And So It Grows...

Recently I was remembering something I had heard a while back that got me thinking about something. It was something I found so intriguing that I had to find out if it was true, and low and behold, it is. Maybe you already know this fact, but there is one particular tree, the Chinese Bamboo, that when it is planted, it lies dormant for four years, and then in the fifth year, the tree starts to grow. Not only that, but it grows at a staggering rate. In fact, the Chinese Bamboo tree can reach a height of 90 feet in a mere five weeks! Can you imagine something growing nine stories tall in five weeks?

So I started thinking about things I did, or said to someone five years ago. And I started wondering if those things are (or will be) having some kind of effect on someone else now. Who knows? I’m convinced that this is such a common occurrence that we often don’t even realize it’s taking place. This is why I believe the things we do and say, might not change the world, but they might just change “somebody’s” world. 

As Christians, we are called to do many things. One of those things is to evangelize, to spread the good news, to help others to see and understand who Christ is. We do that not only with our words, but also with the way we live our lives and what others are seeing in us. It’s the same thing we hear and read about so often in scripture, which so often talks about planting seeds. But the truth it that sometimes it goes the opposite way too. 

A Special Long Distance Call For You

Relationships can be challenging at any level, whether it’s with a friend, sibling, child, parent and even the ones which involve that “special someone” like a boyfriend and girlfriend, or husband and wife. When it comes to relationships, there is another aspect that sometimes comes into play, which some people will try, and that is a long-distance relationship. It can make a relationship not only challenging, but darn near impossible.

Of course, by long-distance relationship, I’m referring to one in which two people are separated by a distance that prohibits them from seeing each other on a regular basis. Personally, I’ve never been in a long-distance relationship before, but I’m sure that most of us know of someone who’s given it a try. At first, it must seem like a good idea, or, with enough effort it could actually work. But over time (and of course, distance) it seems to me that inevitably these relationships almost always seem to fail. Why? I imagine that it’s simply because of the lack of actually seeing each other. After all, when you care about or love someone it’s only natural to want to be with the other person. Even in this day and age of computer technology and things like Skype, where you can actually see someone you’re talking to, who is maybe thousands of miles away, it still can’t take the place of being together in the same place at the same time.

Look At The Time, I Got To Go

Have you ever been to a theater, watching a really good movie and right before the climactic scene you got up to leave and miss the conclusion? I doubt it, especially if it’s a thriller, where the bad guy is just about to get caught or killed, or a “chick flick” where the couple is about to be reunited with their one true love, or a hundred other formula movies where you know a great ending is coming that will wrap up a story that you just invested 2 hours of your time in.

Well it never fails, every Sunday at Mass, I will inevitably see someone head out the door right after receiving the Eucharist at Communion. I think at some point in our lives, we are probably all guilty of doing this, but hopefully if we did it was for a darn good reason, like maybe your kids had a game they had to get to buy a certain time or they wouldn’t get to play, or maybe you started feeling ill and needed to get home.

Happy Mother’s Day

Today is the day we celebrate a special person in our lives, our mothers. Mothers goes through a lot, way more than us men. Although I will never know the pain of childbirth, I do know what they go through by raising children. While it may not be the case with every mom, along with so much joy our children bring, at times our children can bring lots of heartache (especially those teenage years), mostly through worrying, staying up late waiting for them to come home, arguing about why they can’t do this or that, watching them get hurt by friends and so many other things. The list goes on and on.

When it’s all said and done, there is nothing like a Mother’s love. It is special and unique. It is one of the strongest feelings there is because our children mean everything to us and there is nobody who can care more than a mother.