Tag Archives: Soul

Pausing before I reverse direction again

Posted on March 30, 2010 by unfinishedrambler | 7 Comments

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us…

Hebrews 12:1

When runners reach the turning point on a racecourse, they have to pause briefly before they can go back in the opposite direction. So also when we wish to reverse the direction of our lives there must be a pause, or a death, to mark the end of one life and the beginning of another.

From the book On The Holy Spirit by Saint Basil, bishop

In today’s Scripture and reading in The Office of the Readings in The Liturgy of the Hours, these two sections spoke to me once again on the subject of running and life as it did when I wrote on these two sections last year.

In fact, what I said in that post then:

As a runner, I have not been persevering in running the race that lies before me. In fact, I haven’t been even running and barely walking. I’ve been ignoring that first part: “let us rid ourselves of every burden…” My burden: being a night owl and not getting up early in the morning to run. I get addicted to Facebook and Twitter, which I gave up for Lent, but then substitute them with another application called blip.fm (I will not provide the link lest you get trapped too, I say half-jokingly) and am up until all hours of the night…

still applies now, to some degree. Even though I didn’t give up Facebook and Twitter for Lent this year, I still am burdened by my proclivity toward being a night owl and letting myself get distracted by games on Facebook. I’ve just traded Mafia Wars for Bejeweled Blitz and still surf on blip, to no end.

So two seconds ago, I just deleted my blip account, and as of this moment, I also have removed the Bejeweled Blitz application and another game, which I just have started to play. Last week, I wrote about Increasing The Time I Am Living My Own Life and mentioned a couple of quotes from the late George Sheehan in that regards, including this:

“We cannot add a new activity to our life without taking something else out.”

He also went on to explain that it isn’t easy to decide what is to be thrown out, because often we have to decide between good things, not good and bad. Such is the case here. It’s not as I’ve mentioned in the past that I think Facebook games (or applications like blip for that matter) are intrinsically evil. It’s that I need to make room for running, for writing (both for myself personally and also for my job as a freelance writer) and for reading.

I will end this post as I ended last year’s post:

At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed.

Hebrews 12:11-13

It’s time to pause, then keep on moving and keep the faith.

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Posted in Body, Mind, Running, Soul

Tagged Body, Mind, Running, Soul, time management

Being grateful this Friday

Posted on March 19, 2010 by unfinishedperson | 9 Comments

So looking back at this week, through the prism of the Sleeping with Bread meme, I ask myself and ask you to ask yourself:

For what am I/are you most grateful this past week?

For what am I/are you least grateful this past week?

For what am I most grateful this past week?

1. Body: Losing three pounds from early last week to early this week, with WeightWatchers and walking at least three times a week.

2. Mind: Starting to read The Complete Sherlock Holmes: 4 Novels and 56 stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

3. Soul: This may seem trivial, but being able to eat a big burger for lunch today on one of the Fridays of Lent, thanks to St. Joseph. My alter ego, Unfinished Rambler, even suggested earlier how big of a burger I could eat. While it wasn’t that big, it was big. Normally during Lent, Catholics fast from meat during the Fridays of Lent, except for solemnities, of which today’s Feast of St. Joseph was. To be honest, I’m getting sick of Veggie Delite subs at Subway (blech) for lunch on the Fridays of Lent.

For what am I least grateful this past week?

1. Body: Not walking an hour every other day as I had challenged myself (and done) last week. I missed Wednesday and today I didn’t eat that great, no, not just the burger, but also a Philly cheesesteak wrap for dinner, even though I walked to and from work at the library.

2. Mind: Losing focus and motivation again on the job front, as I faltered again and didn’t pick up and/or finish any new assignments from a freelance writing site of which I am a member. The articles are small and aren’t on subjects that interest me, no matter how hard I look. Maybe I need to look to another site, or just suck it up and do the little I can for the little pay I get.

3. Soul: Missing Mass to start off the week.

Yet I am still grateful, and I encourage you to be grateful too:

The badge above is one of three new badges I’m using for my themed days, with the first one introduced Monday for Motivation Monday, the second one introduced Wednesday for Midweek Review, and the last one introduced today for Flashback Friday. This one is using a photo that my wife took.

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Posted in Body, Flashback Friday, Mind, Soul

Tagged Body, Flashback Friday, Mind, Sleeping with Bread, Soul, The Examen

Sharing my faith story, but with doubt

Posted on February 23, 2010 by unfinishedperson | 3 Comments

I am participating in a discussion group (for me online; for others, either online and/or IRL) with the First Lutheran Church of Jamestown, N.Y. on the book, Holy Conversation: Talking About God in Everyday Life by Richard Peace. I was invited to the group by Tara Lamont Eastman, with whom I have become acquainted through the blog Sleeping with Bread and now her own blog Uphill Idealist. This will be my second post as part of that group. The first post can be found here; the second, here.

