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.