For Halloween: Poems about Candy
This week we celebrate Halloween. I feel bad, my dear readers, that I can’t give each of you any real candy for Halloween So I looked around for another “treat” that I might share with you. And I found one!
Sister Doreen Strahler, one of our retired sisters, has written a series of poems about candy. She calls her “private manuscript” Sweet Lessons of Life. She has graciously allowed me to post some of her poems on my blog. I hope you will find the poems and the lessons they impart a real treat for Halloween!
Hershey Bar with Almonds
The bumps along the road of life I certainly do not savor,
but like the almonds in my Hershey Bar, they do provide new flavor.
Kit Kat
When all the work is piled up and you don’t know what first to do,
just break strips off like a Kit Kat wafer, and soon your work is through.
Peppermint Pattie
A smile and a cheerful word, a heart that is full of bliss
is somewhat like a Peppermint Pattie: its scent is hard to miss.
Good & Plenty
The outside may be pink or white, Good and Plenty is the name.
Forget the outside differences, the inside is the same.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
The shapes of many bars are alike, but with Reese’s Cups I’ve found
the shape doesn’t matter to the taste; it’s delicious, rectangular or round.
Bit-O-Honey
A loving little kindness, a pleasant word I say
is like a Bit-O-Honey to sweeten another’s day.
Twizzlers
The Twizzler’s grooves twine around. Twisting is their fate.
Something like the paths of life, not all of them are straight.
Life Savers
The candy with the hole in the middle comes in several flavors.
It shows that there are many ways in which to be Life Savers.
Hershey’s Hugs and Kisses
When a friend’s way is long and the day is dark,
and the trip seems not worth while,
just try to help with a Hug and a Kiss
to shorten that long, long mile.
Happy Halloween to All!
Do any of the poems or their lessons touch you today? If so, why?
Do you have a favorite candy?
Do you have a favorite Halloween memory?
PS: A big thank you for your prayers for my time in Racine, WI. And a big thank you for all the wonderful people I met there, prayed with, shared with, and enjoyed. Special thanks to Claire, Jim, and the entire staff for all they did to make my time at Siena Retreat Center such a worthwhile experience!
Since Halloween is the eve of the feast of All Saints, I chose a “saint song” for today. It’s the famous 19th century hymn, “For All the Saints” set to a 21st Century tune. I hope you like it!
Would you like to respond to anything in today’s blog? If so, please respond below.
Quotations under "L"
It’s time to visit my quotation files again. As many of you know, I have a vast collection of quotations that I started collecting when I was a college student. Today my thousands of quotations are on 3 X 5 cards and are stored in seven drawers. Today I thought we would visit the letter “L.” Here are 25 quotations under L. I suggest you read them slowly, pausing after each one…
Law:
1) The purpose of law is to prevent the strong from always having their way. (Ovid, first Century Roman poet)
2) All laws are an attempt to domesticate the natural ferocity of the human species. (John Gardner)
3) Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Leadership:
4) A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be. (Rosalyn Carter)
5) Good leadership requires you to surround yourself with people of diverse perspectives who can disagree with you without fear of retaliation. (Doris Kearns Goodwin)
6) Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders. (Tom Peters)
7) The trouble with being a leader is you can’t tell whether people are following you or chasing you. (Anonymous)
Leisure:
8) The Chinese pictograph for “busy” is composed of two characters: heart and killing.
