Deacon Speakin': Recent Episodes
Deacon Tom Scarlett
Season 7 Episode 183
Unsolved Mysteries
What is it to these wonderful mysteries of our faith that we embrace as foundational ground stones of our belief, why would we continue to seek an understanding for something that has been deemed a mystery and accepted as a mystery for thousands and thousands of years? Why do we keep going back to the spring of knowledge and understanding when there are scores of others who cannot know, understand, or define?
Season 7 Epiosde 182
When the Music Stops and the Dance is Done
You are dancing with your partner to your favorite song when the music stops and the dancefloor disappears. Does the dance make sense anymore? With no beat to synchronize your steps, is it a dance with meaning anymore? I’d say not. It becomes awkward movements to a song that doesn’t exist and none of it matters: not the rhythm, the flow, the grand crescendo, nor the big dip at the end.
When the world goes away, or our time in it – when the music stops and the dancefloor goes away – when you are faced with the heavenly notions of God, do you expect to be doing the same things you were doing on this earth?
Season 7 Episode 181
These Problems and the Pain they Cause
There is a recurring problem in the world and its one that we don’t particularly enjoy dealing with it and its as CS Lewis puts it: the problem of pain. Everywhere we look we see suffering and agonizing through the trials of life and we see folks who carry heavy, heavy loads – some that are so heavy we wonder how they are not crushed under the weight of it.
Pain comes in many different shapes and sizes and it does not discriminate to whom or when it rears its ugly head, but come to us it does, often in such a way that it makes little sense of the who, what, when, where, or why of things.
Season 7 Episode 180
Mother's Love
I want to begin by telling you about a woman I know who I was introduced to as a child and continue to have a wonderful relationship with her to this day. Her story is amazing and inspiring, and I share it with you in the spirit of this Mother’s Day in the hope that it might inspire you too.
Season 7 Episode 178
Cease and Desist!
There are many: MANY who would love to silence the Word of God in this world; who would like us – you and me – to not mention the name of Jesus, the promise of Salvation, the victory over death, or any of the amazing miracles of a life lived in Christ. Many who would have us tried and slapped with a mandate to cease and desist our Christian belief and practice. What is to become us?
Season 7 Episode 178
These Men - These Priests
In an otherwise dark world, the priest is the light of Christ that cuts through the darkness, chasing the shadows and bathing the world in the truth and hope of Jesus. We must pray that they hear His call daily and stay the path and stay the course, lest he go astray – which is always a great tragedy when there is one less priest to afford us the blessed Eucharist. Pray for priest and pray for those discerning vocations.
Season 7 Episode 177
What Has God Done for You?
“Do you realize what I have done for you?”
That line says so much by asking all of us a big, big question.
“Do you realize what I have done for you?”
I think THAT is the question that should be in our hearts and on our minds when we awaken on Easter Morning. We should meditate on that and bake that into our prayers daily and then spend our lives answering that question – or trying to answer that question.
Many fall asleep in faith and many die. Still living, but spiritually and faithfully asleep. Going through the motions, not really sure and not really unsure of what it is their faith has in their life. Not completely engaged with their faith; going through the motions, existing. Those who die to their faith quit; as a dead man: unable to move; unable to be. Listless and without response.
What does it take to awaken the sleeping and the dead.
Season 7 Episode 175
Throwing Rocks
Who are we to judge? Who are we to be judged by the scribes and the Pharisees of our time? Do we find ourselves the unknown man in this story and know that we have sinned – have been caught red-handed in sin, and carry that sin like a yoke around our necks…never approaching Jesus in our sinful state with all the humility and shame that comes with it and never asking for that yoke to be removed from us. He is the only one who can remove the yoke and the burden and pain and the suffering of that yoke – He’s the only one who can absolve you and forgive that sin; the only one who can free you from the imperfect and sinful creatures that we are and heal us.
Season 7 Episode 174
The Ghosts of the Monastery
When I stepped onto the familiar grounds of the monastery, checked into my room, and began to tread the trodden trails of the monastery halls and places – I was immediately greeted by the ghosts. But not before running into my dear friend Steve who was parked upon a wooden bench, walking stick by his side, journaling as he has faithfully done for years. When I sat with him, we remembered Tony...
Season 7 Episode 173
Bickering and Complaining
Bickering and Complaining is really a one-sided argument when not a means to resolution – a resonant noise; a clanging of cymbals; a resounding gong (to quote First Corinthians) and a lot of “hoo-ha” in some cases. We all have that right to complain, and I’ve been complained to, I have complained, and I have been complained about and it always begs the question: to what end?
Season 7 Epsiode 172
The View from the Top
It is a common belief that mountains have much significance as places where people can connect with God. A high place depicting a closeness to God, not to mention the challenge to ascend to that high place.
Great things seem to happen on the mount, but I tend to only focus on the end-result: the blessing or the event at the top. What I tend to lose track of is the effort it takes to ascend to a height. When folks say things like “it’s an uphill battle,” it is to suggest that the battle itself is more difficult due to the greater challenge of the hill.
I’ve also heard it said that the best view comes after the hardest climb.
Season 7 Episode 171
Let's All Go to the Desert!
The desert is humbling for certain, taking the best and the strongest and reducing them to simplest form. You all remember the guy on TV in any given desert with his ripped and torn clothes, his burnt skin with sweat popping off his head, crawling on his belly in the hot sand and sun begging in a raspy voice, “water…water…water.” Well, that’s kinda like Lent.
Season 7 Episode 170
How to Grow a Good Garden
The seeds that you plant, and tend, and care to, one day turn into something much bigger and that look much different than what you began with – maybe even bigger, better, and more fragrant than you even expected. Families plant the little seeds and grow the little flowers that glorify God’s garden.
