Jump roping, bowling pin juggling, truths of Grace

A couple of weeks ago I was at the rec and I was stretching in an area away from everyone. I shared the space with a guy who would randomly break into an impromptu dance party. His music from his iPod was so loud that it over powered the music I had playing through my headphones. He'd push out a quick set with the dumbbells and break it down like he was a backup dancer at a hip hop show or a member of a rec center boy band.

I sat, stretching, baffled by what was happening. All I could do was laugh in my head, and make jokes, of how incredibly redonkulous he looked. Then it hit me moments later as his dance moves evolved into a modified jump rope motion. He was dancing, but was also incorporating an interval jump rope set in between sets, minus one thing: The jump rope.

How easy is it for us to see something and think one thing and not even begin to understand what is happening before us.

Like with Christ,we don't know where He is leading us, let alone what is happening before us. He wants into our lives, yet often times we try it alone, without His presence

Last month I was at the FEST in Cleveland and took part in an XLT, Eucharistic Adoration, in the Chapel. Bishop Gries gave a powerful testament of allowing Christ in our lives.

There was a man on the interstate who was pulled over by a trooper for speeding. The officer approached the vehicle of the man and noticed in the backseat a gallon of gasoline, four bowling pins, matches and a wig. He asked the driver why he had such random items in his possession. The driver replied that he was a clown in the circus in town and his main trick was juggling bowling pins that were lit on fire.

The officer, who thought he had heard every excuse in his days of patrolling the highways, asked the driver to prove it. The driver exited his car, lit a fire on the ends of the bowling pins and began juggling on the side of the highway for the officer.

A man who was driving with his wife slowed down as he took notice to what was happening to the man who had been pulled over. He turned to his wife and said, "If that's some sort of field sobriety check then I'm screwed. I quit drinking."

We all see events and chapters in our lives differently then what is truly happening to us. How it is effecting us. How we are growing physically, mentally and spiritually. How it is forcing us to grow closer to the Lord. We find ourselves confused and often times overwhelmed by what we see and not what the Lord wants us to see. It's at those moments that we must ask the Lord to enter into our hearts and we must force ourselves to listen to Him. Those are the times we must seek our His grace and feed our spirit by receiving Him through the Eucharist. Sit before Him and ask His forgiveness, seek out His strength and courage. Place yourself in His presence and adore Him.

So many people, especially young adults, try so hard to create careers, begin a new life, start families and take a stab at trying to be a big kid. They strive to work their way up the corporate ladder with reckless abandon. Spend weekends exploring the pubs and clubs of the city on a hunt, much like explorers of the African Serengeti in search for wild prey. They spend countless rounds a night in pursuit of that endangered species...someone sane, without baggage, that will love them and make it their goal to always make them happy.

Yet we don't seem to take the time to fine tune the relationship that means the most. To take a break from the machine that is our routine, to grow deeper in the one place in our life that will actually bring the love and happiness we so desperately need and that's through our relationship with Christ.

Much like the guy dancing during his work out, and the husband in the car passing by the juggler, we all see what is in front of us, but fail to go deeper or try to see past what is happening to try and grasp the reality of what's going on. Ultimately forcing us to remember what it is we need most...a relationship with Christ. Instead of focusing more on advancing your career or picking up that girl at the bar on Saturday, and all those other things that make us temporarily happy. Try to focus on God's Grace and letting it enter in your life. See the endless possibilities of a life of happiness from now through eternity.


Until next time...

I fought a blind man ... and lost

Have you ever been at a sporting event, concert or even walking the streets of New York City and become overwhelmed by the chaos of trying to walk around? That certain time when there's so much going on and everyone is walking in every which way, but one that makes sense? Then just like that, you snap. You grow angry, anxious and aggravated.

There was an instance when I was at an outdoor festival up in Cleveland, a Christian event to make this story even better, and it became crowded. There were folks walking in every direction, bumping into one another and were without a care in the world for anyone outside of their own personalbubble. To make things worse, I was there all day working at three different locations, all strategically placed to cause me to just erupt with frustration or eventually collapse with exhaustion. Either way, it didn't help that it was also a bajillion degrees out.

I figured the only thing at that time that could calm me down was a beer, but since it was a Christian event there was none, but a Johnsonville brat seemed to take a close second. I found myself waiting in a never ending line for one fresh off the world's longest grill. As I neared the end a group of people came to join the person ahead of me; five people to be exact. I grew livid and was screaming insanities in my head. Then this one man joined them and bumped into me, causing me to leave my spot and fall from the line. If I wasn't already at my breaking point, this was the final straw.

In my head I thought to myself many things, many of the adjectives I used were only four lettered. I thought to myself Look at this guy! Is he a jerk? Does he just not care? Is he blind? How could he not see me? . It was at the time I was about to confront him - "Hey chief, ya blind? Did ya not see me or are you just that ignorant..." - that I quickly learned how I was actually the one who was the jerk.

As I bit my lip, he turned to apologize. His hat blocked most of his face and his eyes hid behind his large dark sunglasses as he glared over me. He had his right arm locked with the woman next to him, most likely his wife. In his left hand...a thin white stick with a red tip. The man who had bumped into me, the man who caused me to grow angered, was blind. He could not see me. Yet although he was the one in line who physically could not see, I was the one in all reality who was blind.

Christ teaches us that we are always in his presence even when we are blind. In the book of Psalms it says "I was stupid and could not understand; I was like a brute beast in your presence. Yet I am always with you; you take hold of my right hand (Psalm 73: 22-23)."

He reminds us time and time again to open our eyes - physically and spiritually - to hear His message. The big guy calls us to remain compassionate and understanding, even when it just drives us crazy. Whether it's at a large event like the one in my story, on the highway in rush hour or even with that one person who drives us the craziest.

As we "neither know, nor understand; as we wander about in darkness, and it seems all the world’s foundations shake (Psalms 82:5)" we are called to continue to search for love and compassion. We are reminded in Proverbs that "The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know on what they stumble (Proverbs 4:19)." We all stumble. We all grow angry. We all are led into darkness. But we must remember that it is then, when grow blind, grow angered, lonely, tired, fill in how you feel today, that we are called to open our eyes and trust in the Lord. He tells us as we stumble "My son, to my words be attentive, to my sayings incline your ear; Let them not slip from your sight, keep them within your heart; For they are life to those who find them (Proverbs 4:20-22)."

A few moments after the man apologized I got my brat and I took it to a nearby park. For a half hour I sat on a bench, devoured my brat and sipped my water as I began to pray. I grew relaxed and was at peace. It was hard to imagine at that moment in time how I could let myself to grow that angry and ignorant...especially at Jesus-Stock. Yet, I chose to be driven by my anger to be led blindly. It just took almost picking a fight with someone who was actually blind, to show me that.