealth" because these are only like a band-aid and their happiness if any is only temporary. I think their is a real lesson here in that it's the simpler things in life that are more valuable and more dear to us than all the wealth in the world.

Take a moment....Talk to God!

I realized this week, between trying to help my son get some things done for school, and with his prom coming up we've been rushing around non-stop and taking no time to just sit and breath. I know we all tend to do that because of the way the world is and we put so much importance on the things that are driving us crazy or stressing us out we forget to simply take five minutes to have a short conversation with God. I took a moment closed my eyes and just sat still, you will not believe the change I felt in simply taking a quiet moment and letting God get a word in. So remember, nothing is so important that you can't just take at least just five minutes and let God calm you, get a good book, maybe even the Bible and just read for five minutes, take a moment and let God talk to you.

Going it Alone...Not always a good idea

We sometimes have a tendency to say "oh I'll take care of it myself". More times than not we end up working harder or just making the situation worse. Take my little friend Pendragon to the right here, he decided that he did not need any help taking on Darkness by himself. I'm thinking he might have made a slight miscalculation. Sometimes thats what we do as well. It's so important to be open and flexible and to accept help wherever it comes from, God's help comes in many forms. I know it's hard to ask for help, it may even be embarrassing, but trust me it's better than getting into a situation like Pendragon did. So next time you think about going it alone, don't, ask for help.

King David was a Dancing Fool!

I had always read that if there ever was a big celebration in ancient times, King David always led the procession dancing and cavorting wildly. In any place of worship you will always hear about the choir or the preaching and even how well the instruments did on the music, but you never hear much about the dancing. In our church we are blessed with some wonderful liturgical dancers, they are like swans gliding upon a lake in perfect harmony. They never retract from the service and they only add to the beauty of it. We all worship in different ways and each of us has a gift to share with their own community to bring Gods love in all his many ways. So whatever community or religion you are in and if you are lucky enough to have dancers go up to them give them a hug and say thank you for sharing your gift, and remember, King David was a dancing fool too!

Be Watchful..but do it Mindfully

Our children are our most precious people in the world and we must protect them, but we have to do it with the utmost responsibility or else it turns into a witch hunt and those we may have once trusted may now be damaged. Unfortunately the atmosphere we now live in makes that as difficult as fighting in Vietnam where the soldiers could not discern between the villagers and the Viet Cong. Sometimes that resulted in innocent villagers being killed. These are some of things we must keep in mind as protectors of our children, discern what is going on, hear what is actually being said and in what context and who is saying it. I know now it is difficult to tell friend from foe with all the stories in the media but please try and maybe just maybe the right people will be accused instead of the person who just made an honest mistake.

Intermission..Shameless Plug

Hello all, I just wanted to let all who visit here that my first God Tail is available through Lulu.com, The Fox who wanted to Fly. Please feel free to visit Lulu and see the free preview of it. I believe it will bless those who read it.

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel..yes, it's God

Sometimes we all get in those ruts of bad luck where everything seems to happen at once. It even starts to make you think, "is God punishing me?" I know it must seem that way and you start to question what you did wrong. Well keep in mind a couple of things, God is a loving God, and he is a forgiving God. He is also there to show you the way to the light at the end of the tunnel, it may take a bit but there is a light at the end. As long as you can keep the faith and put all your trust in God, he will always help you no matter what the situation is, you just have to believe with your whole heart and mind that God is the light at the end of that long tunnel.

God will give you wings

Have you ever looked up and wished you could fly, and zoom through the clouds? I know I have, when I was younger I wanted to be a fighter pilot. One thing that flying or having my own wings to fly signified was freedom. Freedom to do whatever came to my mind. In a way we all have invisible wings, we just do not know they are there. These are the wings of Faith and the knowledge and freedom that God will always be there, but at the same time that with these wings that God has given us, we can do anything. Once you find your wings it's up to us to help others find those wings as well, that way someday we can all touch the face of God together.