9) Jesus knows we must come apart and rest awhile, or else we may just plain come apart. (Vance Havner)
Letters:
10) To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart. (Phyllis Theroux)
11) Letters are among the most significant memorials a person can leave behind them. (Goethe)
12) Never write a letter while you are angry. (Chinese proverb)
13) I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. (St. Teresa of Calcutta)
Life:
14) What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters when compared with what lies within us. (William Morrow)
15) Everything that happens to you is your teacher. The secret is to sit at the feet of your life and be taught. (Polly Berrien Berends)
16) The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. (William James)
Listening:
17) Listen or your tongue will keep you deaf. (Proverb)
18) The first duty of love is to listen. (Paul Tillich)
19) Someone has said it is possible “to listen a person’s soul into existence.” I like that. (Catherine de Hueck Doherty)
20) Lead a listening life. Order your outward life so that nothing drowns out the listening. (Thomas Kelly)
Love:
21) The love of neighbor in all its fullness simple means being able to say to him or her, “What are you going through?” (Simone Weil)
22) God walks in when we’re loving. (John Powell, SJ)
23) If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each one’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. (Longfellow)
24) Love cures people—both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. (Karl Menninger)
25) Twenty percent of a hummingbird’s body weight is its heart.
Do any of these quotations stand out for you? If so, which one(s) and why?
I’m always looking for good quotes. Do you have any quotes that I might copy and file under “L”?
PS: I ask your prayers for the presentation and the weekend retreat I’ll be giving at Siena Retreat Center in Racine, WI Oct. 25-28. I hope to meet some of your there. Check their website (www.sienaretreatcenter.org) for details. Thank you!
The word lovely also begins with L. Here is a lovely picture taken by one of the Bergamo retreatants, Pam of Kettering, OH. She said she was walking across the parking lot at Fairmont High School when she glanced down and saw these two heart-shaped leaves on the asphalt–so she took this picture… You never know when beauty is going sneak up on you and surprise you!
The word lively begins with L… Here’s a new lively song by Mercyme called “Grace Got You.” The beat is strong, the words go fast, the message is great: We have much to sing, glide, dance, laugh, and smile about—because God’s Grace has hold of us!
I welcome you to respond below to anything in this post. I love hearing from you!
Quotations under “L”
It’s time to visit my quotation files again. As many of you know, I have a vast collection of quotations that I started collecting when I was a college student. Today my thousands of quotations are on 3 X 5 cards and are stored in seven drawers. Today I thought we would visit the letter “L.” Here are 25 quotations under L. I suggest you read them slowly, pausing after each one…
Law:
1) The purpose of law is to prevent the strong from always having their way. (Ovid, first Century Roman poet)
2) All laws are an attempt to domesticate the natural ferocity of the human species. (John Gardner)
3) Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Leadership:
4) A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be. (Rosalyn Carter)
5) Good leadership requires you to surround yourself with people of diverse perspectives who can disagree with you without fear of retaliation. (Doris Kearns Goodwin)
6) Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders. (Tom Peters)
7) The trouble with being a leader is you can’t tell whether people are following you or chasing you. (Anonymous)
Leisure:
8) The Chinese pictograph for “busy” is composed of two characters: heart and killing.
9) Jesus knows we must come apart and rest awhile, or else we may just plain come apart. (Vance Havner)
Letters:
10) To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart. (Phyllis Theroux)
11) Letters are among the most significant memorials a person can leave behind them. (Goethe)
12) Never write a letter while you are angry. (Chinese proverb)
13) I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. (St. Teresa of Calcutta)
Life:
14) What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters when compared with what lies within us. (William Morrow)
15) Everything that happens to you is your teacher. The secret is to sit at the feet of your life and be taught. (Polly Berrien Berends)
16) The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. (William James)
Listening:
17) Listen or your tongue will keep you deaf. (Proverb)
18) The first duty of love is to listen. (Paul Tillich)
19) Someone has said it is possible “to listen a person’s soul into existence.” I like that. (Catherine de Hueck Doherty)
20) Lead a listening life. Order your outward life so that nothing drowns out the listening. (Thomas Kelly)
Love:
21) The love of neighbor in all its fullness simple means being able to say to him or her, “What are you going through?” (Simone Weil)
22) God walks in when we’re loving. (John Powell, SJ)
23) If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each one’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. (Longfellow)
24) Love cures people—both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. (Karl Menninger)
25) Twenty percent of a hummingbird’s body weight is its heart.
Do any of these quotations stand out for you? If so, which one(s) and why?