Season 7 Episode 169
Weaning the Calves
While I was writing this homily, I called a dear friend of mine who I could rely on to tell me how the weaning process works on a farm and she gave me some keen insight to the baulking, complaining, and protesting as dairy calves and beef calves are separated on the farm from their mothers – sometimes right away.
She mentioned how very common it is to hear them bawl for their mothers throughout the night because they are hungry and scared. I have read that “there is no event we impose on these calves more stressful than weaning.” But, in the end, the calf is removed from its dependence on its mother and is fed elsewhere for its betterment and well-being.
Season 7 Episode 168
A State of Utmost Bliss
For those of us who have raised kids, you will attest that there are probably more times than not when the same message must be repeated a few times in hopes that it will stick. And, often in order for that message to stick, you need to make eye contact to get your point across.
I see Jesus on the Plains as a parent, getting down to a child’s level, looking them in the eye, and being very clear on a familiar lesson of obvious importance to the disciples, as if to say, “In case you didn’t catch this from the hilltop, I will give it to you again down here where you live.
Season 7 Episode 167
The Path to Truth
So, John the Apostle saw someone who does not follow the path that Jesus has put the Apostles on and here they are “driving out demons in the name of Christ.” Mincing words here, but they were not trying to drive out demons, he says they were driving out demons in the name of Jesus and they weren’t even on the same path that the Apostles were on. How do you suppose Jesus respinds to this? How do you respond?
Have a listen to Episode 167 Now Playing!
Season 7 Episode 166: Hocus Pocus
The words 'hocus pocus,' were often chanted during tricks involving sleight of hand and would entertain and draw the crowd into a veil of mystery. The words had become familiar in our vocabulary for over 400 years now and has perhaps lost the impact that it once had, but is still used nonetheless to refer to an impossible or unbelievable feat.
The term has its origins in the Latin blessing from our Catholic Mass. Observers and those less informed in the Catholic faith or perhaps not versed in Latin would hear the Priest say during the Consecration portion of the Mass:
Hoc est corpus meum (mayum)
Which means - “This is my body”
To the misinformed and unaware; hapless onlookers of the Mass were told of the great miracle of transubstantiation at the altar and heard the words Hoc est corpus…and explained what they did not fully understand as Catholic hocus pocus – changing wine and bread into another substance, as if magically.
Season 7 Episode 165
A Hometown Welcome
When I go back to my hometown, everyone knows me as Tommy – that’s a pretty clear indicator of people who knew me growing up. But it’s not only that. For me, my family is tied to Tommy – my parents and my brother and sister; the friends I kept; the good and the bad decisions; all the bones. And you are held to that.
Jesus was held to that as a child who grew up in Nazareth. “This is Josephs boy,” and not anything beyond that except everything connected with his upbringing as a boy in Nazareth. They had to wonder what he was alluding to with his bold assertion of the fulfillment of a 700 year old prophecy.
Season 7 Episode 164
I believe that we can all look at moments in our lives when we have grown, and flourished, and when we have been stalled and been pruned, and I am sure we can recognize times in our lives when we have gone to seed and seem to start over. When appropriate in the course of our lives, in all of its ebbs and flows, and all the anticipation of growing into something useful and beautiful; the Gardener will nick the shell to encourage good growth in us.
Do you think that you have no particular talent – well that is simply not true.
Do you think that you can’t do some things or anything very well – well that is not true either.
Do you feel that your gifts pale in comparison to others – that is just a lie.
Listen to Episode 163 of Deacon Speakin to realize your talents!
Deacon Speakin is back! All new Season 7 Episode 162 "The Hired Hand" available now.
When we are looked after by a hired-hand you can expect a greater level of risk: primarily the risk that your care is only as complete as his compensation. So, I guess it begs the question then from one sheep to another: to whom do we entrust our care?
Deacon Speakin is back! All new Season 7 episode "Starting Over" available now.
Good timber does not grow with ease, The stronger wind, the stronger trees, The further sky, the greater length, The more the storm, the more the strength. By sun and cold, by rain and snow, In trees and men good timbers grow.
- Douglas Malloch
Season 6 Epiosode 160
All around us is suffering and pain; we feel it – we see it – we experience it. But we should not allow ourselves to be made blind by it when all around us is also caring, and hope, and faith, and love…and God. God will never abandon you in all the suffering and pain – He will lift you. He will bolster you, He will call out to you, and He will shine a light in the darkness. Do not be made blind to what God gives you by the problems of pain.
Season 6 Episode 159 - The Conversation
It all really is a conversation with God that he started with us at the moment life began for us. I say it all the time, “You will find God exactly where you look for him.” That is why it is so important to ask yourself daily in all situations: the good and the bad – where am I finding God in this? That really does provide the same answer as “Here I am,” when you start your daily search for Him.
To my mother’s disappointment, I never had a taste for okra. She was born and raised in the south and her family loved it, fried okra, okra gumbo, stewed okra; it seems that it was a staple for them. So when mom married a fella from southern Indiana and moved here with him to raise a family I'm sure she looked forward to many meals around the Scarlett table with okra as a part of it.
My grandmother’s maiden name was Carrencegie and I’ve been told that I did not get the Carrencegie okra gene; that is the taste for this (in my opinion) vile little vegetable. So, I spent my entire life trying it if I had to and rejecting it back to those with iron clad stomachs and a penchant for slimy foods.
