Here we are. The Holy Triduum of Holy Week. Today is Holy Thursday, representing the night where Jesus was handed over by his own disciple Judas. Are you ready for the next few hours? Become a part of it. That's why we relive this every year...so we get a glimpse of what this experience might have been like when it was actually happening.
By feeling the emotions of tonight, when Jesus and the apostles have the Last Supper, we can hear what Jesus says, and reflect on his thoughts before everything goes down. What is interesting about reading the Passion is that before Jesus goes into the garden to pray, they all sing a hymn. I would love to know what kind of hymn they sung. Was it joyous? It's hard not to sing without great feeling and emotion, and in this case, Jesus was hours away from death, so I would imagine this hymn wouldn't be any different when it came to emotions. Knowing what was about to happen in its entirety, maybe Jesus wanted to settle everyone down by singing, and distract them through song.
After the hymn, they go into the garden, where Jesus isn't so joyous, even asking God to not let him go through with it. We get that all the time in life. There are things we simply do not want to do, but have to, either for the prospect of a better future for ourselves or for someone else. Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do...and Jesus is a perfect example of that. He did it not for himself, but for the rest of salvation. Because of Him we have something to believe in. If every one of us did one one-hundredth of Jesus' sacrifice, our world would be that much better.
So, participate in each of the next few days, and maybe you'll be able to take what is learned now, and let it last not just until Easter, but well beyond that into our future.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Can you see?
From the Gospel of John: Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains."
This past weekend we heard a story of Jesus healing a man's blindness. Pretty amazing event actually. Yet, there is more to this story than a simple man not seeing then seeing two seconds later. Jesus teaches us something about "sight."
That last statement in the Gospel shown above isn't the easiest one to understand. The majority of us can see, but Jesus isn't talking about the sense of sight, but the sight that lies within us. By saying that "We see," we don't recognize our shortcomings and our limitations. Sure, it's our job in life to strive to be able to become as much like Jesus as possible, but that's a lofty goal to attain. By saying, "we see," we are acting like we already know it all, and that thirst to become better people is not there.
We have a lot to learn. Whether you're 7, 17, 27, 37, or 107, everyone has a little something to learn. Think about the last time you met someone 20 years older than you. It's hard to ignore how much more wisdom that older person has compared to the younger one. At 22, I am often dumbfounded at these people's skill at recalling all these different stories with all the different places they've been and people they've met. I can't even imagine knowing that much, but maybe someday down the road I'll know a tenth of what these older people do.
With that in mind, I'm sure that person 20 years older than myself has another person 20 years older than them that dumbfounds them as well. We need to respect that, and the fact that everyone has a lot to learn.
In this stage of Lent, we are more than halfway through. How much have you learned over these 20 days or so? Or did you begin Lent thinking you did not need to change anything? If that's the case, it might be time to go take a look at that Gospel reading once again, and find something, even a little bit smaller, to work on.
You've got time.
This past weekend we heard a story of Jesus healing a man's blindness. Pretty amazing event actually. Yet, there is more to this story than a simple man not seeing then seeing two seconds later. Jesus teaches us something about "sight."
That last statement in the Gospel shown above isn't the easiest one to understand. The majority of us can see, but Jesus isn't talking about the sense of sight, but the sight that lies within us. By saying that "We see," we don't recognize our shortcomings and our limitations. Sure, it's our job in life to strive to be able to become as much like Jesus as possible, but that's a lofty goal to attain. By saying, "we see," we are acting like we already know it all, and that thirst to become better people is not there.
We have a lot to learn. Whether you're 7, 17, 27, 37, or 107, everyone has a little something to learn. Think about the last time you met someone 20 years older than you. It's hard to ignore how much more wisdom that older person has compared to the younger one. At 22, I am often dumbfounded at these people's skill at recalling all these different stories with all the different places they've been and people they've met. I can't even imagine knowing that much, but maybe someday down the road I'll know a tenth of what these older people do.
With that in mind, I'm sure that person 20 years older than myself has another person 20 years older than them that dumbfounds them as well. We need to respect that, and the fact that everyone has a lot to learn.
In this stage of Lent, we are more than halfway through. How much have you learned over these 20 days or so? Or did you begin Lent thinking you did not need to change anything? If that's the case, it might be time to go take a look at that Gospel reading once again, and find something, even a little bit smaller, to work on.
You've got time.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Down the Stretch We Come
Well, here we sit. It's the end of March. Spring Break is over. All that's left are just a few weeks of classes and summer will be here, or in my case graduation. At the same time, it's also Lent, another time of growing and thinking and prayer.
Jesus is transfigured in this week's Gospel before the very eyes of his apostles, yet, they don't seem to fully understand what is going on. That's not always a bad thing. Too often in life, we feel like we need to be given the answer instantaneously. In this society, where people get nervous when their friends don't message them back, those on the spot answers are commonplace. It's almost shrinking that aspect of time, which is a fascinating thing.