I’m always looking for good quotes. Do you have any quotes that I might copy and file under “L”?
PS: I ask your prayers for the presentation and the weekend retreat I’ll be giving at Siena Retreat Center in Racine, WI Oct. 25-28. I hope to meet some of your there. Check their website (www.sienaretreatcenter.org) for details. Thank you!
The word lovely also begins with L. Here is a lovely picture taken by one of the Bergamo retreatants, Pam of Kettering, OH. She said she was walking across the parking lot at Fairmont High School when she glanced down and saw these two heart-shaped leaves on the asphalt–so she took this picture… You never know when beauty is going sneak up on you and surprise you!
The word lively begins with L… Here’s a new lively song by Mercyme called “Grace Got You.” The beat is strong, the words go fast, the message is great: We have much to sing, glide, dance, laugh, and smile about—because God’s Grace has hold of us!
I welcome you to respond below to anything in this post. I love hearing from you!
The Shovel
Usually I write my reflection first and then pick a song. Today, however, I picked the song and then wrote this reflection. The song is “A Shovel Is a Prayer” by Carrie Newcomer. Before we hear the song, let’s look at the fascinating tool called a shovel.
First, a definition. A shovel is a tool used for digging, lifting, or moving materials such as soil, coal, rocks, gravel, snow, sand, etc. The modern shovel traces its origin back to Neolithic times (10,000 – 3000 B.C.) when 
humans fashioned the first shovels from the bones of large animals—usually the shoulder bone (scapula) or the pelvic bone. The oldest wooden shovel, found in ancient Egypt, dates back to 1750 B.C. Over time, with the discovery of metals, shovels were greatly improved since metals were stronger and longer lasting than bone or wood.
The shovel was the chief means of excavation and construction until the invention of the steam shovel (about 1839) and, later, hydraulic equipment such as excavators, backhoes, and loaders (post World War II.) This means, everything built or mined or farmed before the dawn of these inventions was chiefly done by shovels!
The oldest shovel manufacturing company in the U.S. is the Ames Company, founded in 1774 in West Bridgewater, MA by John Ames. It is still in business today in Parkersburg, WVA. I visited their website and learned many things. Their motto is, “Our Tools Built America.” Their claim is not an exaggeration. In 1775, for example, the Revolutionary Army troops used Ames shovels to dig in on the heights overlooking Boston Harbor. Without those shovels, the colonists might not have won the War of Independence.
When gold was discovered in California in 1848, Ames shovels were used to extract the gold from the earth. As mentioned earlier, shovels were used during wars to dig defensive trenches for battle. Abraham Lincoln personally asked Oakes Ames, son of the founder, to supply the Union Army with shovels. By 1874, the Ames company was making 60% of the world’s shovels! The company supplied shovels for World War I, World War II (the company made 11 million shovels for Allied troops!), and the Korean War. During the Vietnam War, the company supplied troops with 275,000 folding, lightweight entrenching tools. Ames shovels also helped build the Transcontinental Railroad (1863-1869), the New York subway system (started in 1904), the Panama Canal (1903-12), Mt. Rushmore (1927-41), the Empire State Building (1929-31), the Hoover Dam (1931-1935), and the Golden Gate Bridge (1933-37).
Here are a few more facts about the shovel:
* Manual shovels employed large numbers of workers. Today, a few skilled workers using powered excavators can replace hundreds of laborers.
* When I was in India in 1999, I travelled all over the country with two SND’s and several lay people. One of the men in the group said one day, “I’ve been in India for over a week and I haven’t seen a single backhoe.” He was amazed.
* There are all kinds of shovels including these: coal shovel, snow shovel, grain shovel, gardening trowel, roofing shovel (to remove old shingles), spade, scoop (Yes, the ice-cream scoop is really a little shovel!), dustpan, fireplace shovel, trenching shovel, and toy shovel (frequently seen in the hands of children at the beach or in the sandbox!)
* In 1929, when Herbert Hoover, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison laid the cornerstone at Greenfield Village outside Detroit, they used Ames shovels!