Podcast #157
All of us cook, I think, in part to feed our daily hunger, but just as important and perhaps more so, we cook and eat to feed our spirits, to keep us all in the same orbit of life. As the generations turn, as our family expands, the table and its simple pleasures – never just the food- but the food and the talk, the food and the laughter, the tears, the jokes, the memories, the hopes – still hold us in place, well anchored in a safe harbor. There may very well be another depression or endless other troubles, big or small, lying in wait for us. But rather than freezing in fear about what may come, we try our best to live and enjoy the lives we’ve been served forth.
Podcast #156
“People who don’t fish think that fishing is lazy or boring, but it is the complete opposite. There are 100 little decisions to be made; variables to be considered and you’re never quite sure what made the difference. Did I cast too high, too far to the left? Did I reel it in too slow or too fast? Is the lure too shiny or too dull? Should I stay here, or should I go over there?
And you know it’s not luck, but you do not know by how much."
...I sat there witnessing a moment in time, a moment that looked much differently a year ago when my mother-in-laws health was very different. She celebrated this Mother’s Day meal with us in this wonderful place due to the heaviness of this life and we celebrated with her due to the promise of this life to love – always.
Throughout all of history, we really do have a terrible track record of disagreeing. Some might think that we could eliminate that by simply all agreeing together on everything that comes about, but that would be an rather dull and honestly an unsuccessful civilization.
Disagreement is really a good thing – no scratch that – disagreement is a great thing! Disagreement fosters conversation and encourages growth. It breeds revelation and more than anything, if done rationally, can strengthen relationships. Disagreement can be spirited and lively, it is often best when fueled by passion and it can be enduring.
When someone is not present to keep the sheep in check, to repair the fences, and tend the flock, and the sheep are left to their own accord, they will move beyond the safety and familiarity of the fenced-in pastures and sometimes encounter danger; or find themselves separated from the herd; or even perish as a product of their own innocent wanderings.
Episode #152
The elephant at the circus has a chain around one of its legs that is attached to a stake in the ground next to it. I don’t know if this has ever crossed your mind when you’ve seen something like this, but why doesn’t this mighty elephant who we know can crush cars and uproot trees pull the stake from the ground and move about freely.
Does that make any sense that one of the strongest and most majestic creatures on the planet can be held by a single chain and a tiny stake? Listen to find out why...
It is so easy to do – to get caught up in the things of this world. It happens to all of us; we all do it. We are all perfectly imperfect in our pursuit of God and our attempts to live our life for Him, but He knows that. He knows that we will stumble and fall and He knows more than anything that we will always find a way to muck it up.
Episode 150!
Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
I have seen those who fold in these experiences, and I see others who lean into them, not alone, but strengthened in their resolve to recognize Christ in all occasions – the ordinary and the extraordinary. I have seen it before in my lifetime when it appears that someone or some folks are dealt more than they can handle, and it breaks our hearts for our Christian brethren.
These rules - these basics, were necessary. I could hold a guitar at nine years old and make a lot of noise on it, but I didn’t hold it the right way and the noise was certainly not music. There were some necessary things to learn. An instrument can be intimidating if you’ve only watched someone play it and never tried it yourself, and it can be especially intimidating if you tried it and like all of us the first time picking something up, the noise you make is awful.
It is part of the process, a part of learning the rules and finding out how a beautiful sound is made.
The overhead door to the garage was up early in the afternoon and for some reason, it had never happened before, but a cardinal flew in the open door and up into the rafters where she was trapped. Not trapped like one might expect by being stuck or caught up in something, but trapped in the broad open spaces of the rafters where she flew around in a panic trying to find her way out...
Discernment is not a simple question resolved with a simple answer. Many times the answer comes in the journey that you are on with God walking with you. That control we keep for ourselves; it was never yours – it always has belonged to God, but He offers it to you through your free will. Your discernment, your “calling to consider, brothers and sisters,” starts now.
Cowboy logic is mostly pretty solid logic. It is simple and to the point. It is easy to understand and difficult to argue. It is "the basics" and something we can all stand to get back to. Simple and basic can sometimes open the door to new opportunities and many worthwhile contributions.
We all have so very much to offer, and our contributions can be great. Weigh your options and consider who might be looking at you as a role model. You really never know who might hang on your every word. Here's a Lesson from Yellowstone.
Jesus is the only bridge between us and our eternal happiness, He’s the only way to know what it means to fully be human, He’s the only way to know how much we are loved by God, and how to live fully in love.
If you know all this, how can you keep it to yourself?
Podcast #144
We are created as fine steel, suitable to a sword of combat, but not until we are tempered and tried and not until we are heated in the fire – the trials and tribulations of this life that strengthen us. Do not fear the fire that strengthens you.
No matter who you are, you will be challenged in and about your faith at some point in your life. Sometimes many times. Sometimes constantly. How do you and how will you respond when your faith is challenged?
Love can do all things: it can strengthen and inspire, and break hearts and ease pain, it can heal wounds and it can lead the Son of Man to a cross to willingly die for we sinners of this world and ultimately defeat death itself. All for love.
The colt; the never-saddled donkey that was tied and waiting was worthy. It was worthy because Jesus said so. He requested it. He sent for it. And it fulfilled a mighty purpose.
To keep God’s love is like heading out on a trip in a new car. It’s shiny, comfortable, and is desirable; but, if you sit in the drivers seat without starting the car it will go nowhere. Your journey, your adventure to receive more and more of God’s love is not to keep it, but to give it away…every last bit that you can – give it away. It’s then that you will find that there is only more waiting for you and spilling into your lap…give that away too.
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Scripture is such that you can wade in it or you can swim in it. You can read the words and gather something from them a message that inspires and blesses you and you can read it 100 times wading into the words and find something that speaks to you. Read it one more time and swim in the scripture immersing yourself into God’s intention and open up so very much more.