Fellowship..keeping you on the Path

I have been fortunate in my life to have come across people who have benefited my life in so many ways. We all sometimes get lost in that long road of life, but thanks to people who we fellowship with, they re-direct us onto the right path. Jesus has called us all to spread the word, to the World, not just to Catholics or Lutherans, or any one specific religion, but to EVERYONE! We do that by fellowshipping and telling our story of our personal journey with God. Take a moment to sit with someone and tell them about your journey and what you have gone through, the bad as well as the good. Don't be afraid to be who you are, a person of God, share it!

A Mother's Love

The title says it all as well as the image that accompanies it, sacrifice is another word that comes to mind when you talk about a Mother's love. Mary gave her son to the world so we all might be saved, but not to take away Mary's sacrifice, but Mothers all over the world are making the same sacrifice every day. The mother who has only two pieces of bread for three people and gives those pieces to her children. The mother who knows she can not support her child for varying reasons, gives up her child to someone who can, this was prevalent in the 1920's and 30's. The Mother who gives a kidney to save her child. The Mother who watches her son going to war, the Mother who watches her son return with an American flag draped over his coffin. This is a Mothers love. It goes on every moment of every day, they give their lives so we her sons and daughters may have a better life. Think of this the next time you see your mom and give her a big hug. Happy Mothers Day Mom!

Ever feel like Job?

I was wondering today about what picture would go good with the topic and I thought not really any I could think of, so this post will be sans artwork. You ever have one of those days where you say, "so what else can happen" and something else does. To be honest i'm not sure what to say, I could say a clique like no matter what God will take care of you, but then I remembered Job. Now talk about a bad day or a bad life for that matter. This guy had everything happen to him and I mean everything and still he did not once waver in his faith in God. I can in no way shape or form ever even equate myself to being like Job. I'm sure I am not alone in having issues or problems day to day, so I guess the best we can all do is try to think of Job and remember he never loss faith.

National Day of Prayer

How much do you pray? Is it once a day, at night when you go to bed or like most, when something is going wrong? Well I'd be lying if I said I was anything but what I mentioned, but one thing I do know when I do pray, I don't ask for anything in particular, I always tell God, "you know what I need and when I need it, just try not to take too long" I think what we all forget is praying is simply talking to God like you would anyone else. I think people assume that prayer is only used as a request line, it's not, it's a way to keep you and God close to each other. It's like calling your parents when you are away to let them know your ok or what's going on in your life, ok and maybe to ask for money, lol. Seriously though prayer is there so it keeps you close to God and keeps God close to you. Make use of it on this Day of Prayer miracles do happen, prayer makes those miracles happen.

You Can Hide...But God will always find you

God has a purpose for us all, we may not know what it is, and we may even run from it, but sooner or later God finds you. I have a friend who came over one evening to my apartment before I was married just to talk and hang out. After about ten minutes of just talking he told me he was going to become a priest! My friend had just graduated from USC school of dentistry. He had not even told his parents yet. He related to me how he had been struggling with the decision but in the end, God found him. He is a wonderful priest now and a credit to the priesthood. Instead of running and hiding, we need to try to listen with an open heart to what God wants of us and the path he has set for us. Let God lead you to that purpose that in the end will benefit others, because when all is said and done we are here to help others. So the next time you try to hide, don't bother, God will always find you at the right time.

The Perfect Family....Not!

The family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus has been revered as the Holy family, the model of what a family should be, the "perfect" family. Think about it though, were they really the perfect family in our manner of thinking, of course not. Now before everyone gets in a uproar continue reading. Lets take a look at the "perfect" family. Take Mary first off, she was a unwed mother who as we know was almost stoned according to Jewish law except for the intervention of God with Joseph, who stepped up and did the right thing. With that said, then you have Jesus himself who in contemporary terms was an adopted child. Now in most societies and even today would not be considered the "perfect" family because of the status of the family members. Yet they are the "perfect" example of a families love for one another despite their individual status, they are the "perfect" example of what a family should be for todays families. With divorce on the rise and so many other situations that put the family in danger we all need to take a longer look at Jesus' family and see how a real family coped with many of the issues families do today. So were they the "perfect" family...No, but were they the "perfect" example of a families love, absolutely.

