Dear God

Dear God,

You are a God of goodness and humor and for that I give thanks and praise. But what happened this morning; is this your idea of funny......?

I am sitting with my Monday morning coffee contemplating the content of this article. The answer comes easily: repertoire. This week’s music contains some songs that we have been singing over the past month as well as “A Place At Your Table” a song introduced towards the end of the Easter season.

Satisfied with my progress I decide to check social media while finishing my coffee. Facebook knows me so well. The first post two posts are about Syracuse Basketball. 

Then the trouble starts. I see a political post from one of my grammar school friends. I skim it and decide to let it go as Janie’s need need to vent. Three posts down I see a repost from Vinny. A little further down the same from Angie and Maria. My mind, fueled by caffeine goes into overdrive. After an hour of dictating, typing and cutting and pasting I have the first draft of my response.

In the first part I remind my misguided friends how the nuns demanded we do our own work and not just agree with “Anthony’s answer”. (Anthony was the smartest kid in the class. Agreeing with him yielded had a 99.67% success rate over 8 years). Good thing I held back my response. If I hadn’t I would have broken another important rule: to read the entire question before answering. It seems the original writer of the post suggested that people “voice these truths” by reposting them as their own feelings. (He or she also invited those who disagree to leave the country).

The second part of my response centers on the socio-economic frustrations of a generation who feel further away from the American Dream as they approach 60 than when they were children.  I wonder:  Is the American Dream a birthright?

Oh, I liiiike that. I can see my clever response tacked to the class-room bulletin board with “A+ Great Work!” written in Sr. Mary Theresa’s perfect script.  That’s not too vain?  Right?

Coming back to reality I decide to take a look at this week’s readings.

“Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and yet to another who has not yet labored over it, he must leave his property......Ecclesiastes 1:2

.......One last thing Lord. Is it a sin if I don’t laugh when your joke is on me?   Amen.

Blest to be in ministry at St. Mary’s,

Bruce