Social media can be a breeding ground for shaming others, but it can also be a launching pad to lift others up and encourage them. It can be a place to downplay the existence of God and talk down believers and their faith. Or, it can be a place of prayer and holiness; rosaries and prayer groups, bible studies, and religious education. Listen now to the latest podcast from Deacon Speakin'
My brother was a good artist and was incredibly creative and he could put anything on paper that was in his head. Maybe I was lazy, or uncreative, or uninspired; but, I most often found myself copying whatever my big brother was drawing. He was not a fan of that and I took some shots in the arm from him for copying his work...hear more in this week's epsiode!
What was so very notable about that bucket? Sure it was made of plastic – the kind you might expect an ice cream bucket to be made of, and the blue handle wasn’t so very brilliantly blue in any sense, and although the handwriting was quite neat – it was a bit uneven, but produced a clear and concise message. So, why target the bucket – this very simple repurposed bucket?
Its funny how a melody can bring back a memory, putting you in that place and time and pulling in all the good, and sometimes bad in its entirety. Listen to The Good Song Theory and see if you agree.
Elvis Presley had a deep-seeded foundation in his faith and he seemed to be reaching for that when all else was reaching for him, placing him on a pedestal, and calling him King. Deacon Speakin' Episode 132: The Elvis Sermon
We are living in a time of “show me proof.” We seem to want something concrete or something at least solid that we can hold, and study, and weigh, and judge, in order to believe it. How can we hear God if we don’t know what he sounds like? How can we describe Jesus and say who He is? How can we roll up our sleeves and get to work on faith alone?
When was the last time you saw a good miracle? Can you recall? Can you remember ever seeing a miracle in your lifetime? Maybe you can’t. Maybe miracles are those things we only read about in the old days – those things that just don’t happen any more...well, I say that's not true!
Some of the storms of life are spring showers while others are categorical hurricanes. As they approach and we anticipate the mark they will leave, we inevitably ask the question, “Will the levee hold?”
Why do people climb mountains? Why do we make the journey, to exert ourselves, to risk a slip or a fall, to challenge our minds and bodies to go up and up. For my friend, Scott, its about the view – that spectacular sight from the top of the mountain. The moments when you appreciate the effort to get to the reward. It is the high points in life.
When the pasture is not looked after, weeds will grow making the grass difficult for the cows to reach. It seems that when the weeds take over the pasture, the cows have to work hard to feed and to get to the good grass.
The cow at the fence has discovered sweet grass on the other side.
The basics of story-telling go like this:
Take a hero; put him in a tree; throw rocks at him; get him out of the tree.
You can’t ask that your story end while still in the tree. Perhaps the chapter you are currently living is full of rocks. And they hurt. And there is lots of them. And then you hear God say, “But wait, there’s more...”
Why, did God create these animals in the first place. He had to know from the very beginning that we would tame them and bring them close to us and make them part of our families. He had to know that we would grow fond of them and take care of them – removing their animal necessities to survive in the wild and replacing it with decorative collars, cute names, and special dishes. But most of the time, we outlive our pets and it hurts when they are gone.
Why doesn’t God talk to the people now like He did in the Old Testament. Why don’t we hear from Him? Well – fishes and loaves. Have a listen...Episode 124
In a kindergarten classroom in 1975 Mrs Banta taught an unintentional lesson about life, growing from a small styrofoam cup. Season 3 Episode 123 - Mrs Banta's Marigold
“I want you to be brave because this will not be popular with lots of folks because many of them do not know about me, and many have their own religions, and many of them will try to kill you because of what you believe.” “And you may very well die for serving…you may very well be killed for loving me… the same question asked 2000 years ago today - are you ready?”
Now we have faith: we profess our faith ever week at the Mass when we proclaim, “I believe,” but can your faith lead you to Jesus for only a touch of His cloak?
The bees mean no harm to the flowers they fuss over and they actually make them better by simply being a part of their lives. To me that is rather biblical. I’ve not witnessed a bee to be picky in the flowers it chooses to pollinate or to turn away from a flower it thought might be unattractive in some way. I don’t believe bees are made this way. And couldn’t we learn quite a lot about ourselves in the way the bees behave? In the lives we touch and make better because it is what we were made to do? Bees don’t ask, they just do.
People get their spots and apparently they are tattooed deeply beneath the skin. But, I have to disagree with this categorizing and labeling and the finality of “this guy will always be this way, because that is the way he was made…like a leopard.”
Graduation day can mean many things to many people, but it is always moving onto something in which you have been prepared for. It marks the moment when the classroom stops and the real world begins.
Appreciation for the basic things will always return more to you than want for the extra.
We hear of things like “the spice of life,” and refer to this as something special and added that makes life taste better; things like vacations, family, Church, and life experiences in general. These things often make life taste better as a good spice should, but without the spices, what does life taste like to you?
"You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
If you have raised kids or even been at Mass 15 minutes into a 25 minute homily, you know that kids can get rather vocal and they don’t care who knows it. To prune or be pruned...that is the question.
The cornerstone is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation and all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. The integrity of the cornerstone had to be just so in order for it to receive the prestigious designation. After all, there is only one cornerstone in any building.
...I found a coffee can, went to the garden hose, filled the can with water, and placed the crab in it thinking only good thoughts for my new pet. I left the can and the crab outside, because after all, it was a wild creature and wouldn’t fare well in the house, and off I went to play in the summer Florida heat...
To mask up or not, to social distance, to listen to politicians or scientists, how do we know what the best decision is for us. What is the consequence of making the wrong decision? Uncertainty can cause us a great level of fear and in the case of Covid has caused amplified and exaggerated anxiety for all ages.