Stuff....Do we really need it?

Have you ever noticed when you have to do some cleaning or your moving all the "stuff" you come across, things you never even knew you had. Now having stuff is in itself not bad, we all collect things over the years, but it's when that stuff starts to dictate your life, thats when you have to say to yourself do I really need it? Dragons as we all know are notorious for collecting "stuff", and after collecting it they never want to leave their cave for fear someone will steal their "stuff"! Imagine how much wonderful time you would waste if you were like the dragon and you let the "stuff" dictate what you do in your life. So afraid to leave your "stuff" that friends leave, opportunities pass you by. That is how "stuff" can rule your life if you let it. Just keep in mind "stuff" can always be replaced, but you can never replace the time lost with your friends and the ones you love. So think about it "stuff"..do You really need it?

The Best Path

There once was a young knight named Pendragon who was on a very important mission for the King to the neighboring kingdom. He came to a forest that he had to go through, but it was unfamiliar to him and there were two paths. In the middle of these paths was an ancient oak tree where sat a young Gryphon. "welcome traveler how can I help you?" the young knight bowed and replied "my name is Pendragon and I am on urgent business for the King but this forest is unfamiliar to me, can you tell me which is the best path?" The young Gryphon smiled down at the knight and said "take the path to my right and it will take you to where you need to go." Pendragon looked at the path the Gryphon suggested and saw the path was dark and narrow but the path to the left was straight and bright. He looked up at the Gryphon with a questioning look, but the Gryphon just smiled. Pendragon thanked the Gryphon and took the path on the right, as he passed the tree the Gryphon said to him "do not stray from the path no matter what." Pendragon rode down the dark path, time passed and he came to a swamp, but he stayed on the path as the Gryphon told him. Further on he came to a high mountain where a blizzard was blowing, and though he began to curse the Gryphon thinking he had been made a fool of, he stayed on the path. Finally he came to the gates of the city he was sent to, the guards surprised by his presence asked him, "by which path did you come my Lord?" Pendragon replied "by the western path why?" The soldier replied "a Dragon has been attacking and killing anyone who has come by the Eastern path, we have not had word from anyone for months!" The morale of the story, The Best Path may not always be the easiest path to take.

Vote for Me!...Give me money!!

I was watching the news today and saw a statistic that greatly disturbed me. The three current candidates raised a total of over 65 million dollars in March alone! In contrast last night I was watching the finale of the Big Give last night which was called the shirt off your back, which meant the contestants had to benefit someone starting off with no money to use. The three remaining people raised a total of 170 thousand dollars that would benefit a school that helps unprivileged kids. They did this with just their own determination and drive. Now what is wrong with this picture, which seems the more noble cause that would benefit someone. Imagine if the candidates contributed one third of what they raise for their campaigns to people who really needed it! It makes me very sad that all the candidates care about is "vote for me...give me money! The Big Give last night showed me what people who have real drive and caring could do with no money, now take that a step forward and imagine if you had the money the candidates raise. I pray that maybe one of the candidates will read this and maybe pause and say, "yes what is wrong with this picture?" I hope next time they say "vote for me..give me money!" they will instead say"vote for me, but give the money to someone who really needs it!"

God's Tails

Tonight I decided to write about God's Tails, a collection of short stories that I hope someday to publish. God's Tails will be my version of parables geared for todays world, to the right you will see a group shot of some of the characters that will be appearing. The young knight is Pendragon, to his right is Avalon, and if you have been reading my other blog entries you already know how he fits in. To Pendragon's left is the little mouse warrior Tiberius. Immediately behind them is the Blue Dragon Clarion and behind them all if you look real close you can see the glowing eyes of Darkness. I hope those of you who have come by have been blessed by what you have read and I hope to continue to do that in the future. Please feel free to leave comments if you chose to do so, it helps me to know you. God bless you all .

Friends...A Gift From God.