Sometimes 8 hours can feel like 24, and vice versa. Or a whole week (see Spring Break), can feel like a blur of a day. But, the answers we are looking for aren't always right in front of us, mere seconds away. The apostles never really understood what was going on with Jesus, or what would happen to Him, but they followed his path anyways, because in their heart it was the right thing to do. They eventually received an answer to their questions, and were able to understand what was incomprehensible at one time.
Patience is so important. Jesus shows us that by never fully giving away what was bound to happen. The disciples had to figure it out for themselves...naturally. If we try to force answers in our own lives, but that course of action might ruin an otherwise unbelievable answer. By gradually picking up the clues God gives us in life, we can find the right path in life. That aspect of time is so important, as life is only so long, which makes life more about the ride than the end result. By doing our best to follow God, the answer to the What if's will come at one point or another.
So, as near the halfway point of Lent, let's remember that if we are patient, and use this prayerful time to make ourselves better, our answer could be exactly what we are looking for, or more importantly what God is looking for in us.
As for the whole graduation thing, it seemed so far away freshman year, but now that it's right in front of me, it feels like just yesterday I was pulling up on campus for football preseason practice for the first time. Interesting how time works. I'm sure my next few blogs will be just as sappy when it comes to ending my college career, so I'll save some of that for later.
But, with all the unknown that follows these 4 years, it's time to put that in God's hands, and for now, enjoy this ride.
Jesus is transfigured in this week's Gospel before the very eyes of his apostles, yet, they don't seem to fully understand what is going on. That's not always a bad thing. Too often in life, we feel like we need to be given the answer instantaneously. In this society, where people get nervous when their friends don't message them back, those on the spot answers are commonplace. It's almost shrinking that aspect of time, which is a fascinating thing.
Sometimes 8 hours can feel like 24, and vice versa. Or a whole week (see Spring Break), can feel like a blur of a day. But, the answers we are looking for aren't always right in front of us, mere seconds away. The apostles never really understood what was going on with Jesus, or what would happen to Him, but they followed his path anyways, because in their heart it was the right thing to do. They eventually received an answer to their questions, and were able to understand what was incomprehensible at one time.
Patience is so important. Jesus shows us that by never fully giving away what was bound to happen. The disciples had to figure it out for themselves...naturally. If we try to force answers in our own lives, but that course of action might ruin an otherwise unbelievable answer. By gradually picking up the clues God gives us in life, we can find the right path in life. That aspect of time is so important, as life is only so long, which makes life more about the ride than the end result. By doing our best to follow God, the answer to the What if's will come at one point or another.
So, as near the halfway point of Lent, let's remember that if we are patient, and use this prayerful time to make ourselves better, our answer could be exactly what we are looking for, or more importantly what God is looking for in us.
As for the whole graduation thing, it seemed so far away freshman year, but now that it's right in front of me, it feels like just yesterday I was pulling up on campus for football preseason practice for the first time. Interesting how time works. I'm sure my next few blogs will be just as sappy when it comes to ending my college career, so I'll save some of that for later.
But, with all the unknown that follows these 4 years, it's time to put that in God's hands, and for now, enjoy this ride.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
And They Lived Happily Ever After
St. Valentine's Day was just a couple days ago. I could talk about love and romance and hearts and relationships, but I don't really feel like it, and it's not like I'm qualified to talk about any of that either. So anyways, I thought about those romance or chick flick movies that can often make a person get emotional or even tear up.
Now from time to time I have become a victim of these stories of broken hearts and repaired hearts and other things of that matter, and have been on the verge of getting a little bit emotional...maybe. But I beg to ask a question: What makes us get so emotionally involved in such trivial matters? Sure, a person doesn't profess their love for someone else every day of the week, but either in happiness or sadness, why are our heartstrings tugged so much that we ourselves feel a part of the moment?
That happens with human interest stories on television as well. You see a story of a man throwing away his life of drugs and reckless living to save his own children on a 60 Minutes special. Or watching an ESPN special where a mentally challenged child becomes a part of a football team by being a manager. Even in my own high school, a young man who was a manager for years was given a standing ovation at my high school after receiving 3 medals in the Special Olympics.
Even picturing those stories, especially when you know the person, can bring out emotions you didn't even know you had. I realize there's a difference between a movie where people find lost love and the Special Olympics, but nonetheless we feel those emotions because of how we ourselves can relate to those situations.
They are feel-good stories...an example of the goodness in the world, which can be a cold place. The beauty of the Grace of God is that He is with us both in those good places and cold ones. He wants us to feel those emotions. It shows that we are human. It's not easy being numb to everything that happens around us. Sure, some people cry more easily than others, I'd be the first to admit that.
