A Suggestion From God

 It has been years since I have knelt at church services or scrubbed floors on my knees. They are tender and painful when I kneel down. I feel guilty at church because I was taught that at certain parts of some services, we should kneel. Though not enough guilt to kneel, so I sit when I am supposed to be on my knees.

This morning, after I received communion, I walked back to my pew and as I entered my row, I struck an object that sent me flying on to my knees. The kneeler had been left down and I did not expect there would be an object at my feet. When my foot hit it, I felt myself going down. Both knees hit the kneeler. I grabbed the back of a pew on one side and the seat of the other pew and managed to stand up. By then, the people behind me were trying to enter the row and I felt a hand on my back and a voice saying, "Are you all right?" My thought was: Stupid people you should have lifted the kneeler, or similar expletives. even though Christ was still resting on my tongue!  I smiled and said, "I'm okay." By the time I reached my seat I had already apologized to Jesus for my thoughts.

I sat down and rubbed my sore knees. All I could think of was that if God wants you to kneel, he will find a way to make you kneel! By the time mass was over my knees were back to normal though I could still feel a bit of pain in my knees.

Seven hours later, as I type my blog, there is a soreness above my right breast and below my shoulder and my guess is that I pulled a muscle as I tried to prevent my fall. Which reminds me once again that we never know when a mishap will happen.

A word to those going to receive communion, please do not leave the kneeler down because those returning are not looking and do not notice the kneeler. What happened to me could happen to someone else and they could possibly get injured. Though, if this was a lesson from God to me, do not give it a second thought!

"Being able to walk pain-free is a blessing.

Being able to walk without showing pain, is a skill."

Kylie McPhenson

Why Don't I Like Cats

 I may have blogged about nightmares I used to have while I was married. A cat would leap up and stick his sharp claws in my skin and before I knew it there were like fifty cats attacking me. I would grab one and toss it off and another would take its place. I would wake up feeling as if I was suffocating and gasping for breath. It seems to me that began my dislike of cats.

Last night I was "babysitting" someone's cat and dog. The cat was all white with green eyes and the dog was all black. The cat peed on the shag carpet and I had to get a bottle of Pine Sol to spray the area. I felt anger but at the same time I knew it was a cat and did not know any better. I fed them and I laid down on the couch to take a nap.  The dog, after a few pats, was off to take his own nap. *

The cat jumped up on the couch, and I could feel the little paws as it walked over to my shoulder. It was as if it was trying to find a place to lie down. He crawled underneath my arm and cuddled near my breast. I could feel a warmness and his soft breathing. It was comforting having the cat in such a peaceful position.

When the owners arrived, I explained the peeing, the feeding, and the cuddling, to them. They smiled and said, "See, cats aren't so bad."

One dream does not make me like cats any better, but it does give me a feeling that maybe cats aren't so bad after all!

"The trouble with sharing one's bed

with cats is they'd rather sleep

on you than beside you."

Pam Brown

*The picture is of Ester, my friend's cat. In my dream the cat was all white.

A Family Caught My Eye

 A few weeks ago while at mass, I noticed a family sitting in front of me. A man with two grown sons displayed such devotion that it impressed me. When the Gospel was read, they all turned toward the Deacon doing the reading. At one point they all held hands as they raised their arms up high in adoration. 

Then at another mass, I again saw the man with three young men. Again, to see four grown men with such devotion, I was impressed. 

Today they were at mass, and I thought I would go over and tell the father how good it is to see such devotion, especially with youth. Mass ended and I never made it to talk to him. But, as I was driving out of the parking lot, I saw the family again and this time the mother was with them. I stopped my car and rolled down my window. "I want to tell you how impressed I am with your family. It is good to see young men with such faith."

The Dad thanked me for letting him know and mentioned that the church caters to youth until high school but then there are no religious programs for 19-35 year olds. He said, "I try to instill in them all about our faith."  The Mom asked my name and I told her and when she told me their name I was surprised and asked, "Are you related to Bernie?" He said, "That is my mom, did you know her?"

I told him that now I understood because when I had worked at Regis in the '60's I had known Bernie and she was a kind, sweet lady always willing to help. She truly lived her religion. I commented, "She taught you well!"  She had made an impression on me when I had worked at Regis High School and I remember her to this day! And today, her son and grandchildren also impressed me!

Miracles happen, and my wanting to let the dad know how impressive his boys were, their walking past my car in the parking lot, and me knowing his mother in my past seemed more than just a coincidence. 

With so many young adults leaving the Catholic church it made me feel good knowing that here was one family who continued with their religious faith!

"A family tradition is a pattern

of behavior that reflects and

reinforces a family's values

attitudes or beliefs."

From the Internet

Unwelcome Feeling

 This morning I attended the nine o'clock mass at church. In the last row a lady was seating in the first seat. The seat next to her held her purse and on the third seat was a book. The next seat was empty, and a lady sat in the next seat. I took the book and sat down while the lady in the first seat said, "That's Tom's," and the lady in the 5th seat said in a not too friendly voice, "I'll just scoot over one."

I was not sure what was going on but guessed that the seat I had taken had been saved for someone else. Talk about feeling unwelcome in that row. A pet peeve I have always had is the saving of seats in church. Christmas and Easter usually have rows of seats saved for family or friends and I think that is wrong. So this morning I felt my blood pressure rise!

When a man arrived the first lady said to me, "Scoot over one." I gave her a stink eye and did not move, and he stepped over me and took the seat next to me. He smiled and kindly said, "Good morning." I leaned over and said, "These two ladies want to sit next to you, and I have spoiled their fun today." He smiled and nodded his head. The lady in the first seat said, "He always sits there." And I said, "But I am here now, why does he have to sit in this one seat?" She said, "He comes every morning, and you don't." My response was, "Too bad and you need to learn to ease up and not try to control where people will sit!"