Friends, we all have them, casual friends, close friends, extended family friends. I have one very precious friend and I use her as an example because it reminds me a lot of our relationship with God. I have known my friend Kassandra for almost ten years and In that time we have maybe gone to lunch together maybe about five or six times. She has come to a few things of my son's and it probably takes about three emails before she emails me back not in maybe many people's eyes as a close friendship, and yet without fail I know she would be there for me if need be as I would be for her. I have complete faith in her and anything I have ever done for her I have never expected her to reciprocate in any way. My joy is to do things for her as I'm sure it is for her. Our relationship with God is a lot like that, or I think it should be, don't give in hopes of getting something back, thats not true friendship. As I always say to my friend Kassandra when she tells me I didn't have to do it I always respond "thats the reason I didn't it because I didn't have to". It's all about the joy of giving to one another, thats what makes true friends gifts from God. I know without a doubt my friend Kassandra is my gift from God I always pray for her as I'm sure she always prays for me, I will always cherish her. Always treat your friends with love and respect because after all they are gifts from God.

Where are you.....Oh There you are!

Have you ever been looking for your keys, and you look all over the house, and can't find them? Then all of a sudden there they are, they were always right in front of you. Sometimes God can be that way for many people, especially teens. We live in a world where our young people need to be entertained to find the value in something, even religion. As an adult we are more apt to understand to the most part the importance of faith and religion in our daily lives. To teens if they are bored then it must not be important. As a parent we want to be tolerant and empathic to their feelings but at the same time I think it's important that we give them every tool and opportunity to understand. Sometimes like the little knight we are searching in the fog trying to find something that is just within arms reach, but it is sometimes our ignorance or inflexibility to learn and understand that keeps us in that fog. If your one of those people who ask why God and why religion, you should also be asking why not God and why not religion. Get informed, it's not just about being entertained it's about faith and belief, if your lost ask someone, talk to someone tell them how you feel. Don't just give up and say i'm bored I don't want to do this anymore. Making a commitment to God is huge and not to be taken lightly, for myself I can't imagine being without God. We as a society owe it to our kids to try to make them understand the why in whatever means we have at hand, as it says in scripture "be all things to all men". So don't be lost in the fog, God is closer than you think.

Introducing....God!

Well at least my representation of God to me my little Gryphon Avalon. I choose a Gryphon because it is a very unusual creature, but it's a good symbol also, two animals that are one. Which brings me to our topic today. We all have our thoughts as to who God is. In scripture Jesus even asks "who do you say I am?" He is known by many different names, Allah, Buddha, but simply put no matter what you call him in any culture he is still simply God the father of us all. It matters not what religion you are, Catholic, Muslim, Protestant, or whatever, God is still God. I know that maybe seems a bit idealized but it's the way I have always felt. Even raised all my life as a Catholic, I still feel that way, God is God. As we go from day to day in our lives lets all try to agree on one thing no matter what religion you are God is God the Father of us all.

Darkness it's there...but so is God's Light

Darkness can come in any shape or form, it can be a bad day at work, a failed marriage, death, or as simple as missing that show you wanted to see at the movies. Anything that turns us away from being happy is a form of Darkness. He prowls our lives for any opportunity to bring darkness into our day to day lives. Do you remember as a child when you were afraid you asked your parents if they could leave the night light on how much better and relaxed you felt? God is a lot like your night Light in life, he is always there to help you to see things much more clear instead of seeing shadowy shapes in the Darkness and being afraid as to what those shapes are. Darkness will always be there, but so will God's Light to show you the way.

Life is too short....Have some Fun!

Well it's Friday, I'm sure some people will say, God it's finally here! As I was working on a story the illustration I made for it inspired me to write about having fun. I thought the little boy and his friend the Gryphon looked like they were having a great time dancing. I remember back in middle school how they always had dances and of course on one side were the boys and the other side were the girls. It always seemed that when there was about ten minutes left in the dance some brave soul would walk that great distance between the girls and boys and ask a girl to dance, which of course open the flood gates and everyone begin dancing. Then before you know it the dance was over and everyone was groaning about it ending. Imagine how much fun they would have had if they would have started dancing earlier. I have found life is a lot like those middle school dances, that you don't find out how fun something is until it's too late. Mostly because we have so much going on in our lives that we miss out on just having fun. Life is just too darn short to worry about things, God will take care of you and all your worries. So the weekend is here plan something fun with your families or boyfriend or just plain friends don't sit at home feeling sorry for yourself do something, have some Fun!