You look at the love stories in movies, and it's not exactly common for someone to go on a plane to catch someone before they get married like in The Wedding Singer. But maybe in our lives, that will be a car or a train, (hopefully we won't need to do something that drastic), but it's possible. Sometimes God's plan is what we may think is crazy. The road isn't always straight...kind of like the Rascal Flatts song "God Bless the Broken Road." It can be scary, but maybe we can have our own movie-like script to something remarkable happening in our own lives, whether that's tutoring someone to do something remarkable or doing it ourselves.
So, there's nothing wrong with watching a chick flick or two, even myself can be caught doing that from time to time. I think it's good for a person to see and feel that every so often.
Now I'm no George Clooney, but God's road for me has been fascinating thus far, and hopefully in addition to my own I can help someone else find their fairy tale ending.
Now from time to time I have become a victim of these stories of broken hearts and repaired hearts and other things of that matter, and have been on the verge of getting a little bit emotional...maybe. But I beg to ask a question: What makes us get so emotionally involved in such trivial matters? Sure, a person doesn't profess their love for someone else every day of the week, but either in happiness or sadness, why are our heartstrings tugged so much that we ourselves feel a part of the moment?
That happens with human interest stories on television as well. You see a story of a man throwing away his life of drugs and reckless living to save his own children on a 60 Minutes special. Or watching an ESPN special where a mentally challenged child becomes a part of a football team by being a manager. Even in my own high school, a young man who was a manager for years was given a standing ovation at my high school after receiving 3 medals in the Special Olympics.
Even picturing those stories, especially when you know the person, can bring out emotions you didn't even know you had. I realize there's a difference between a movie where people find lost love and the Special Olympics, but nonetheless we feel those emotions because of how we ourselves can relate to those situations.
They are feel-good stories...an example of the goodness in the world, which can be a cold place. The beauty of the Grace of God is that He is with us both in those good places and cold ones. He wants us to feel those emotions. It shows that we are human. It's not easy being numb to everything that happens around us. Sure, some people cry more easily than others, I'd be the first to admit that.
You look at the love stories in movies, and it's not exactly common for someone to go on a plane to catch someone before they get married like in The Wedding Singer. But maybe in our lives, that will be a car or a train, (hopefully we won't need to do something that drastic), but it's possible. Sometimes God's plan is what we may think is crazy. The road isn't always straight...kind of like the Rascal Flatts song "God Bless the Broken Road." It can be scary, but maybe we can have our own movie-like script to something remarkable happening in our own lives, whether that's tutoring someone to do something remarkable or doing it ourselves.
So, there's nothing wrong with watching a chick flick or two, even myself can be caught doing that from time to time. I think it's good for a person to see and feel that every so often.
Now I'm no George Clooney, but God's road for me has been fascinating thus far, and hopefully in addition to my own I can help someone else find their fairy tale ending.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Being the Attitude
We've all heard the Beatitudes a million times. Even growing up, I stood in front of classrooms having to recite them, scared to death at getting "kingdom of heaven's" and "peacemakers" confused. Each one states it's case for how we should live our lives, and how those who do live that way our rewarded. On this upcoming Sunday, we'll receive another wake up call in the realm of the Ten Commandments, when Jesus himself goes through various aspects of those rules that were set in place so long ago.
By really listening to something like the Beatitudes, all sorts of emotions can arise. Something that comes up in my mind is simply...fear. As comforting as the name of them seems to be, and as nice the rewards seem, sometimes I struggle to relate to the descriptions of each entity or case that Jesus talks about.
We've got time, let's break em down.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven..."
Yes, I would love to go to heaven, I'm pretty sure everyone else would love that too. Yet, how poor is my spirit? I don't think this one is talking about the amount of(or lack of) cash in your wallet. Maybe it's about those who have gone through the toughest hardships of life, and have struggled through keeping their faith because of that. They're trying though, and maybe looking for some help, that's where those who have been given a little bit more come in, and maybe they can share in the kingdom as well.
"...Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted..."
Well, this one is fairly self explanatory, as obviously many people in the world are in mourning this very moment. Take a step back, and think about the pain some people are suffering right now. For many of us, our daily dramatic "problems" are nothing compared to this...something we all need to put into perspective. Instead of worrying about those simple problems that might seem big, why not fulfill the second half of this Beatitude, and be the ones who do the comforting.
"...Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land..."
Not everyone has the most outgoing and powerful personality. Everyone's different. There is nothing wrong with that kind of attitude, unless it is used to impose a certain will upon others. Maybe those are the people that Jesus is describing as "meek." You think about something as concrete as land and realize that those with power usually take over the less powerful's land. But then again, Jesus isn't always talking about the actual possessions or objects in his stories or parables. Sometimes, those people lose themselves, either by way of brute force by others, or with the inability to do anything for themselves. The land is their way of life. It's almost like God knowing the world isn't fair, and sometimes people are helpless to change their situation, and must change themselves to make it in today's society. Jesus is blessing them here, saying that someday they will become themselves again.