Wilderness is the described as “last wild places on this planet that humans do not control.”
I believe it is in our nature to control and to steer our own course, especially throughout life. Do you remember riding your bike downhill as a kid and you started to get a shake in your handle bars that kept getting bigger and bigger and you knew you were heading for a crash? Losing control is scary like that and sometimes worse.
Most times when dealing with concrete, the bubble are helped to the surface by the guy working and smoothing the concrete by shaking and vibrating the project. This causes the trapped bubbles to surface more quickly where they are smoothed again. This is repeated until the bubbles stop and the mix is allowed to dry and harden – smooth as glass.
“Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil; and when he had fasted for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
I love this for lots of reasons but mainly because it sums up Lent rather nicely.
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous. It is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
The lesson in priorities is not necessarily deciding what to exclude as much as recognizing that all on the list of things to do is important and figuring out how to fit them all in. Yes, being responsible is a juggling act sometimes and the world asks you to juggle chainsaws now and then, so a little care and effort is required.
Everyone seems to be anxious. If not about health or family or stress then about school or work or money…or maybe you know someone who is just anxious about everything – and for no real reason? Season 3 Episode 105
”God, where are you going to be working on me today?” But, not just “working on me,” “How will you be working through me, or in me, or with me?” All good prayers to start the day. And, when you start like this, you can’t help but notice the answers that he sends you throughout the day.
It’s so very hard sometimes to find God in the colorless and the gloomy or in the bleak and wintery. We tend to want to thank God in the sunshine and plead to him in the rain. We dance and we sing in the warm of summer and try our best to survive the winters.
The whittle marks are the flattened spaces where wood is shaved to make the particular shape and features; the edges that give it a characteristic unique to the style. They are the little imperfections that are left by the craftsman and are not easily replicated by any other method. They are what makes the piece of wood a new and unique creation.
Season 3 Episode 101
If only we knew what awaits us, we could be so much better prepared and ready, right? Maybe if we knew what to expect, we could avoid some terribly awful mistakes and save ourselves some heartbreak! I’ll pause right here and let you take that in for a second…
Episode 100!
So where do we take it in 2021? Once a vaccine settles the dust and gives us possibly a life beyond lockdown; what do we do with these opportunities? We have no doubt formed some new habits with our families throughout the year. Do we go back to those pre-Covid habits
One Christmas in 1980 we made homemade cookies to give my Grandma who lived across the pasture from us. None of us could have imagined her reaction when we handed her the box...
“You have never seen the like of me before? Come in and know me better, man!” What great words to hear!
Here's a repost of one of the most downloaded podcasts of 2020. This is from December 01, 2019:
“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. And when he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
“Who are you?” Ask yourself that and consider your answer. What are you pointing to when you identify yourself? What opportunity are you taking with the questions posed to you?
“The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness.”
hallow.com/deaconspeakin for the Hallow App!
What’s the deal with Advent anyway? We seem to throw that word around this time every year and it feels kinda special when we talk about it. I mean who doesn’t love a good advent calendar anyway? Seriously, a calendar with little window that have compartments of chocolate inside them? And you do it every day from December first until the 25th! Yeah, Advent, pardon the pun…sounds pretty sweet.
I think Thanksgiving gets a really short window of opportunity to be recognized since Halloween basically ushers in the holiday season and makes people start looking forward to Christmas. Its like the Jan Brady of holidays.
Many do not realize their talents until much later in life, others at a very young age, and some spend their lives thinking they have none. The truth is that we all have something of talent, and we all have a way to contribute that talent to glorify God. You need only to explore and have an intention to serve.
While we put all our focus and hedge our bets on our new and latest Ceasar…where is God? Did we leave Him waiting in the lurches? Did we even buy Him a ticket to the race or to the game we are watching? We have made comments that we want the best man; the most good and ethical, to win; but, did we bring “good and ethical” with us to the game.
I encourage you to take your season and look at it in the proper frame. Your winter is someone else’s summer and their winter is likewise your summer. When you view this from this perspective you might realize that God gives gifts of all kinds in very different packages and at very different times.
So, what about the issues? Politicians should be about the issues first shouldn’t they? I mean, these are the things that govern us, that affect our freedoms, and simply provide us our opportunities right? Why would I sacrifice that for a punch in the head when a punch in the gut won’t feel much better?
Without the noise, you cannot help but hear better, you cannot help but listen better…you cannot help but be better.
Edmund Burke said,
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Our calling is to move our feet in the direction of God. That will look differently for all of us.
What is the biggest headline to hit this past week? Oh, let’s check – yep, it’s the leader of the free world contracting COVID19. Head’s are exploding around the world with this news. The most powerful and influential man in the world contracts the virus that has all but crippled the planet and caused worry, uncertainty, and fear to most all of us. What will happen to him? What will happen to us? What does the future hold?
If you are feeling something heavy in your life right now – try your best to put it down. If only for the length of this podcast, lay down the weight and if when we close up for the day and you feel like it is necessary to pick it back up, then do so. But, for now lay down your worries and if you want to leave them here, you certainly can – I’ve got plenty of room.
We are a cyber-focused society these days and if we are not looking for it on a device of some sort, it is fed to us based on our search choices and browsing patterns. This amplifies the noise and offers you more and more of what the world thinks you want. It is instant, it is immediate, and it is shallow and superficial. What does your search history say about you?
Take a second and think about the boxes that you keep where you have placed your anger. Do you have many boxes? Are they categorized and alphabetized? Are they color-coated and sorted? Either way, there is a lot of work and effort in emotional storage, especially the angry and wrathful kind.
