Covenant

The Father knocks at my door, seeking a home for his son:

Rent is cheap, I say.

I don’t want to rent.
I want to buy, says God.

I’m not sure I want to sell,
but you might come in to look around.

I think I will, says God.

I might let you have a room or two.

I like it, says God. I’ll take the two.
You might decide to give me more some day.
I can wait, says God.

I’d like to give you more,
but it’s a bit difficult.
I need some space for me.

I know, says God, but I’ll wait.
I like what I see.

Hm, maybe I can let you have another room.
I really don’t need that much.

Thanks, says God, I’ll take it.
I like what I see.

I’d like to give you the whole house,
but I’m not sure—

Think on it, says God.
I wouldn’t put you out.
Your house would be mine and my son would live in it.
You’d have more space than you’d ever had before.

I don’t understand at all.

I know, says God, but I can’t tell you about that.
You’ll have to discover it for yourself.
That can only happen if you let him have the whole house.

A bit risky, I say.

Yes, says God, but try me.

I’m not sure—
I’ll let you know.

I can wait, says God.
I like what I see.

— Sr. Margaret Halaska

For all you people who say…

I was cleaning out some old files and ran across this. I do not know the author. I did a few minor edits.

For all you people who say “I love you” when you have no clue what love is exactly. Something to ponder upon…

Are your palms sweaty, is your heart racing and is your voice caught within your chest?
It isn’t love, it’s like.

You can’t keep your eyes or hands off of them, am I right?
It isn’t love, it’s lust.

Are you proud, and eager to show them off?
It isn’t love, it’s luck.

Do you want them because you know they’re there?
It isn’t love, it’s loneliness.

Are you there because it’s what everyone wants?
It isn’t love, it’s loyalty.

Are you there because they kissed you, or held your hand?
It isn’t love, it’s low self-confidence.

Do you stay for their confessions of love, because you don’t want to hurt them?
It isn’t love, it’s pity.

Do you belong to them because their sight makes your heart skip a beat?
It isn’t love, its infatuation.

Do you pardon their faults because you care about them?
It isn’t love, it’s friendship.

Do you tell them every day they are the only one you think of?
It isn’t love, it’s a lie.

Are you willing to give all of your favorite things for their sake?
It isn’t love, it’s charity.

Does your heart ache and break when they’re sad?
Then it’s love.

Do you cry for their pain, even when they’re strong?
Then it’s love.

Do their eyes see your true heart, and touch your soul so deeply it
hurts?
Then it’s love.

Do you stay because a blinding, incomprehensible mix of pain and relation pulls you close and holds you there?
Then it’s love.

Do you accept their faults because they’re a part of who they are?
Then it’s love.

Would you give them your heart, your life, your death?
Then it’s love.

Now, if love is painful, and tortures us so, why do we love? Why is it all we search for in life? This pain, this agony? Why is it all we long for?

This torture, this powerful death of self? Why?

The answer is so simple cause it’s…LOVE.

You are made for love. Your heart yearns for it.

It is the most powerful thing in the universe that even people who do not have it, wish to experience it and share it with others.

Paperclip Campaign

[paperclip]

This week is the national week for the Days of Remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust. As a way to remember them, and to remember all victims of terrorism and hate crimes, wear a paperclip on your collar this week!

A few years ago, a grass roots campaign was started by Sharyn Markus, a media specialist at Mountain Ridge Middle School in Colorado Springs. The symbol for the Paperclip Campaign came from the Norwegians during World War II. They wore paperclips on their collars to protest the invasion of their country by the Nazis. It was fitting for the Norwegians to pick the paperclip as their symbol of unity because it was a Norwegian, Johan Vaaler, who had invented it.

So, by their lead, let’s wear paperclips on our collars during this week of the Days of Remembrance to take a stand against prejudice and discrimination, and remember the victims of hate, like the Holocaust, terrorism, Sept. 11, and other hate crimes.

For My Students

I found this image from this week’s list at PostSecret. I wish I had sent it in for my students. (But then again, I really don’t want it to be a secret.)

[postcard]

This is for A., K., P., E., L., S., J., C., R., B., G., D., O., T., M., V., G., N., F., Y., H., I., W., Z., and Dude.

Bird Flu

Did you hear about the Pope? A recent Zenit report has announced the Pope may have contracted the Bird Flu. His doctors report that he is a little weak but his spirits are good. Prayers are needed for his swift and complete recovery. Health officials believe he may have caught it from a cardinal.