"...Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied..."
God doesn't need a lot to grant us His Grace. He wants our love and trust that's all. At times, that can be easier said than done. But if we strive to be good people, God will eventually reward us. All of us have had that feeling that we catch tough break after tough break. We sometimes hear that saying, "Bad things happen to good people." I think that's dumb. Bad things happen to everybody. It's how we react to them that determines the kind of people we are. And even in the midst of the worst crisis, if we still look to God for help, we need to trust that we will be rewarded.
"...Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy..."
This one is right out of the "Do unto others as you would have done to you" mold. Now it's never taught that we should do things for others to get something back. We should never expect anything back, other than our own self satisfaction of helping another human being. But being good to others has its benefits, and God is telling us that if we do live that kind of lifestyle, a certain sort of Karma, to steal a Hindu term, will be with us in our own lives. Even if you don't receive the mercy directly from the person you were merciful to, rest assured that that person might just spread your good will to someone else.
"...Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God..."
That's a great reward...being able to "see God." Something that anyone would love to do. But then again, maybe it's not necessarily seeing God in heaven in a physical kind of way, but in other things. Being clean of heart might be living without that cynicism that surrounds our society today, and seeing God in any aspect of our lives. It might be a rainbow, a good person or even in a tough situation. For our lives on earth, that might be the closest we get, just because of a positive outlook on our lives.
"...Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God..."
Jesus tried to make us all peacemakers in his works, creating problems among the doubters with His good will. He did all of that, so that we could create peace. He wants us to follow in His footsteps, and become a child of God. We do call Him our Father after all, so let's deem that true by acting more like Jesus did.
"...Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven..."
The fact that the "kingdom of heaven" is mentioned as a reward twice fascinates me. It always made it a little easier to memorize, but now it has an even greater meaning in this Beatitude. This one goes along with all the others, building up to standing up for what's right, which is exactly what Jesus did. What we do doesn't always have to be the most popular action, especially if we want that reward. But we live in a world of peer pressure and societal norms. That scares people into going with the flow, which separates us from God. The only thing that can get us through those pressure situations is God though, and by following our heart, we are led in the right direction, even though the people closest to us might not like it very much. Taking a short cut might seem beneficial at the time, but doing something right will be beneficial for all time.
Finally..."Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
That one stand for itself.
So maybe they aren't that scary after all. By really looking at them, it's a simple blueprint for living a happy and healthy life. It doesn't have to be so hard all time. People often ask what the meaning of life is...well Jesus gives a pretty solid outline for how to live right here, so start here and see where your heart takes you.
Then maybe, someday, the kingdom of heaven will indeed be yours.
By really listening to something like the Beatitudes, all sorts of emotions can arise. Something that comes up in my mind is simply...fear. As comforting as the name of them seems to be, and as nice the rewards seem, sometimes I struggle to relate to the descriptions of each entity or case that Jesus talks about.
We've got time, let's break em down.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven..."
Yes, I would love to go to heaven, I'm pretty sure everyone else would love that too. Yet, how poor is my spirit? I don't think this one is talking about the amount of(or lack of) cash in your wallet. Maybe it's about those who have gone through the toughest hardships of life, and have struggled through keeping their faith because of that. They're trying though, and maybe looking for some help, that's where those who have been given a little bit more come in, and maybe they can share in the kingdom as well.
"...Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted..."
Well, this one is fairly self explanatory, as obviously many people in the world are in mourning this very moment. Take a step back, and think about the pain some people are suffering right now. For many of us, our daily dramatic "problems" are nothing compared to this...something we all need to put into perspective. Instead of worrying about those simple problems that might seem big, why not fulfill the second half of this Beatitude, and be the ones who do the comforting.
"...Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land..."
Not everyone has the most outgoing and powerful personality. Everyone's different. There is nothing wrong with that kind of attitude, unless it is used to impose a certain will upon others. Maybe those are the people that Jesus is describing as "meek." You think about something as concrete as land and realize that those with power usually take over the less powerful's land. But then again, Jesus isn't always talking about the actual possessions or objects in his stories or parables. Sometimes, those people lose themselves, either by way of brute force by others, or with the inability to do anything for themselves. The land is their way of life. It's almost like God knowing the world isn't fair, and sometimes people are helpless to change their situation, and must change themselves to make it in today's society. Jesus is blessing them here, saying that someday they will become themselves again.
"...Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied..."
God doesn't need a lot to grant us His Grace. He wants our love and trust that's all. At times, that can be easier said than done. But if we strive to be good people, God will eventually reward us. All of us have had that feeling that we catch tough break after tough break. We sometimes hear that saying, "Bad things happen to good people." I think that's dumb. Bad things happen to everybody. It's how we react to them that determines the kind of people we are. And even in the midst of the worst crisis, if we still look to God for help, we need to trust that we will be rewarded.