By the time mass ended we were all friends again!  

Did I overreact? I looked on the Internet and found a paragraph under Stuff Christians Like and the first sentence was: "God hates people that save seats at church!"

"When I sit down, don't frown

and tell me the seat is saved,

 none of seats have a name engraved!"

E. Moscoso

Alone Forever

Are dreams becoming more exciting than my life? Have I become a mediocre old lady? Do I crave more excitement? I woke up this morning from a science-fiction dream and am trying to figure it out!

I was visiting my family in California where they lived on a huge plantation. In my dream my daughter and son-in-law were sitting in a room with huge picture windows. We saw a large, silver aircraft, flat looking shining in the sun. It seemed to fly up, backwards and as it reached the tall buildings of the city (I could see the skyline) it flipped and headed down to crash into the buildings with a large explosion. My son-in-law said we were safe but we could see the destruction of the world as we knew it. 

The next scene was hundreds of people heading to elevators that would take us down into the bowels of the earth where another life would happen for us. The elevators were as big as a city block, and they filled up with the refugees. We exited into another world below the earth that was bright and had its own sun. My daughter and I moved with many other people and at one point she was explaining that my son-in-law had not gotten on the elevator and she needed to go look for him. Her voice trembled and I reached over and hugged her and she burst into tears. We both cried with long sobs, and I knew she was not as strong as she appeared to be. She was scared but tried not to show her fear to me. I told her I would return with her and help her look for her husband. Somehow, I got into the returning elevator, but she was nowhere in sight. In a panic I looked for her in the elevator and when I didn't see her I exited the elevator. I thought I saw her turquoise jacket but as I neared the person wearing the jacket, it was not her.

Frantically, I looked around the new world I was in and everyone was a stranger. Not one familiar face could I see. Men in tan, future looking uniforms were passing out food, entertaining the children, and directing people. I did not know where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do. All I knew was that I was alone and scared to be by myself!

Then I woke up. Dreams are strange and even as I try to understand my dream, I do not understand the science fiction part of it. The not wanting to be alone I can understand. Everyone I know probably has a fear of being alone, completely alone in this world.

"Sometimes you need to take 

a break from everyone and 

spend time alone, 

to experience,

appreciate and love yourself."

Robert Tew

The following night I had a continuation of my dream. My daughter and son-in-law came down on the huge elevator and I was standing near the elevator. I saw my family disembark from the elevator and after a joyful greeting, we knew we now had to begin preparing for a new life in a strange world. I found the dream odd and I have never continued the same dream on a following night. Weird!

Stress In My Old Age

 Stress is never a good thing, but when you are in your older years, it is even worse. Last night I had a bad night stressing over my ex-husband's phone call. Of course, he has no idea he is stressing me out so I will need to tell him. I do not want to hurt his feelings and am trying to find the best way to let him know. In 2016, he lost his wife and his son on the same day. I felt so bad that when he told me he was doing some writing and if I would type his ideas, I told him I would gladly type for him. He would send me the information in Spanish and I would type it. It resulted in many corrections since I know some Spanish, I had to do a lot of research for meaning and spelling of words. Spanish words may have accents and I had to use a cheat card to try and get the accents correct.

It has been five years and somehow, he is still giving me work. Last night I realized I do not enjoy doing it anymore. Especially after he sent me a list of titles that he cannot find. This is double work for me for not only do I have to find the work he needs, but he wants copies. I do not know what happened to the copies, but it bugs me that he does not have what I have sent him. He blames his son for losing them. His son helps him by putting my typing in some kind of order so that a hard copy can be made. At this point I do not know if the fault is mine, his or his son and do not want to spend time investigating what happened to the lost copies!

The year is now 2022 and I am busy with my own life and have to take time out to do his typing. I blog, work on my computer with Facebook, e-mails, and games plus my banking and personal needs. I am planning a group trip to New Mexico and this is very involved. I belong to a few groups and meet friends for lunch or get togethers which takes up a lot of my time. If I have free time, I want to enjoy it! When he gives me work to do I find myself resenting and wishing he would learn to do his own work. He does pay me for typing and translating, yet I no longer want to do his typing or translating.

Today, in my e-mails, I found about five things he wants me to work on and he wants some of them by Valentine's Day! I sent him a return e-mail letting him know the stress he is causing in my life! I feel bad but he has to know how I feel.

Strange that in 1968 we were divorced, but because of our two children we continued being friends. Today I feel as if I am getting divorced again!  

"The day she let go of the things

that were weighing her down,

was the day she began to shine!"

Katrina Mayer

Charlie, A Silent Man

 I entered the new Tattered Cover Bookstore in Westminster and was shocked at a man holding up a menu. I had to look twice before I realized it was a realistic looking dummy!  One of the clerks told me that I was not the only one to be fooled because many customers have commented on "Charlie." A sign on his lap informed me that he was a friend of the Tattered Cover and lived from 1918 - 2007. The artist who painted the sculpture, cast in fiberglass and resin, is Quang Ho.

Aside from Charlie, there are many books in the warehouse type bookstore. There is a bar where coffee or tea can be purchased and a few tables and chairs. There is also a large leather couch where one can sit in comfort. I did not look around at all that the bookstore offers but I did notice there is a section with used book for purchase and the floor is cement!

The sculpture took all of my attention because it is so realistic and the tea I had was hot and tasted good!

"I get crazy in a bookstore.

It makes my heart beat hard

because I want to buy everything."

Reese Witherspoon