Day: August 14, 2018

Bridges and Snares

D1A9A545-0741-4822-AD5D-C916C899DBF7We are taught as Catholic children to ask our guardian Angels for help.  As a child I was given the picture of the children on a broken bridge, and a beautiful angel there to guard them. This imagery appeals to a child’s sense of safety and protection. I know that I was comforted by this thought.  As I’ve gotten older, and my experience of troubles have changed, so has my angel ideal. 

As I experience this life of constant battles of good and evil, I think I want a scrapper. I want an angel that can “defend me in battle”.  We have an enemy that is relentless, cunning and merciless.   Our struggles with the flesh are real.  It’s not the appearance that I need to change, after all, look at our Blessed Mother, it’s that angels aren’t placed in our lives to be beautiful, but to get their hands dirty.  I need to change the way I think about them.  I need to call on my angel, not only to get me across a rickety bridge, over dangerous waters, but to be my “protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil”.

Prayer to St. Michael

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Inch By Inch Row By Row

0C844271-ED26-4C25-AD8B-546618637DD8As I sang “The Garden Song”, I picked green beans.  I remembered singing it when I planted the seeds in the Spring, this traditional song that celebrates the garden. I grew up eating fresh vegetables from the garden.  It is always exciting to harvest.  Tonight I reaped the benefits of my labor on our dinner table. We had beets, tomatoes and beans, and they taste fresh and sweet.

I felt so grateful for these gifts. I was thankful for the seeds, sun, soil and rain.  I was appreciating my mother for teaching me the skills, and for the internet to supplement what I didn’t know.  I was lauding our Creator for giving us this gift of planting and picking vegetables. 

I took some beans to my helpful neighbor.  He asked me, ‘St Augustine says you can’t get to heaven alone, you need grace.  How do I know if I have enough grace?”  I said “Grace is a gift from God.  Jesus gave you sufficient grace, when He died for you, on the cross”. He said, “But, how do I know he gave it to me?”  I said Sam, He offers it to everyone, you only need to believe.”

It made me think, there are so many variations of Grace from our Creator.  There is much to appreciate in our world, a pair of shoes, a rainbow, a night sky, the warmth of the sun, a smart phone. Our gifts can be complicated, a computer, or simple, a cool breeze………………….What a God we have…grace…eternal salvation… a green bean.

The Garden Song

Inch by Inch  Row by Row
I’m gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and hoe
And a piece of fertile ground
Inch by Inch  Row by Row
Someone bless these seeds I soe
Someone warm them from below
Till the rain come tumblin down
Pulling weeds, picking stones
Man is made of dreams and bones
Feel the need to grown my own
Cause the time is close at hand
Painful rain, sun and rain
Find my way in nature’s chain
Tune my body and my brain
To the music of the land
Plant your rows straight and long
Temper them with prayer and song
Mother earth will make you strong
If you give her love and care
Old crow wathing hungerily
From his perch in youder tree
In my garden im as free

David Mallett

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