"...Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy..."
This one is right out of the "Do unto others as you would have done to you" mold. Now it's never taught that we should do things for others to get something back. We should never expect anything back, other than our own self satisfaction of helping another human being. But being good to others has its benefits, and God is telling us that if we do live that kind of lifestyle, a certain sort of Karma, to steal a Hindu term, will be with us in our own lives. Even if you don't receive the mercy directly from the person you were merciful to, rest assured that that person might just spread your good will to someone else.
"...Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God..."
That's a great reward...being able to "see God." Something that anyone would love to do. But then again, maybe it's not necessarily seeing God in heaven in a physical kind of way, but in other things. Being clean of heart might be living without that cynicism that surrounds our society today, and seeing God in any aspect of our lives. It might be a rainbow, a good person or even in a tough situation. For our lives on earth, that might be the closest we get, just because of a positive outlook on our lives.
"...Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God..."
Jesus tried to make us all peacemakers in his works, creating problems among the doubters with His good will. He did all of that, so that we could create peace. He wants us to follow in His footsteps, and become a child of God. We do call Him our Father after all, so let's deem that true by acting more like Jesus did.
"...Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven..."
The fact that the "kingdom of heaven" is mentioned as a reward twice fascinates me. It always made it a little easier to memorize, but now it has an even greater meaning in this Beatitude. This one goes along with all the others, building up to standing up for what's right, which is exactly what Jesus did. What we do doesn't always have to be the most popular action, especially if we want that reward. But we live in a world of peer pressure and societal norms. That scares people into going with the flow, which separates us from God. The only thing that can get us through those pressure situations is God though, and by following our heart, we are led in the right direction, even though the people closest to us might not like it very much. Taking a short cut might seem beneficial at the time, but doing something right will be beneficial for all time.
Finally..."Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
That one stand for itself.
So maybe they aren't that scary after all. By really looking at them, it's a simple blueprint for living a happy and healthy life. It doesn't have to be so hard all time. People often ask what the meaning of life is...well Jesus gives a pretty solid outline for how to live right here, so start here and see where your heart takes you.
Then maybe, someday, the kingdom of heaven will indeed be yours.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Fishers of Men
I'm back for my final semester here at Ithaca College and at the Ithaca College Catholic Community. So, I hope you enjoy these last few months of blogs, I'll do my best to keep them insightful and interesting...here it goes....
Imagine yourself in the prime of your career, really bringing home the bacon. Put yourself in the position of a teacher, and as you mold young minds, you see a man with a beard outside the classroom door...he beckons you to speak with him outside. He says, "Come with me, I'll make you a fisher of men."
Now, this is what I would be thinking...How did this person get into the building...the only thing I've ever fished for is fish...and how would the man expect me to leave my class in the middle of an important math lesson?
Yet, in this week's Gospel, Jesus is that man in the hallway. He calls out to Simon and Andrew while they were fishing and they respond by dropping their nets and going with Him. That's an extraordinary act of faith. I know it was a different time, with different priorities and needs in everyday life, but we can still learn something from this story.
It's another example of taking time out to recognize why we are here on earth. While we can't put our job and income last on our list of priorities, we can still rearrange some of the stuff that we "care" so much about in our daily lives. Schedules seem so jam packed all the time, but if we make it a priority, there is time for God to come through in our lives, after all, shouldn't He be our number one priority?
But there's many ways to do that. Fifteen or even just five minutes will not ruin your job, career, family, or life in general. Saying a prayer is usually a good way to clean up your day, but how about something else too. Make it an unplanned five minutes, and maybe randomly say hello to someone at a gas pump. What's more awkward anyways, standing there pretending to be invisible, or having a simple conversation about the cold weather with a total stranger? You might learn a little something not only about them, but about yourself as well. That's what God wants us to do, and that's probably what Jesus would do. By bringing those people into our lives, He is calling us away from our box for a little bit, from our rigid routines.
Catching fish is all about patience, which is vital for everyday life. By having the patience to take time out to follow God during out daily life, we'll be able to actually see the waters clear, and see the people underneath the sometimes harsh exteriors...like Jesus says, we can become "fishers of men."
It's an interesting thought, but for now, I'm going to take my tackle box and see what I can catch, maybe I'll even find a friend or two along the way.
Imagine yourself in the prime of your career, really bringing home the bacon. Put yourself in the position of a teacher, and as you mold young minds, you see a man with a beard outside the classroom door...he beckons you to speak with him outside. He says, "Come with me, I'll make you a fisher of men."
Now, this is what I would be thinking...How did this person get into the building...the only thing I've ever fished for is fish...and how would the man expect me to leave my class in the middle of an important math lesson?