Have you had any experiences with shovels that you could share with us?
Does anything in this reflection stand out for you?
PS: Once again I was inspired by the women who made the weekend retreat at Bergamo Retreat Center in Dayton. I thank them for their attentiveness, their prayerfulness, their goodness, and their sense of fun. Special thanks to Diane and her committee for making the retreat run so beautifully.
Next presentations: I will be at the Siena Retreat Center in Racine, Wisconsin giving an evening presentation entitled “What Does a Healthy Spirituality Look Like?” on Thursday Oct. 25 and a weekend retreat Oct. 26-28 entitled “Hanging onto Hope.” I would love to see you at both or either of these events. Visit the website for details: www.SienaRetreatCenter.org.
As I said earlier, the song today is “A Shovel Is a Prayer” by Carrie Newcomer. In addition to a shovel, the song suggests other images for prayer.
Newcomer says a shovel is a prayer… Or a friend bringing over some soup… What else has been a prayer for you?
I invite you to share your thoughts with us below:
God Leaves the Porch Light on for Us
Sometimes there’s a line from a commercial that captures something profound about life. Motel 6’s line from their commercials does that for me. It says, “We’ll leave the light on for ya.”
Motel 6 began using the line in 1986. It happened by accident. The advertising agency had asked Tom Bodett, a National Public Radio personality, if he would do the commercial for them. They liked his warm and folksy voice. At the end of the first taping session, Bodett ad-libbed the now famous words: “We’ll leave the light on for ya.” The company liked the line so much, they kept it as their slogan. To this day, the line is still being used. In fact, the ad, with Bodett’s voice and the catchy music, was named one of the top 100 best advertising campaigns in the 20th Century!
I began to wonder why I like this line so much. I think it goes back to my childhood. I was raised in a semi-rural area where it got very dark at night. Streetlights were almost non-existent. Houses, often with long driveways, were few and far between. But when we pulled into our driveway after dark, we saw that light shining on the side porch. My mother had remembered to put it on before we left for the day.
That little porch light told us we were home. And we were safe. Even today, when I come home late, I’m relieved and happy to see the two porch lights on for me. The two sisters I live with remembered to put them on. The porch light means I won’t have to navigate the porch steps or fumble with my keys in the dark. What’s more, the porch light always makes me feel welcome.
This made me wonder: Does the line “We’ll leave a light on for ya,” have any relevancy for our spiritual life? Does God leave the light on for us? I think God does. I figure it this way. We are all on our way home. Sometimes our earthly journey is well-lit and easy and safe. Other times our journey is dark and difficult and scary. Maybe we can’t see clearly where we’re going. And we begin to fear we will never find our way home.
But God leaves “porch lights” on for us along our way. Often these porch lights are people—especially our family and friends. They show up just when we need them. Their words or deeds or example help illuminate our way.
Other times the porch lights can be a line from scripture, a paragraph in a
spiritual book, a sentence from a homily, a news clip about an individual who inspires us, the smile or giggle of a child, the reassuring touch of a loved one, a thoughtful gesture from a neighbor, the purr of a cat, or the sight of a maple tree decked out in bright red leaves.
Whatever form the porch light takes, it gives us courage and strength to continue on our journey home, knowing that God is with us every step of the way.
What are some of the porch lights that are helping you find your way home?
PS: A big thank you to the Sisters of the Holy Cross I met in South Bend when I facilitated their retreat last week. What a beautiful group of women! Special thanks to Sr. Mary Ellen and to Kay for helping to make the retreat run so smoothly.
PS #2: I ask your prayers for a women’s retreat I’ll be leading this weekend (Oct. 13-14) at Bergamo retreat center near Dayton, OH. Thank you!
I found this short video “by chance.” At first it sounds like an old ad for Motel 6. But it has a good message and a surprise ending…
Our song for today is “Christ Be Our Light” composed by Bernadette Farrell:
I welcome your response to this reflection, the question, the video, or the song.
