As I watched this video by Boyce Avenue, a tribute to Whitney Houston, I started to think of whether this was a way of mourning her death. And it caused me to question: Jared, are you taking time to mourn? And that, my friends, is my question for you today.
Are you taking time to mourn?
No? Well, have you died yet?
Well, yes, I know you haven't died yet; but have you died to yourself?
As we move forward in this Lenten season, are we remembering to die to ourselves in every moment possible? How are we focusing our prayer and our lives toward that death to self? Are we mourning with joyful expectation?
Behold, the video that caused this reflection:
Showing posts with label get holy or die tryin'. Show all posts
Showing posts with label get holy or die tryin'. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Ye Old Country Store!
This morning, I was blessed to be able to eat at Cracker Barrel!
There's something about walking into a place that feels like home that completely lifts one's spirit. And then, it dawns on me, this is exactly how Lent should be!
We are to surround ourselves with persons and things and habits and virtues that are heavenly that our souls might be lifted! We must prepare for Easter by living out the graces Jesus won for us through His resurrection NOW!
It's all about environment, people!
Surround yourself with holiness, open yourself up, and GET HOLY!
Is there any other option?
Friday, February 17, 2012
Michael Magone and Swearing
Do you know what living on the street does to you?
Perhaps your response might depend on what kind of street is under scrutiny, and you would be right. Well then, imagine one. Forge it with old stones and primitive cement. Then make it dirty and poor. No, not poor. More like penniless, impoverished. Color the air above it with dust and smoke. Scatter some thieves, pickpockets and other street urchins on the corners, and you have before you something like this:
What do you think living in a street like that does to you? Certainly, the first thing is that it will make you aware of your first and cardinal instinct: survival. Live in it long enough, and it will make you hyper-conscious of your need to eat, drink, and sleep. It will slowly force you to abandon unnecessary principles like manners and ethics. It will make you devious, creative. It will make you tough.
If you understand all of that, then congratulations: you pretty much have this one street-kid Michael Magone all figured out. Before Don Bosco brought him to his oratory, that is more or less what Magone had to deal with on a daily basis.
But you're probably like, "Wait, THAT guy's a street-kid?! Oh, come now. He can't be. He looks too happy, too playful, too innocent. Street-kids are filthy, rude, scanty, and above all, vulgar! And... I mean... Just look at him."
Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, but what you see is more like an aftermath. When Michael Magone came into the oratory, he played rough; he swore a lot; he picked fights; he swore a lot; he distrusted people; I think he also swore a lot too.
But here's the kicker: Michael hated all of that. He hated being a street-kid. He hated having no self-control. He hated his gut instinct of throwing hooks and jabs. And he hated swearing. He hated it all so much that he contrived to do what no other street-kid before him dared to do: Michael Magone was planning on getting holy.
And do you know how he fixed up to do that? He planned to do the other thing that no other street-kid before him dared to do: he was going to quit swearing.
Do you see the harebrained nonsense Michael was proposing? A born and raised street-kid was going to stop using unpleasant language. That's going against his own nature; it's the logical equivalent of slamming a revolving door. It's impossible! You don't do that jazz unless you're Chuck Norris! But moreover and worse, do you grasp the natural consequences that follow if he actually succeeds? If a teenage street-kid proposes (and thereafter manages) to accomplish the preposterous goal of staying a near-genetic and built-in vulgarity: it means that we have to stop too.
That's it. We'd be done. I quit. Game over. When a street-kid who swears like he breathes metaphorically decides to "stop breathing," we are straight up out of excuses. Unless you don't care that a poor, dirty, uneducated skid like Michael makes a better Christian than you, that is... but in any event, it's probably a good thing that he never actually pulled it off, right?
"Unfortunately, this tongue of mine has not always performed as it should have; at least it is in my power to correct it for the future!" ~Michael Magone (14)
... oh.
Perhaps your response might depend on what kind of street is under scrutiny, and you would be right. Well then, imagine one. Forge it with old stones and primitive cement. Then make it dirty and poor. No, not poor. More like penniless, impoverished. Color the air above it with dust and smoke. Scatter some thieves, pickpockets and other street urchins on the corners, and you have before you something like this:
 |
| Bonus points if you did in fact imagine it black and white |
If you understand all of that, then congratulations: you pretty much have this one street-kid Michael Magone all figured out. Before Don Bosco brought him to his oratory, that is more or less what Magone had to deal with on a daily basis.
 |
| That's this guy, right here |
 |
| Look. At. Him! |
But here's the kicker: Michael hated all of that. He hated being a street-kid. He hated having no self-control. He hated his gut instinct of throwing hooks and jabs. And he hated swearing. He hated it all so much that he contrived to do what no other street-kid before him dared to do: Michael Magone was planning on getting holy.
 |
| We imagine him donning this shirt at his moment of resolution |
 |
| OH SNAP!!! |
"Unfortunately, this tongue of mine has not always performed as it should have; at least it is in my power to correct it for the future!" ~Michael Magone (14)
... oh.
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