Each section is a separate thought.

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20260220 Where can we find the Lord? If he is in heaven, how do we get there? I have this ongoing scenario of walking along the seashore on the beach and coming to a very high wall. So high it seems to touch the clouds. And very faintly I can hear beautiful music coming over the wall. So beautiful, so intriguing, I have to see over the wall and see who is there, and who is making it. So, I decide to pile some sand to stand on and try and see over the wall. But after piling for a while, I don’t have much of a pile, so I go and get a shovel. I piled faster and higher but didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. Sometimes friends come by and offer to help for a while, but the pile doesn’t seem to grow much. Then I realized that every shovel full of sand adds very little to the height of the pile since the sand runs down to add to the base. The higher you want to make the pile, the broader the base has to be so I end up making a bigger and bigger pile that doesn’t increase much in height. I have to pause and reflect on why I was doing this in the first place? That makes me realize that seeing over the wall this way is unlikely to happen. So too I begin to understand that I can’t work my way into heaven. I believe the gates of heaven are open, and we have been invited in, what I still struggle with is why am I struggling so much with understanding all this and being at peace.

20251226 It is quite common recently to be asked to complete a survey after receiving a service. Whether it is a restaurant, online purchase or even a visit to a doctor or hospital we are asked to provide feedback and/or take a survey. It isn’t totally clear how seriously these are taken, but my experience is that often the feedback is considered. It is part of a process called CMI (Continuous Measurable Improvement). Is this something offensive? I think not. All of us recognition after doing some project or process that there are things we could have done better. So, we intend to apply those improvements the next time we do the same project or process. I have seen this work many times in the real world. I also know that stuff happens. We sometimes slip backward or make an unintended mistake, and things are not significantly better. Yet after repeatedly applying the methodology things do get better. What is involved? First, the desire to get better. Then, a careful review of what we do and how we do it. Then, an analysis of where we can avoid mistakes and make outcomes better. Even tiny improvements can add up over time. Just one snowflake may melt away, but if enough of them fall the landscape will be covered with snow. So why am I mentioning something that almost everyone would agree with and support. Where is the best example of where CMI is not practiced, and apparently not desired? Yes, the Church. To apply a punch line from an old joke, “If God wanted the Church to be better, he would have gone to a priest/bishop first”. For an institution that is 2000 years old, it is amazing (or embarrassing) that there is so little desire to be better. I’m not talking about doctrine, the church seems to have done a creditable job of reviewing, revising, and promoting what it believes the Lord wants it to believe. I’m talking about feeding the widows. The processes that it uses in conducting the liturgies, singing praises, caring for the sheep, communicating its goals, and building a Christian community on earth. These and other areas are in need of CMI. I am struggling here to define precisely what is needed. The church should not be a place you go to because you have to, but a place you go to because you want to! There is an old saying: Many hands make light work. Combining that saying with an attitude of CMI would make to Church what I believe the Lord wants it to be.

20251205 I have been thinking lately about careers. We go through life with certain ideas about what to study, what to prepare for. What careers will we gravitate toward and participate in. That leads to the question of what careers we will have in the afterlife? Rather than meander down that tortured path consider the question what careers will priests have in the afterlife. Well, my thinking is the priesthood is a career that has no afterlife future. In heaven we have the beatific vision. There is no need for a priesthood, or priests per se. No need to have confessions, to say Masses, to give sermons, to lead processions, to give sermons. So, if that’s the case what is a priest’s role in this life? 

In a recent homily, a priest pointed out that in the first couple of thousand years the church viewed Christ as a shepherd. Then in the early 20th century it was decided that he was a king. What about priests? A pastor should be synonymous with shepherd. Should we now say king? For a career that has no role in the afterlife, maybe we should consider this more carefully. Here are my thoughts in the form of a parable (with apologies to Jesus for piggy backing on his parable).

There was a priest who did not appear to be fulfilling his priestly duties as his master desired. So, his master called him in and said you can’t be my disciple any longer, give up your flock and move out. The priest became concerned and began to think. What shall I do? I don’t have a role in the afterlife, and I can’t beg. Most of my flock will have a mansion in heaven, how can I get them to welcome me? So he came up with a plan. He began to call members of his flock in one-by-one. To the first, he said how many prayers did you promise the Lord? He said 1000. The priest said change your promise to 500, and I will pray you into heaven. To the next he asked: How many good works did you plan to do? He answered 700. The priest said tell the Lord 400, and I will pray you into heaven. To the third, he asked her how much time did you plan spending in evangelizing your environments?, and she answered 800 hours. The priest told her plan on 700, and I will pray you into heaven. And so, he visited all the members of his flock. When he had finished his master called him in and commended him for his conversion. He told the priest you have come to realize what it means to be a shepherd and care for your flock. You too will be welcomed into my kingdom.