How do you treat the folks around you who think differently than you and maybe even disagree with your good ideas and suggestions? Here’s a good one: how do you treat folks on, let’s say FaceBook in this charged and ramping up political climate who post things that do not line up with your foundation? Yikes! Yes, let’s go there.
Disagreeing can be a means to growth when performed civilly and respectfully. That is the very root of protest –to engage the other with whom we disagree in an attempt to come to a desirable outcome for all. Sounds easy right? Hardly.
Season 2 Episode 80 of The Catholic Deacon Podcast: As much as we like to fashion ourselves an advanced and forward moving population, I challenge you among all our political woes – who is more decent? Who is telling the truth? Who has our best interests in mind?
Season 2 Episode 79 So, what is it that we can make of traditions anyway? They are abundant in all cultures and we even see them in our own families. Sometimes it is just a way for folks to spend time together but in other ways they define who we are.
Season 2 Episode 78: The Break Shot
Initiate the break shot. The opening move in most pool games where the cue ball is fired into the group sending the balls rolling and bouncing off of each other, ricocheting off the rails, and sometimes disappearing off the table down the pockets and out of play.
Season 2 Episode 77: We find that the people behind the masks are perhaps more profound than the people unmasked, because if you look at it in the right way you will realize that God reveals the most in all of us by showing us the least.
Season 2 Episode 76 “There has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you.”
Season 2 Episode 75: Jesus is telling us how to survive a wretched world and reach the kingdom of heaven…this applies to everyone…as Jesus says “anyone with ears ought to hear…” Too bad he didn’t say that “everyone with ears will hear.”
Season 2 Episode 74: “The true measure of a man is how he treats God when no one is watching.”
Season 2 Episode 73: We tend to look to others in amazement of the things they can do and their feats of incredibleness – of their bigger than life achievements. It’s only natural, and when you think about it, these hero types are a dime a dozen. Everybody’s got em!
Season 2 Episode 72: There are some big issues out there that folks deal with, and maybe you are dealing with a few yourself? I think it is difficult these days to not to be struggling with something, not to be outfitted with a cross that gets heavier and heavier by the minute – one that weighs more and more by the day – one that drains us of our energy and enthusiasm to be the fullness of that image and likeness of Christ.
While we are being drawn to God, we must be constantly trying to find the voice He intended for each of us whatever that may be. It may not be a singing voice, or a writing style, or a manner of speaking, but make no mistake – you have a voice that is only yours.
Season Two Episode 70: We tend to do what we always do and that’s apply what we know on Earth to the things of God. Those things of which do not apply to God – like space and time, and the unknown. God doesn’t fit in our neat little compartments that we want to put everything in!
Did you ever take road trips as a kid or drive to a destination as a family getaway or vacation? Do you remember when you passed from your hometown and into strange territory? Do you remember seeing sights you’ve never seen before and how excited you may have gotten during the entire trip…watching your world through the windshield; of the things that lay ahead…of all the TBDs?
No matter what stage you are in, eventually we all need go into the cocoon in order to come out and fly around a bit.
Our elderly and our very young are proven to be the most vulnerable in this pandemic while nursing homes, rehab centers, and hospitals are the greatest risks for them. Warming shelters in the colder months and the homeless are also at great risk. Where is God?
Why wouldn’t we give Mom her own day? When you really think about it, who else in your life has had a greater impact on you than your parents and that lady has impacted your life in a huge way!
Season 2 Episode 65: Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God…so very valuable, so very much loved by the shepherd, so needed by everyone for sustainment, yet a sweet and pleasing sacrifice. That doesn’t sound mindless to me at all...
What was your magnificence as a child and what is it now? In these days of quarantine and solitude, there is an opportunity to revisit that child who did not care what others thought of him or her; that child was curious and interested. There is a chance to be curious and interested today.
One is not steered off the path to righteousness in an abrupt 90 degree angle, but he is gradually veered in tiny nudges that result in the desired direction. Most times, we are oblivious to the nudges, or if we recognize them we quickly rank them as harmless and not threatening to anything obvious.
We will gather and celebrate…virtually. We will stream our worship in safety…we will ache individually...we will pain as a congregation for the comfort of our churches as we ask ourselves – what happened?
We feel like we are somehow cheated that we will not have that opportunity to jockey for a seat at church on Easter morning. We feel removed from the chance to celebrate together, strangers and friends, in God’s house with God’s people. And it hurts.
I believe as social creatures it is our call to get out and do God's work; to get our hands dirty and serve the needs of others. But how is that to be done when schools, and churches, and nursing facilities are closed. How can we be His hands and feet when the most vulnerable and needy cannot be reached due to social distancing and stay at home mandates?
When the smoke clears from all of this, we will have the scars to show, and the memories to share. We will say things like…”remember when we couldn’t go to Church?” and “Where were you during the Corona outbreak?” and “I never want to feel that way again.” The heartache is real and the agony and separation is great. But, until we gather again very soon – keep reaching for God.
There is a common denominator in most scars and that is human suffering. We know we will suffer on this earth during our short time here, and I believe that suffering should be used for something…and as something.
Fireballs happen during Lent and carry on all the way through to Easter. Fireballs are those nasty distractions and set-backs that hit us out of nowhere and get in the way of all our attempts to humble ourselves and make ourselves very small.
What battle are we engaged in? The relentless and unending battle for souls. The age old fight between good and evil of which we find ourselves; men, women, and children – all of mankind as the subject and prize. It's time to man up!
What do we do when we can’t reach those in need? Maclean says that we love them – unconditionally. That sounds familiar. And it should because that is a rather Christian approach to help – we try to love unconditionally. Easy right?