Yet, in this week's Gospel, Jesus is that man in the hallway. He calls out to Simon and Andrew while they were fishing and they respond by dropping their nets and going with Him. That's an extraordinary act of faith. I know it was a different time, with different priorities and needs in everyday life, but we can still learn something from this story.
It's another example of taking time out to recognize why we are here on earth. While we can't put our job and income last on our list of priorities, we can still rearrange some of the stuff that we "care" so much about in our daily lives. Schedules seem so jam packed all the time, but if we make it a priority, there is time for God to come through in our lives, after all, shouldn't He be our number one priority?
But there's many ways to do that. Fifteen or even just five minutes will not ruin your job, career, family, or life in general. Saying a prayer is usually a good way to clean up your day, but how about something else too. Make it an unplanned five minutes, and maybe randomly say hello to someone at a gas pump. What's more awkward anyways, standing there pretending to be invisible, or having a simple conversation about the cold weather with a total stranger? You might learn a little something not only about them, but about yourself as well. That's what God wants us to do, and that's probably what Jesus would do. By bringing those people into our lives, He is calling us away from our box for a little bit, from our rigid routines.
Catching fish is all about patience, which is vital for everyday life. By having the patience to take time out to follow God during out daily life, we'll be able to actually see the waters clear, and see the people underneath the sometimes harsh exteriors...like Jesus says, we can become "fishers of men."
It's an interesting thought, but for now, I'm going to take my tackle box and see what I can catch, maybe I'll even find a friend or two along the way.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Don't Give Up
It might seem like an ordinary basketball doubleheader, on an ordinary night. But on Tuesday evening, there was more at stake than a simple win or loss on a college basketball team's record. It was all a part of the Jimmy V classic on ESPN, inspired by Jim Valvano, who lost his life to cancer more than a decade ago. It's an annual occurrence in an effort to inspire people to give more to cancer research and the Jimmy V Foundation.
As the founder, Jimmy Valvano got the project started during ESPN's ESPY awards in 1993...17 years ago. He gave one of the most touching, inspiring speeches of all time. I encourage you to read the transcript on the bottom, or even watch it online. It may take about ten minutes, but that simple ten minutes may change your attitude on this day, and for days to come, as a dying man spoke about his spirit lasting forever....
Here's the video: http://www.jimmyv.org/remembering-jim/espy-awards-speech.html
Here's the transcript:
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Jim Valvano:
I can't tell you what an honor it is, to even be mentioned in the same breath with Arthur Ashe. This is something I certainly will treasure forever. But, as it was said on the tape, and I also don't have one of those things going with the cue cards, so I'm going to speak longer than anybody else has spoken tonight. That's the way it goes. Time is very precious to me. I don't know how much I have left and I have some things that I would like to say. Hopefully, at the end, I will have said something that will be important to other people too.
But, I can't help it. Now I'm fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how's your day, and nothing is changed for me. As Dick said, I'm a very emotional and passionate man. I can't help it. That's being the son of Rocco and Angelina Valvano. It comes with the territory. We hug, we kiss, we love. When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it's the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.
I rode on the plane up today with Mike Krzyzewski, my good friend and wonderful coach. People don't realize he's ten times a better person than he is a coach, and we know he's a great coach. He's meant a lot to me in these last five or six months with my battle. But when I look at Mike, I think, we competed against each other as players. I coached against him for fifteen years, and I always have to think about what's important in life to me are these three things. Where you started, where you are and where you're going to be. Those are the three things that I try to do every day. When I think about getting up and giving a speech, I can't help it. I have to remember the first speech I ever gave.