The third discussion point is based on the questions: “Have you ever tried to share your faith story, conversion story or gospel message with anyone? If so, what did you say and how did the person respond? What was their reaction to your story and how did you feel when you shared it?”

When I first read these questions, what immediately came to mind were two pieces I wrote for my blog Journeying with the Saints. One was entitled “This author’s ‘conversion story’” and the other, “On My Becoming Catholic: Excerpts from the journal of a convert 1991-1995″ leading up to my entering the Catholic Church in 1995.

I received a few reactions to the first post via comments, including this one from a blogger (Jennifer) The Literate Housewife:

Wow. I really appreciate you sharing your story. I am a cradle Catholic, but I am not practicing. I constantly have nudges, though. I believe that you commenting on my blog was another such nudge. At one point in my life I considered joining a religious community. I asked my local priest to be my spiritual advisor and The Spiritual Exercises is what he asked me to do. I didn’t do it very well, but it might be something to give a try. God wants me to return, but I’ve got to make the effort. Thank you.

My response at the time was this:

I’m not trying to be smart, but I believe when the time comes, you won’t have to make the effort. That’s the way grace works.

This past Friday, I received a direct message via Twitter from Jennifer:

Been meaning 2 tell u that I’ve returned 2 the Catholic Church. The girls r in CCD & I’ll b starting their Welcome Home program post Easter.

I believe it is grace that has led her home.

As for the second post, I’ve received zero responses on my blog, but IRL (in real life), it has “touched” countless candidates in the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adutls) classes at the parish where I was confirmed, I have learned within the last couple of years. My parents, still Protestant, mentioned to me they had met my former RCIA instructors at a pro-life rally, who told my parents that they handed out those excerpts to candidates.

When my parents told me and then my former RCIA instructors told me the same thing later, I was a bit surprised because I didn’t sugarcoat my doubts in those excerpts, especially in regards to the news that was just coming to light about sexually abusive priests:

What has led me here? Am I blind to the corruption of the last 2,000 years, the Inquisition, the Crusades, etc? Carrying right through up to our time, misappropriation of funds, pedophilia, homosexuality among the priesthood? How can I be blind to such things, how can anyone?

I didn’t have answers to those questions then…

…and I still don’t, but regardless, I still believe.

Why do you believe in what you believe? What’s your story? Or if you don’t believe in anything, why not? I mean, really, what the heck is your story anyway? Hey, not that I’m judging or anything .

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Posted in Soul

Tagged Catholicism, conversion, First Lutheran Church of Jamestown, Holy Conversations, Richard Peace, Soul

Lack of Motivation Monday, but I’m still alive

Posted on February 22, 2010 by unfinishedperson | 2 Comments

When I began this blog, I had the intent of merging all my other blogs into this one, and then focus on three aspects of this unfinished person on the following days (with rambling posts interspersed in between):

Body: Motivation Monday — where I would share a quote from the late George Sheehan to help motivate you in your exercise for the week and hopefully to motivate me also.
Mind: Midweek Review (Wednesday)– where I would share with you a review of what I’ve been reading the past week.
Soul: Flashback Friday — where I would share a look back at my week in terms of The Examen of St. Ignatius of Loyola, framed in the questions of “For what am I most grateful this week?” and “For what am I least grateful this week?” as the group above does each week.

As you can tell, by now, I haven’t kept to that, and so today, in keeping with (and straying from) that original Monday theme, I’m going to talk about “Lack of Motivation Monday” without a quote from George Sheehan and combine it with Midweek Review and Flashback Friday.

For what am I least grateful this past week, this past month, these past two months?

Lack of motivation: Let me count just a few of the ways I have been unmotivated in no particular order. One, I signed up for an event called the Iditawalk, where I committed to walking 30 minutes a day through February into March to help me slowly but surely get back to running, and I think I only have done it once. Two, I am a member of WeightWatchers.com, but haven’t kept to the plan. Three, I got a gym membership at the beginning of the year, just for three months. Now it’s almost the end of the second month, and I only have gone maybe once. Four, I only have read two books so far this year. Five, I was accepted into an online writing site that pays a minimal amount per article, but still it’s something, and only have written two articles for it. Six, I still usually only make it through Morning Prayer in praying the Liturgy of the Hours and often don’t pray what is considered the second part of the hinge: Evening Prayer. Seven, and something that pales in comparison to the other things listed here, I have yet to merge my previous blogs and entries there into this blog.

I’m going to be honest and tell you I don’t know for what am I most grateful this past week, this past month, these past two months. I guess if anything, it’s as the song “Alive” from Pearl Jam says, “I’m still alive” with the same potential of what once was considered a curse instead becoming a blessing.