Why Worry...Let God.

You know that commercial where the men are sitting in a sauna and two of them are sweating a lot and one isn't and they ask him why. His response is "I have people". In another words he lets someone else, which in this case is H&R Block to worry about his taxes, while he sits and relaxes and enjoys the sauna. That is what we need to do in our day to day lives, if we stop to worry about every little thing you miss small wonderful things that happen all around us. Let God take your burdens, have faith that he will set you on the right path or give you the right tools to resolve whatever problems come up. Now you notice I didn't say just sit there, God gives us whatever we need to get the job done, but we still need to get the job done. Having faith that God will give you what you need is what will help you not to worry so much. As a friend once told me long ago and I always remember the wisdom in those words, he said 'God may not give you what you want, but he will always give you what you need". So in the grand scheme of things we all "have people", we have God.

Romance...A Mystery of Life

Romance has got to be one of the greatest mysteries known to man. What causes two people to fall in love what attracts one to another. How do I know, it's a mystery! There are so many variables when it comes to romance, it's no wonder that poor teenage boys get stressed when it comes to the prom. Do any of you remember your prom, I do for me it was a social disaster that scared me for a long time. Rejection is part of romance as well, but so is love , kindness and probably every emotion in the human condition and yet..we can't be without it. It's part of our literature and in our movies. I love the old movies with Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland now that was what was perceived as the ideal romance, where the leading man gets the damsel in distress. To me romance is respect, respect for the other person you care about and I think for most people thats where the let down is. As we get use to one another over the years we may forget how to be Errol Flynn or Olivia DeHavilland to each other but we always have to remember to respect one another. Romance will always be a mystery to us all but all we can do is respect each other and be kind. Good luck to us all.

Superhero

What would it be like to be a Superhero, maybe to be like Superman and fly, or to leap tall buildings in a single bound wouldn't that be fun? I have always loved comics in fact it was comics that help me to learn to draw and read. I remember laying on the floor with tracing paper and tracing over the art. So many memories tied up with being a superhero. As you grow older you learn what the meaning of a superhero truly is. There is a great comic that I sometimes read it's called Rose is Rose and there was this one day I read and it had the little boy standing in the doorway and in the distance are four figures approaching. One is a Fireman, one is a Policeman, one is a Soldier and one is a Cowboy. As they get closer they begin to merge into one image. The little boy turns and shouts to his mom "Dad's Home!" That's what a Superhero is to me my Dad, he passed on a while back but to this day I always remember his stories and everything he taught me, I am the person I am because of him, my Superhero, my Dad.

Depression...You can beat it!

Depression is such a devastating thing, it can bring you down almost worse than anything. It separates you from your friends, your family, from the world. It takes it's toll physically as well as mentally and some have said it's as bad as having cancer. I can tell you from first hand experience it's pretty darn close. My wife has this and for a year we struggled to find out why and how to cope with it. To be honest it's almost a hit and miss thing like playing the game battleship, you hope to get the right combination of doctor and meds, unfortunately we went though a lot to find the combination. I know it may all sound like a cliche when I say this but if not for our faith we would have been hard pressed to survive. It took some time but we finally found the right combinations. She still has a few episodes when things get a little tough but nothing we can't get through. The point I want to make here is it can be beat, you can get through it, but you need the help of your family, your friends and Faith in God and you will beat it!