I was coaching at Rutgers University, that was my first job, oh that's wonderful (reaction to applause), and I was the freshman coach. That's when freshmen played on freshman teams, and I was so fired up about my first job. I see Lou Holtz here. Coach Holtz, who doesn't like the very first job you had? The very first time you stood in the locker room to give a pep talk. That's a special place, the locker room, for a coach to give a talk. So my idol as a coach was Vince Lombardi, and I read this book called "Commitment To Excellence" by Vince Lombardi. And in the book, Lombardi talked about the fist time he spoke before his Green Bay Packers team in the locker room, and they were perennial losers. I'm reading this and Lombardi said he was thinking should it be a long talk, or a short talk? But he wanted it to be emotional, so it would be brief. So here's what I did. Normally you get in the locker room, I don't know, twenty-five minutes, a half hour before the team takes the field, you do your little x and o's, and then you give the great Knute Rockne talk. We all do. Speech number eight-four. You pull them right out, you get ready. You get your squad ready. Well, this is the first one I ever gave and I read this thing. Lombardi, what he said was he didn't go in, he waited. His team wondering, where is he? Where is this great coach? He's not there. Ten minutes he's still not there. Three minutes before they could take the field Lombardi comes in, bangs the door open, and I think you all remember what great presence he had, great presence. He walked in and he walked back and forth, like this, just walked, staring at the players. He said, "All eyes on me." I'm reading this in this book. I'm getting this picture of Lombardi before his first game and he said "Gentlemen, we will be successful this year, if you can focus on three things, and three things only. Your family, your religion and the Green Bay Packers." They knocked the walls down and the rest was history. I said, that's beautiful. I'm going to do that. Your family, your religion and Rutgers basketball. That's it. I had it. Listen, I'm twenty-one years old. The kids I'm coaching are nineteen, and I'm going to be the greatest coach in the world, the next Lombardi. I'm practicing outside of the locker room and the managers tell me you got to go in. Not yet, not yet, family, religion, Rutgers Basketball. All eyes on me. I got it, I got it. Then finally he said, three minutes, I said fine. True story. I go to knock the doors open just like Lombardi. Boom! They don't open. I almost broke my arm. Now I was down, the players were looking. Help the coach out, help him out. Now I did like Lombardi, I walked back and forth, and I was going like that with my arm getting the feeling back in it. Finally I said, "Gentlemen, all eyes on me." These kids wanted to play, they're nineteen. "Let's go," I said. "Gentlemen, we'll be successful this year if you can focus on three things, and three things only. Your family, your religion and the Green Bay Packers," I told them. I did that. I remember that. I remember where I came from.
It's so important to know where you are. I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. You have to be willing to work for it.
I talked about my family, my family's so important. People think I have courage. The courage in my family are my wife Pam, my three daughters, here, Nicole, Jamie, LeeAnn, my mom, who's right here too. That screen is flashing up there thirty seconds like I care about that screen right now, huh? I got tumors all over my body. I'm worried about some guy in the back going thirty seconds? You got a lot, hey va fa napoli, buddy. You got a lot.
I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm," to keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality.
Now I look at where I am now and I know what I want to do. What I would like to be able to do is spend whatever time I have left and to give, and maybe, some hope to others. Arthur Ashe Foundation is a wonderful thing, and AIDS, the amount of money pouring in for AIDS is not enough, but is significant. But if I told you it's ten times the amount that goes in for cancer research. I also told you that five hundred thousand people will die this year of cancer. I also tell you that one in every four will be afflicted with this disease, and yet somehow, we seem to have put it in a little bit of the background. I want to bring it back on the front table. We need your help. I need your help. We need money for research. It may not save my life. It may save my children's lives. It may save someone you love. And ESPN has been so kind to support me in this endeavor and allow me to announce tonight, that with ESPN's support, which means what? Their money and their dollars and they're helping me-we are starting the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. And it's motto is "Don't give up, don't ever give up." That's what I'm going to try to do every minute that I have left. I will thank God for the day and the moment I have. If you see me, smile and give me a hug. That's important to me too. But try if you can to support, whether it's AIDS or the cancer foundation, so that someone else might survive, might prosper and might actually be cured of this dreaded disease. I can't thank ESPN enough for allowing this to happen. I'm going to work as hard as I can for cancer research and hopefully, maybe, we'll have some cures and some breakthroughs. I'd like to think, I'm going to fight my brains out to be back here again next year for the Arthur Ashe recipient. I want to give it next year!
I know, I gotta go, I gotta go, and I got one last thing and I said it before, and I want to say it again. Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.
I thank you and God bless you all.
As the founder, Jimmy Valvano got the project started during ESPN's ESPY awards in 1993...17 years ago. He gave one of the most touching, inspiring speeches of all time. I encourage you to read the transcript on the bottom, or even watch it online. It may take about ten minutes, but that simple ten minutes may change your attitude on this day, and for days to come, as a dying man spoke about his spirit lasting forever....
Here's the video: http://www.jimmyv.org/remembering-jim/espy-awards-speech.html
Here's the transcript:
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Jim Valvano:
I can't tell you what an honor it is, to even be mentioned in the same breath with Arthur Ashe. This is something I certainly will treasure forever. But, as it was said on the tape, and I also don't have one of those things going with the cue cards, so I'm going to speak longer than anybody else has spoken tonight. That's the way it goes. Time is very precious to me. I don't know how much I have left and I have some things that I would like to say. Hopefully, at the end, I will have said something that will be important to other people too.
But, I can't help it. Now I'm fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how's your day, and nothing is changed for me. As Dick said, I'm a very emotional and passionate man. I can't help it. That's being the son of Rocco and Angelina Valvano. It comes with the territory. We hug, we kiss, we love. When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it's the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.
I rode on the plane up today with Mike Krzyzewski, my good friend and wonderful coach. People don't realize he's ten times a better person than he is a coach, and we know he's a great coach. He's meant a lot to me in these last five or six months with my battle. But when I look at Mike, I think, we competed against each other as players. I coached against him for fifteen years, and I always have to think about what's important in life to me are these three things. Where you started, where you are and where you're going to be. Those are the three things that I try to do every day. When I think about getting up and giving a speech, I can't help it. I have to remember the first speech I ever gave.
