What Do I Think?

 I don’t come up with these ideas or conclusions without considering the facts... or without observing what is happening around me.  I do try to keep my eyes and ears open to what is happening on the “outside” as well as what I am experiencing on the “inside”.

I have a very fond... and eye-opening... memory of my friend, Sister Margie (SSJ), taking me by the hand and guiding me into a small private room of the convent.  As we sat opposite one another, she asked, “All right, what is going on with you?”  It was a legitimate question as she had been a part of my spiritual growth for a long time.

“I’m a seeker,” I replied.

Margie stopped and thought for a few moments.  “Yes,” she said, nodding her head.  “A seeker is a good thing to be.”

I don’t know if she interpreted the word as I did but I realized it didn’t matter.  Aren’t we all “seekers”?  

That was a few years ago.  A lot has happened in the world since then... and is still happening.  

Division is everywhere.  People are almost desperate in their yearning for something more... something they can believe in... a place where they are accepted and loved for who they are... a place where they can grow spiritually without being bogged down with dogma and laws... a place where they feel ‘at home’... a place where like-minded people share and feed each other.

In the Christian tradition, I see a few things happening.  Some are being drawn into the institutional traditions where they feel protected and comfortable, separate from the rest of the world.  (The Latin Mass is making a comeback.)  

Others are realizing our oneness with all... seeing all the earth as holy and necessary to our existence... living the premise it is only Love which will cure the world.  

I think that people are aching for God... experiencing an insatiable hunger... and the more we yearn for, and come to know, the God of Love, the more we see the evil manifested by those who are afraid.  Out of their fear, they make for themselves a god of money and power... no different from worshiping the golden idols of yore.

There will always be the struggle of good versus evil.  Both exist within each of us but I think Love will eventually win.

That’s what I think.

P.S. For those of you who may not be aware, my latest book... a novel of fiction called “Laughing Rain” (by Constance Townsend) is now available on Amazon.  

I am presently working on the sequel with the working title of “Called by the Wind”.

God Bless us all!

Connie

Making Coleslaw

 All I wanted to do was make coleslaw.  I already had a bag I’d purchased at Publix and I knew I wanted to chop it up finer so would have to use the food processor.  So I figured the preparation would take a little more than the 5 minutes the recipe promised.  Actually, that 5 minutes included the dressing I wanted to try.  Easy, right?  Wrong!

I am here to tell you never to believe the preparation time recipes promise.  There are many more steps involved and it isn’t nearly so simple as it sounds.  For instance...

Before I could start, I wanted a small Mason jar to mix the dressing in and store in the refrigerator.  That way I wouldn’t have to mix the coleslaw all at once, but only enough for the portions I wanted.  So... my first step (which was not mentioned in the recipe) was to get the Mason jar which I thought was in the bottom cupboard.  It wasn’t in plain sight, of course, so I proceeded to remove the stuff I was sure it was hiding behind.

This particular cupboard held different size storage bags, aluminum foil, parchment paper, clear wrap, packages of napkins (I won’t have to buy napkins for the rest of the year) plastic bottles, containers etc.  Because I am past the point of being able to sit on the floor, emptying the bottom shelf took a little more time and ingenuity.  After removing everything I could reach, I took my handy grabber and proceeded to pull everything out to the middle of the kitchen floor.  Lo and behold I even found my George Foreman Grill (which I forgot I had).

Once everything was in a pile in the middle of the floor, I had to decide what was to go back in the cupboard as well as find places for unopened duplicates and for things I didn’t use...like my George Foreman Grill.  That meant making room in other places...cleaning the shelf in the hall closet (for my George Foreman Grill), storing things in totes, etc.  I’m hoping I remember to check my stock before buying anymore storage bags!  

When that was done I went back to making my coleslaw.  (I did find the jar but it was in a different cupboard.)  To be perfectly honest, the actual chopping of the cabbage and making the dressing did take a little more than 5 min. but the total preparation was about one and a half hours.

God Bless!

Connie