Under a basket, your light still shines as brightly as you want it to, but no one sees it. No one is inspired, and no one has the chance to see what God can do through us and with us. But remove that basket and watch what happens. God will do things with you that you cannot even imagine. God will work and move in you and bring others to the faith through you, He will use you as the salt to flavor the flavorless.
Looking at the reasons we turn to a dirt digging varmint to predict our arrival of spring is quite curious and believe it or not – rather biblical in nature.
The most downloaded podcast in 2019 is the Bob Dylan Sermon! Here is a repost and a "Thank you" for all those who listen and share!
The idea that we can live a fruitful and holy life that God deems worthy of salvation, yet it is lost on another soul because of their separation from God is, to me, tragic.
The long dark night comes to all of us in some way. We will face our challenges and be confronted by fears and feel that God is nowhere to be found. Maybe our doubt grows such that we simply can’t see the light for all of the darkness we throw up in front of us.
Are you listening to God or are you listening to yourselves as another day goes by while you depreciate your value.
What is truth? It is not so very easy to recognize these days is it? There are so many resources for information and so many opinions on the topics of today that truth can become hidden. But we know that truth is non-negotiable, that a fact is a fact, so why is it so very hard to recognize it and why do we struggle with it?
Regardless of the many feelings and experiences that we all have leading up to this moment – here we are. All of us, in our diversity; in this one space…in this one holy space. Regardless of what led us here or how we got here; or where we are in our current place in life – we share this space as one body raising our voices together in praise.
There are many trials in this life and many challenges that will test and prove us. There will be much grace and peace wrapped in these trials – we must only endure…and persevere…and stand up…and accept it…accept the grace that will be poured out to you, and when it does…maybe it is like opening a box of oats and finding cookies inside.
No matter what you put on a pedestal, it will always reach for something higher. You meet people where they are everyday and those people are wanting and needing just like everyone else; celebrity or not. Do you have the courage to be the vehicle to being them to God?
Anyone who speaks truth is dangerous because those who do not want to hear the truth will try to silence it. Those who do not want to accept truth will likely be condemned by it because truth cannot change.
The George Bailey Sermon. In the movie It's a Wonderful Life an angel tells George Bailey, "You've been given a great gift, George: a chance to see what the world would be like without you." Wait. What? A great gift? George sees hate and sadness all around, how is this a gift at all?
The world is full of opportunities for thanks, whether we are saying it or hearing it. Both ways are a healthy start on the way to salvation. Here's a few questions for you!
There is no doubt to me that a thankful person is a satisfied person; and a satisfied person is a peaceful soul. Do you find yourself barking at your reflection just hoping to get something that you don't have? Here's a simple solution...
If you look at your relationship with God and what you do for Him and because of Him, does anything change when you grow tired of the color of your walls? Do you find yourself evolving in your relationship and love for God when fashions around you tell you otherwise?
Sitting in church, surrounded by all those sinners. That is what you see because that is what you focus on. Because of that, you miss the celebration...you miss the party because you are too busy reading the invitations list.
Living without may just be the hardest thing we do in our life. And living with loss may be the most complicated. Pearls are not made without the oyster first receiving something that it didn't ask for. Instead of rejecting it - it makes it better.
There will be times when the battles we fight seem unwinnable, and maybe we feel defeated - keep fighting anyway and rest your arms on the angels and saints...on the army of heaven. Success over life's battle can be won on faith and sometimes faith is a team event.
Those are the yesterdays that are laced with evil. Those are the things that we just will not let go, even though the past is distant; these are the yesterdays that we carry like a stone weight around our necks and they weigh us down – they drag us to the point that we are ashamed and disappointed with ourselves. They make us doubt – they make us lose faith.
When we think fondly back on the “good ole days,” were we all really this busy? I may risk sounding like an old codger here, but when I was a kid we didn’t have travel ball and we certainly didn’t have games or meets or matches on the weekends. If you wanted to see my mom have a fit in the 80s, then schedule a practice or track meet on a Sunday...Sundays were reserved for one thing and we really only went to church and rested.
Being true to yourself is an opportunity to reunite with God’s intention for you. Before that reunion, all else is only temporarily satisfying and then you are reaching for the next unattainable - it is a self-gratification and a staple in our modern society. It is also a great lie. Your roots are truth.
It shouldn’t be easy. It should hurt a bit, it should sting, and have a tinge of bitterness...because the taste of separation shouldn’t be desirable, but it should be necessary to end one chapter and start another - or else why would we appreciate the successes that letting go brings.
God spoke to Saul in an undeniable way that got his attention. Perhaps more remarkable, Saul listened, and believed, and followed. Whenever I hear the story of St Paul, it is a reminder of hope. Hope that even a broken sinner like me is not hopeless in God’s eyes. And even though we might not get knocked out of the saddle in a literal sense, God will vie for our attention every day.
Even as faithful followers of Christ, even as the best intended Christians, we can still find ourselves blindly sitting and crying out. What if we aren’t called to know Him better because someone else really didn’t have the time for us? What if our desperation and hopelessness was just too much of a burden for someone else’s good life. When things are going well and life seems to be going our way, are we as close to God as we are in our desperation?
Family reunions always do well to re-inflate my tires after they have been running low for a time. They remind of who I am and where I come from, and they give me courage to approach the world armed with the backing of generations before me who made me what I am and make me who I will be. God’s family is the exact same.
What Jesus is trying to tell us is that there are many who will see the kingdom of heaven who haven’t quite lived a long full life of prayer, service, and faithfulness to Jesus Christ. If a sinner can give her life to Jesus in her dying breath and reach the kingdom of heaven - I should jump for joy and sing praises to a loving, forgiving God who could welcome in to His kingdom such as these. It gives me hope that maybe there is a place for us too.