I was coaching at Rutgers University, that was my first job, oh that's wonderful (reaction to applause), and I was the freshman coach. That's when freshmen played on freshman teams, and I was so fired up about my first job. I see Lou Holtz here. Coach Holtz, who doesn't like the very first job you had? The very first time you stood in the locker room to give a pep talk. That's a special place, the locker room, for a coach to give a talk. So my idol as a coach was Vince Lombardi, and I read this book called "Commitment To Excellence" by Vince Lombardi. And in the book, Lombardi talked about the fist time he spoke before his Green Bay Packers team in the locker room, and they were perennial losers. I'm reading this and Lombardi said he was thinking should it be a long talk, or a short talk? But he wanted it to be emotional, so it would be brief. So here's what I did. Normally you get in the locker room, I don't know, twenty-five minutes, a half hour before the team takes the field, you do your little x and o's, and then you give the great Knute Rockne talk. We all do. Speech number eight-four. You pull them right out, you get ready. You get your squad ready. Well, this is the first one I ever gave and I read this thing. Lombardi, what he said was he didn't go in, he waited. His team wondering, where is he? Where is this great coach? He's not there. Ten minutes he's still not there. Three minutes before they could take the field Lombardi comes in, bangs the door open, and I think you all remember what great presence he had, great presence. He walked in and he walked back and forth, like this, just walked, staring at the players. He said, "All eyes on me." I'm reading this in this book. I'm getting this picture of Lombardi before his first game and he said "Gentlemen, we will be successful this year, if you can focus on three things, and three things only. Your family, your religion and the Green Bay Packers." They knocked the walls down and the rest was history. I said, that's beautiful. I'm going to do that. Your family, your religion and Rutgers basketball. That's it. I had it. Listen, I'm twenty-one years old. The kids I'm coaching are nineteen, and I'm going to be the greatest coach in the world, the next Lombardi. I'm practicing outside of the locker room and the managers tell me you got to go in. Not yet, not yet, family, religion, Rutgers Basketball. All eyes on me. I got it, I got it. Then finally he said, three minutes, I said fine. True story. I go to knock the doors open just like Lombardi. Boom! They don't open. I almost broke my arm. Now I was down, the players were looking. Help the coach out, help him out. Now I did like Lombardi, I walked back and forth, and I was going like that with my arm getting the feeling back in it. Finally I said, "Gentlemen, all eyes on me." These kids wanted to play, they're nineteen. "Let's go," I said. "Gentlemen, we'll be successful this year if you can focus on three things, and three things only. Your family, your religion and the Green Bay Packers," I told them. I did that. I remember that. I remember where I came from.
It's so important to know where you are. I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. You have to be willing to work for it.
I talked about my family, my family's so important. People think I have courage. The courage in my family are my wife Pam, my three daughters, here, Nicole, Jamie, LeeAnn, my mom, who's right here too. That screen is flashing up there thirty seconds like I care about that screen right now, huh? I got tumors all over my body. I'm worried about some guy in the back going thirty seconds? You got a lot, hey va fa napoli, buddy. You got a lot.
I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm," to keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality.
Now I look at where I am now and I know what I want to do. What I would like to be able to do is spend whatever time I have left and to give, and maybe, some hope to others. Arthur Ashe Foundation is a wonderful thing, and AIDS, the amount of money pouring in for AIDS is not enough, but is significant. But if I told you it's ten times the amount that goes in for cancer research. I also told you that five hundred thousand people will die this year of cancer. I also tell you that one in every four will be afflicted with this disease, and yet somehow, we seem to have put it in a little bit of the background. I want to bring it back on the front table. We need your help. I need your help. We need money for research. It may not save my life. It may save my children's lives. It may save someone you love. And ESPN has been so kind to support me in this endeavor and allow me to announce tonight, that with ESPN's support, which means what? Their money and their dollars and they're helping me-we are starting the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. And it's motto is "Don't give up, don't ever give up." That's what I'm going to try to do every minute that I have left. I will thank God for the day and the moment I have. If you see me, smile and give me a hug. That's important to me too. But try if you can to support, whether it's AIDS or the cancer foundation, so that someone else might survive, might prosper and might actually be cured of this dreaded disease. I can't thank ESPN enough for allowing this to happen. I'm going to work as hard as I can for cancer research and hopefully, maybe, we'll have some cures and some breakthroughs. I'd like to think, I'm going to fight my brains out to be back here again next year for the Arthur Ashe recipient. I want to give it next year!
I know, I gotta go, I gotta go, and I got one last thing and I said it before, and I want to say it again. Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.
I thank you and God bless you all.
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