Path of Life

The Path of life, a journey that begins at our birth and ends with our death. Each of us has to choose the path we walk each day, do we go right or left, should I cheat on my wife or keep true to my vows? Should I believe in God or not? The choices are endless, but God in his infinite wisdom puts road signs along the way, our friends and our family. They are the people God puts there to help guide us along the bumpy path. I have always been fortunate to have lots of friends and a great family, I can honestly say that I feel like the Bill Gates of friendships, God has always had someone come to me at a time when I needed them even if it was a one time conversation. There are a couple of lines in a song we sang tonight in choir that go so well with tonights blog it goes "You will show me the path of life, and guide me to joy forever". That is what our family and friends do every day, guide us to joy forever, God's joy. So remember when a friend comes to you be their guide on the Path of Life.

Come Home

Isn't it great when you get home after a long day at work, especially when it's been a longggg day. You plop down on the couch put up your feet and turn on the TV. Sounds nice doesn't it, well imagine if you had a job where your home might be a bombed out building or a foxhole. Instead of turning on the TV to watch your favorite movie, your watching infrared radar for enemy movements, knowing that if you miss something you could put a buddy in danger. This is the kind of home our service men have day after day in all parts of the world. I ask you not only to pray for the soldiers but also pray for the people they fight against to finally open their eyes and see that war is not the way. To realize that the God they worship does not condone bloodshed of any sort, but is the God of all people and loves us all no matter who you are. It is my hope that one day this will happen and all soldiers can come home.

Imagine....

Imagine what it would be like if you woke up one morning and found you can do anything, what would you do? Would go get that 90 inch big screen, would you pay all your bills, would you cure cancer? Imagine what you can do with a power like that. Imagine if you found out a family member was sick and dying and the only way to save that person was to give up your power. Lots of thoughts i'm sure would run through your mind. Now imagine you could only use that power in certain situations. In a way now you know what Jesus had to go through. I'm sure he woke up one morning and realized he was the Son of God and could do anything. Yet there was a order to which he could use his powers. Imagine for a moment the anguish he must have felt when they came and told him his best friend Lazarus was dying. Yet he waited because the plan was to let him die so people could really see the power of God and finally really believe. Then he gave it all up when he died on the cross for our sins. Imagine the love he felt to do all that for you and me. It will amaze me to my dying day. I hope as people read my blog they will in a small way come to understand God's love in our everyday life and what he did for us.

Show Me....!

Imagine for a moment your Peter, you've just seen the Lord and he is risen and your all excited and you run and tell the other disciples, then the Lord appears hangs out with you guys for a bit and then is gone to return later. In walks Thomas, and you all are excited and you tell him what happened. Then he stuns you by saying "until I put my finger into the wounds on his hands and the wound on his side I won't believe!" What is up with this guy, was he blind or mute and didn't see all the things he did? I mean he went everywhere Jesus did, so why didn't he believe what Peter and the other disciples told him? Unfortunately we all tend to be like Thomas at times, it's as if we come from Missouri, the show me state. We all need proof that something is so. It's no wonder that because of that disciples lack of faith, he is forever called doubting Thomas. Peter and the other disciples showed that even in the darkest times your faith will be rewarded. Faith is not easy, it requires you to believe without solid proof. We stumble along the way, the trick is to get up and instead of saying "show me" say instead "lead me".

Earth Hour 2008

if you ever thought"what can I do to help against Global Warming?" Well here is your chance, tonight at 8:00pm to 9:00pm people all over the world will turn off their lights for one hour. Now you can be part of the solution, you can do your part to help our environment. Maybe if we all start doing little things like this they will turn into bigger things to help our world and make a better place for those who are here now and who will come after we are gone.

Confronting Evil

Each of us everyday confront one or more types of evil on our daily path of life. It might be something as simple as seeing some kids teasing another kid or a parent abusing their child. It is up to us to step up and confront that evil or else it gets worse, maybe the teasing will turn into bullying or the abuse turns into death for the child or even adult. We no longer can sit by and hope it goes away, their can be no more innocent bystanders because if we are bystanders we are no more innocent than the people participating in that evil. Jesus never just stood around, he did something. When he saw what was happening in the Temple with all the haggling and selling, he did something. He was pretty upset and turned over tables and through them out! So when you confront evil in your daily path of life just remember you can still be a good Christian and still get mad, Jesus did.