There are those who would want you to believe that saying you have a relationship with God is good enough; that “I tell God my sins, and he hears me and it makes me feel better.” That is not good enough. If we are to be His hands and feet on this earth then feet do not stand well on ground that is on fire - you’ve got to keep moving them - lest you find yourself burning alive.
The secular world is a very scary place if you let it be. The secular realm, in many cases - not all cases, but many cases would have you to believe that the world is wiser now than our ancestors’ world; that somewhere along the way, some of us evolved into higher thinkers of the bigger subjects of our lives - one of those subjects being religion. Many, again not all, but many would have you to believe that religion is a myth - some ancient stories passed along by less evolved thinkers; those who feared the world and not among the brave who stand up to old ideas like the big thinkers of today. They pity us and hope that one day our thinking might evolve - or advance to reach a modern standard; one in which Christianity has its place in dusty storybooks of our ancestors.
Fathers can come in many shapes and sizes, there are big fathers, small fathers, thick fathers and thin fathers, There are the bold and unique, the simple and extravagant and there are the timid and there are the brave; any kind of father you can imagine we probably know one. Then you have your father; the man who made you who you are - biologically. Some of them are the best guys ever and some not so desirable in many standards, but you cannot deny the man who contributed to your gene pool; love em or hate em; dad is dad.
God puts the doors up and places no requirements on you; He only encourages your free will to pass through the doors and realize the unknown. And you know, as it comes from God and when approached with God in mind - it is always good and necessary; even when it doesn’t go along with your plan.
"...you are anxious and worried about many things...there is need of only one thing..." Will you choose the better part? In your busy week of being a Martha, can you find a little time to be a Mary? Tune in to the Catholic Deacon Podcast for details.
Life always presents us with unchained dogs who scare us; even to the point that we yell and complain and blame the owners or even simply blame the dog. We can't rid the world of animals that are aggressive toward us and we certainly can't expect dogs not to be dogs - or better yet, we can't expect people not to be people...
I received a great tool for my spiritual toolbox, you see I collect tools as I learn lessons and I put them in my toolbox to be used again in the future. If you don't have a toolbox, I suggest you start one and I bet you will be surprised at the number of tools you have laying around and waiting for you to use them.
Have you ever tried to catch fish without the proper tools? Without a rod or reel? Without bait? Have you ever reached into the water to just try to grab a fish? It is difficult to do - fish are quick and unpredictable, making it difficult to even get close to them most times, but even if you manage to grab hold of one, they are rather slick and slimy making difficult to keep ahold of before they slip away. Are you a fish that the fisherman desires?
You know, not all of us will get along in this life as friends or hardly anything else, but love goes beyond friendships and sees people, such as yourself, who are moving through this world in the best way they know how for this moment in their lives. Maybe their ways do not match up with yours and maybe it even repels or repulses you - the way they live and the things they do.
Maybe they are most in need of your loving prayer. It could be your greatest act of kindness today to pray for them.
What do you expect of God? Do you expect Him to be the stranger sitting next to you or the lady you passed who appeared to be struggling...the lady you passed while trying not to make eye contact? Do you expect Him to look like the addict, or the prisoner, or the homeless? Do you expect Him to be any of these things?
Silence is everywhere - it is always there. It just sounds differently with so many unnecessary additives...
A three-legged stool gets wobbly when one of the legs are gone and your spiritual foundation can get wobbly without faith, hope, and love. Together they are the answer for a troubled world; seperate of each other and things start to get jittery...
I grew up knowing my Dad as well as I could, and in a single moment he revealed something to me that deepened my admiration and love for him as the most courageous act of bravery I had heard of his experiences in Viet Nam.
Back in my childhood, and down a long country lane in the hills and hollers of Jackson County, stands a single red bud tree with a wooden fence post laid under it...for many years, not a single blade of grass grew under that three. But, it is a sweet memory back where the grass don't grow.
The suffering of others can trigger a reflex in us to want to help; that desire to lift up someone who is hurting and make things better. Maybe its not a reflex at all, but maybe it is an innate gift from God in its simplest form...a calling to be like Him.
There is negativity everywhere you turn: the news, social media, the newspapers, blogs, Twitter, etc...perhaps we don't think enough about the good things around us. So, I give you something to brighten your day and maybe your soul! It's called Seven Good Things!
We will always apply earthly attributes to heavenly notions...like our views of heaven...what do you picture heaven as?
Sin creeps in when we aren't looking and it can keep us from hearing the teachings of Jesus with things such as jealousy, pride, resentment, hate, and disdain...what strings are you holding that creates your web?
When Jesus says, "Love one another..." it's not just to love those who make it easy...it is everyone. All people...good...bad...lovable...not so lovable.
To believe is to know and to know is to trust. What are you waiting for? This is a call to action for all of the waiting folks.
What we put into our bodies can have a profound effect on our output...junkfood, snacks, sugars - all affect us in some way. But, what are you putting into your body spiritually?
When all the problems, challenges, and drama in your life are big...why would you want to make yourself very small?
What would you say is the sweetest prayer? The Lord's Prayer? The Hail Mary? There are so many! Who is to say which is sweeter?
I really can't explain how Bob Dylan made his way into this sermon, but the Lord works in mysterious ways!
Remember how it was as a child, when you were really looking forward to something? Anything? That same feeling of anticipation, like a child awaits for Christmas morning, is still within you!
The saying goes, 'Father knows best..." so why would we say that the Lord's way is not fair? Do we find ourselves as children who complain when we don't get what we want? What are our expectations of God anyway?
The Great Blondin was a tightrope walker who always amazed his fans! But one day he asked something incredible and his fans and manager were in shock...could this be the same question God asks of us?