jeff noel.org

The Ride Is For Life

“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being “in love” which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.”

-St. Augustine

How does St Augustine’s definition compare with your definition of Love?

Life and love are never easy.  Everything requires work.  Hard work.

Today’s a new day, a fresh opportunity.  Do what you do – with Love.

Or, you could opt to do the opposite. But don’t complain if your results are not what you hope or wish for.

Hard work is the only way.

You've Got Heart

Throw your heart into it, and the rest of you will follow.

Tomorrow, New Year’s Eve.  The next day, 2010.

Are ya ready for it?  Here’s my plan:

I’m throwing my heart into it, knowing full well that the rest of me will follow.

I think this is often referred to as Faith.

Got Faith?

The Joy of Living is one of the most elusive of all endowments.

Why?  Just watch a child and you’ll find your answer.  Having a child (9-year old boy) in our home is a daily reminder.

We all, at least I do, need daily reminders of this simple fact, don’t we? Why?  Because life is hard, especially in today’s challenging and uncertain world.

Every day is an opportunity to count our blessings.  Anyone need a calculator?

I don’t remember my grandfather ever talking to me.  Ever.

At 60, he died of a heart attack.  He was in the hospital for a while (week?) before he died.  I was 13.

I never went to see him.  I sort of felt guilty about that.

All these years later, it dawned on me that there’s a chance I didn’t go because I may have thought:

• He’ll be coming home as soon as he’s well enough
• What would we talk about?

Or maybe I just didn’t understand love enough to know how this may have been very important to him.

Or maybe, just maybe, I was following his lead.

A lifetime of learned behaviors.  Life is hard.  And mostly difficult. And busy.  And distracting.

Some days, maybe while watching a movie or TV show, we see a Family that seems to have it all together and wonder why we can’t live like that.

It’s a movie, okay?  It’s not real.  Yet perhaps there’s some compromise between what’s portrayed in books and movies, and what is our current reality.

Maybe.  maybe not.

I’d like to find out.

Carpe diem, jeff

Failing?  Probably.  It weighs heavy on my soul and heart.  I’d really like to be a better:

• Son
• Brother
• Nephew
• Uncle

Yet after decades of learned behavior, there’s a struggle deep down inside that seems overwhelming.

Overwhelming, yes.  Impossible, no.

The people involved in this are going to have to want this too.  It takes two.  This is not a one-sided challenge, nor a one-sided opportunity. Is it me, or is that ticking sound the clock?

Stuck?  Sort of.  A lot has happened this past week.  Some incredibly awesome stuff.  Some horrific stuff.

I work hard to focus on the positive side, without sacrificing what the horrible stuff is telling me.

Love and hate.  Heaven and hell.  God and the devil.  Faith and unbelief. Mysteries and facts.

So what is surfacing as I type this (and I trusted something would), is that we all have a choice to make.

In fact we have lots of choices.  Each day.  All day.  Everyday.

It takes practice and discipline to increase our “batting average”.

Make today a great day.  Go in there swinging and keep your eye on the ball.

What I mean is I hate hearing when tragedy happens.  Two days ago an email shared the news that one of our college buddies had a tragedy.  His teenage son died of a drug overdose.

Can you even fathom this?  I can not.

For our friend, this probably makes 9/11 look like a picnic.

May I simply ask anyone reading this to try to absorb some of his pain?

Tragedy strikes us all.  None of is immune from this.  Perhaps this is the time when we are tempted to believe God doesn’t exist.

God never said life would be easy, He simply promises we will not walk alone.  Our big challenge is to actually believe this when horrific tragedy is our shadow.

September 11, 2001

Click here to see Darryl Worely’s music video, “Have You Forgotten”.

Then again, maybe you have forgotten.

Have you?  No?  Then do it, click here.

PS.  I HATE war. I LOVE our military men and women.

Catechism.  Missed the first one last night.

Life is insanely busy for many people.  Organizational structure can help alleviate (not eliminate) common, everyday hassles.

To that end, every day my wife takes our son to school (no bus service available).  I pick him up. When there are exceptions to this process, the alternate plan is simple and crystal clear.

Everything changes.  Like when I travel.  Like yesterday.  So I missed the first day of Catechism.

Not a big deal.  Usually.  Except for one thing.  I volunteer as a “junior assistant” third-grade Catechist teacher.

The full time teacher is a pro and can clearly handle my absence.  But it’s not her I’m worried about.