Just Drifting

Have you ever felt like you were just drifting in life with no rhyme or reason as to your final destination? I know I have and I've wondered where the heck is this all leading to. Like Fox in his balloon, we sometimes feel we are at the mercy of the winds and currents of life with us exerting no control on where we are going. Yet believe it or not we do have control and the magic word is Faith, there's that word again, popular isn't it? When you let go and let God do the driving, you get to your destination in better shape with less stress. Instead of Fox wondering where he is going and how he is going to get there, he is enjoying the beautiful view and enjoying the ride, so my advice when you have days like that, let go and enjoy the view.

Jesus has risen....now what?

I bet that's what the Apostles said after Jesus had risen and come to visit them, then left for Heaven, they probably all thought now what do we do? Well Easter is over and now what will you do? The Easter season is such a powerful time that people sometimes have a let down and wonder now what should I do? What people forget is, like Christmas, the spirit of the season never stops. It continues all year long, the seasons of Christmas and Easter are times to renew that spirit so we can continue on and do good works. These seasons serve to reminds us of our obligations as Christian people to do good works, to love God, and be kind to others. So if your thinking "now what" don't, the season never stopped keep going.

Welcome to St Finbar

Welcome to my church, St Finbar in Burbank, I love this church and all the people in it. Rightly so without pride it has coined the phrase, "St Finbar Church the place to be." So much has been going on that is wonderful and so blessed. The music ministry has grown by leaps and bounds, Teen involvement in all phases of the church from choir to ushering has increased. If your visiting my site please visit St Finbar in Burbank, hospitality is next to none and we have been complemented on our warmth and openness. So I just wanted to take this time to invite you in the hopes that you will be blessed as all of us who go to St Finbar have been.

Faith

Faith, what a powerful word, believing in something without proof, how hard is that to do in our daily lives. The picture to the right is taken from the 1937 movie Lost Horizon, in which five people are kidnapped and brought to a place with no wars, no conflicts and where no one wants for anything. People age very gradually there so you may live to be hundreds of years old. Sounds like Heaven doesn't it? The main character to the right, Conway, has been convinced by his brother that all he has heard in Shangri-La is a lie and convinces him to leave this perfect place. I picked the screenshot on the right because it is a pivotal point in the main characters life, he looks back at Shangri-La and wonders "am I making the right decision?" His face shows such turmoil and what he must do and in the end his concern for his brother wins out and he leaves. How like Peter is that when he was confronted with almost the same choice and denied Jesus. Yet there is a happy ending to the movie and Peter's decision, Conway does go back to Shangri-La, it takes him six tries before he finds the right pass in the mountains, but find it he does. As with Peter, despite his denial of Jesus he had Faith in God's forgiveness, just as Conway had Faith he could find Shangri-La again. We all struggle with our Faith each and every day of our lives, as we do lets try and do the best we can and be like Conway who it took six times before he found Shangri-La, never give up Faith no matter how hopeless you think something is, in the end God will always be there waiting for you in your own Shangri-La.

In A Moment...

In a moment
I saw him in a crowd
smiling and laughing
never being loud
you smiled at me
and said "come with us
and see what we will see."

In a moment
you made water into wine
never knowing then
that this was God's sign
you made a blind man see
and I saw then
what God could be

In a moment
I saw you heal a little girl
who rose from her bed
to dance and twirl
we shared your wine and bread
and in God's name
we were fed

In a moment
I heard you pray
"If this be your will
let it be done this day"
I saw them come for you
and you were gone
I didn't know what to do

In a moment
I denied your name
and I knew
I would never be the same
I saw you suffer on the tree
your arms spread wide
and you forgave me

In a moment
you made me see
what love truly is
and how you died for me

Are you Listening....?

