Let It Snow

Well, January is over. Have you had your fill of snow yet? Like everyone else, I am happy to see this month of white weather behind us and hope February will be a little kinder. So many people I have talked to this year, said they wish they could just hibernate for the winter and wake up in the spring. Well yes, that may be a solution but despite the nasty weather think about what you would miss. There are so many wonderful things that happen each day, ordinary, wonderful things. Like a phone call from a friend, a smile on a child's face or a hand on your shoulder helping you through a rough patch now and then. Of course there are also the opportunities that would pass us by as well. Opportunities to help our neighbor (even if it's digging out their car!), to be with loved ones in all kinds of ways, smell a warm winter meal simmering on the stove (mine's pot roast-what's yours?), and the list can go on.

I have always found the most extraordinary moments in the simple, ordinary events of life that unfold before us each day. God's presence revealed each day in unexpected ways. It is what makes life exciting, interesting and a great adventure not to be missed. So leave the hibernation to the bears and enjoy life each day (even the snowy ones) and take the path (or make the path) on the road God calls us to follow. Peace!

2011-It's Official!

Happy New Year, everyone! As 2011 came to pass, I must admit I was not one of the million or so in Times Square. No I was at home (probably like most of humanity) quietly watching the festivities on TV and thinking back to so many New Year's Eve's in times past. Now depending on your age you may or may not relate to this but my earliest and perhaps happiest memories of this event was when I was living in Jackson Heights at about the age of 8++. We would have a special treat in our apartment (usually just Mom and the kids) and in my family that treat would be onion dip. cream cheese with chives, pretzels and potato chips all washed down with root beer, or coke. We would munch and watch (in black and white) all these rich looking men and ladies dancing in a ballroom in NYC while a famous man named Guy Lombardi and his orchestra played. Every year his brother (I think his name was Carmine) would sing a song called "Boo Hoo" and for some reason we found that very funny. The time would arrive......Guy would start the countdown and when we hit that momentous moment we would all shout "Happy New Year" at which point apartment doors would swing open and all of us kids (accompanied by our parents) would rush into the hallways and up and down the stairs repeating the chant, "Happy New Year" while banging one of Mom's pots with a big spoon. In about 10 minutes, it was done, the New Year had been officially proclaimed at 35-63 89th Street in as festive a manner as we thought possible. It was simple, it was sweet and best of all it was ushered in with spirits filled with hope and anticipation of wonderful adventures that lie ahead! Of course, it also meant that our Christmas vacation was soon over and we would be back in school, back to our ordinary routine.
So what about this year. Once again we have greeted in a new year and hopefully despite all the ways our world has changed and we along with it, we can still conjur up some of that hopeful spirit we recall from the new years' we greeted when we were young and still innocent. Yes, things are different today and the world certainly has its problems. Wars, economic woes, global warming, cyberbullying, hate and distrust of others because they are different, you can add others as well. However, does not every year and generation have its challenges (and blessings) as well? What's important is not so much that we usher in a new year but a new outlook on the life we will live in 2011. What will make this a better year for us and ultimately the lives of others we relate to at home, school, work etc? Each has to entertain that question for themselves. For me, it will be to let go and let God be God in my life. To trust that the will of God will not take me where the grace of God will not protect me. Finally to once in a while, kick back, enjoy the simple things in life (get out the chips and dip) and maybe even bang on a pot and shout Halleluia just for being me! May 2011 be a year of peace, laughter, love and joy for each of you and all you hold dear.