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Pastor's Message
June 28, 1998
MARKET PLACE
Every once in a while I catch a few minutes of "Market Place" on a local radio station. That's a program where listeners call in to list items that they want to sell or buy. I find it fascinating although it reminds me of George Carlin's comedy routine about all the "stuff" that people have, needing to get rid of the old stuff to buy new stuff.
The radio program also calls to mind the old saying, "One person's trash is another person's treasure." There are customers who jump at the chance to buy some items. I confess that every so often what I hear makes me want to write down a phone number . . . until I decide that I don't really need that item after all.
For many people there is an ebb and flow between having and not having. Those who have often are ready to get rid of those items. Those who do not have are enticed by them. I have found for myself that possessing something is often less enjoyable than it was saving for, or planning to buy, it.
Possessions do not bring happiness. Even worse, sometimes "stuff" possess us, and we become ensnared by things. To be free of having to have something is to feel really free!
-Fr. Herb
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June 14, 1998
WHAT IS A WEED?
The other day I found a little plant growing among the perennials in my flower garden. I couldn't remember planting it, and I couldn't identify it. Yet it was about to bloom. I wondered if it was a weed. However, just because I did not remember it did not mean that it wasn't intended. Besides, many perennials look like weeds until they bloom. I was in a quandary as to what to do.
Then I got philosophical, asking myself if it mattered whether or not I had planted it. Just because it was a self-appointed guest did not mean that it didn't have something to offer. And if it would bloom, wouldn't that make it a flower of some kind. After all, what is a weed?
I debated for several days. I concluded that it really didn't matter what I decided. I don't have the final say, and I cannot control nature. In our garden of life, there are many times when we have to decide if something is a weed or a friendly flower. Some weeds are obvious in their very "weediness." They choke out others and create havoc with healthy plants. Others, however, are more subtle and offer a pretty bloom even though they are not expected. Scripture says that it is by their fruits that we will know the good from the bad. Until then, weeds and flowers often grow together.
Fr. Herb
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June 7, 1998
AK WAS HERE
Carved in the bark of a tree at the park was the following message, "AK was here!" I wondered who AK was and how long ago he was there. What was AK's age and why did AK want to leave the message?
Each of us passes through life but once. Although we don't always carve messages into trees or spray-paint words on expressway overpasses, we all leave behind little notes indicating that we were there. Part of us is forever present in the lives of the folks we touch, in the events that we were present at.
The journey through life is made up of many steps, and each step counts. As we travel, we sometimes leave behind us reminders of anger or indifference. Other times, our messages are of kindness and gentleness.
Just like AK, we can say that we have been here. Is this corner of the
world, this moment in time, better because we have been here?
Fr. Herb
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