Have you ever been in a conversation, and for a moment you were distracted and had to say "i'm sorry what did you say". I know I have been guilty of that have you? Imagine for a moment if the people really were listening to God, what kind of world would this be. Yet we go through our lives saying, "i'm sorry what did you say". We need to slow ourselves down from all the distractions in our lives and just take five minutes to just sit and listen to what God has to say. My prayer for this Easter season is that more people just take a moment to sit and listen. We live in a very hectic world and we may feel that we don't have five minutes to spare, but keep something in mind when you think that, Jesus spent hours on a cross for us, could you do any less? So the next time your in a conversation with someone, really listen you may learn something.

Looking for a Miracle

We are always searching for a miracle for one reason or another and when it happens we sometimes go, thats it! We don't appreciate the miracle for what it is, something wonderful that happens even if it's fleeting. I remember a movie with Robin Williams and Robert Dinero where Robin played a doctor who helped patients with Alzheimer's type of disease. Robert Dinero played the patient. The doctor tried an experimental drug that made them normal and it was a great success until as time passed the drug no longer worked and they reverted back to the way they were. I remember the doctor feeling that he had failed until the mother sat with him and said that even if her son had only been with her for just one hour to her it was still a miracle. We have to try to recognize the miracle when we see it and learn that no matter how small or how short the miracle is, it is still a miracle.

Inner Light

Long ago I had a best friend, her name was Jaime, even at a young age she was a model and pretty much had everything. Yet she was nothing like the divas of today. She had a deep understanding way beyond her years, and a complete believe in God. She had a inner light that would shine through at even at the darkest of times and whomever it touched would change them. It was a feat I saw happen many times in her young life. I know it often touched me and i'm a better person because of it. She often said we all have that inner light, God is not selfish and just gives it to a few, but to everyone. It's just a matter of letting that light out so it can touch someone else. The last night I was with her she reminded me about that inner light and how it will get you through anything, you just have to have faith. She passed away at the age of 20, but to this day I have never forgotten the promise I made to her, to spread that inner light, so it can touch others and just keep going and maybe someday this world will know that inner light.

What if you knew....

What if you knew the exact moment of your death and exactly how you were going to die, how would you approach it? Would you try to avoid it, would you run away? Or would you accept it and try to make what time on this earth you have left to mean something. I won't even try to imagine what it must have been like for Jesus on that Palm Sunday so long ago, even amidst the cheering crowds and the loud hosannas he knew what was going to happen and yet he continued on. He knew he had to continue to complete the work he began so we all would be saved. There is a line in a song we sang today that goes "amazing love, how can it be that you my Lord would die for me". When we give of ourselves with no thought but only to do good with the life God gave us in whatever time he has given us. We touch people every day in one way or another, make each moment count, change a life. What if you knew..Jesus did, and he gave his life for you.

A Big Mistake

In our lives, from day to day we make mistakes, small mistakes and those really big mistakes. Since it's the Easter season I was thinking about the Roman Centurion on that day on Golgotha, talk about a big mistake. I have often wondered what he was thinking at that time and how he must have felt. I think the lesson is that even after making the greatest mistake in the history of mankind he still was able to correct it and became a believer. So next time you make what you think is a Big Mistake, think about the Roman Centurion.

Friends

What is your friend like, do they like the same things you do, are they like you? Most of the time we try to find people who fit our standard of what we like or want in a friend. What if someone who is so different picked you to be their friend would you refuse them or politely avoid them? I know to be honest I have been guilty of that, but then I think, imagine being friends with someone who said they were the Son of God. Would you say, "oh my God this person has lost it" or like Peter and followed Jesus. Like any friend he disagreed and even denied him, but because of the forgiveness of Jesus Peter stayed strong until his death. So when someone maybe not to your standards comes to you and offers you friendship thats maybe a bit out of the ordinary like in the above picture, just remember Jesus and Peter.

Waiting

Waiting, something we all do every moment of every day of our lives. We wait for the train to come, we wait for someone to get ready so we can go somewhere and of course we wait for all the right numbers to come up on that lottery ticket we just bought. There is one thing we never have to wait on, ever, and that is God's love for us. It's always there, no waiting in line, no waiting for all the numbers to come up, it's there. So the next time your waiting for something and grumbling about it, just remember God is already there no waiting.