A Vision Quest, as defined by Wikipedia, is a rite of passage in some Naive American cultures. The ceremony of the Vision Quest is one of the most universal and ancient means to find spiritual guidance and purpose - a Vision Quest may provide deep understanding of one's life purpose. Typically the process involves removing oneself from society and going deep into the woods - as on a retreat - for one to four days. In that time the person leaves behind the day to day distractions - living off nature in a basic manner - often with no running water or electricity - "roughing it" in an attempt to get back to nature - to get back to the basics of life and in that time of simplicity - seeking a new vision of the innermost needs of themselves and how they are to focus their energy - on their future - their goals - their purpose in life. Most individuals who participate in a Vision Quest - walk away from that experience - renewed and refreshed. When your life takes on purpose and meaning - life becomes more bearable and tolerable - knowing your personal goal and purpose.
Jesus knew what His purpose was - He did not need a Vision Quest - His Heavenly Father had provided the Vision - the Goal. Yet - He went into the desert - to fast and pray - to focus Himself on the task at hand. Fortified - He left the desert - to accomplish that task. Two thousand years later - we His modern day disciples - walk in His steps - attempting to continue the work He began. Often we stumble and hesitate - confused by the media around us - often we find that we ourselves need to go on our own Vision Quest. When we do - when we walk a different path from that of the World - when we dare to go another way - our true purpose and goal is revealed to us. If your life is confusing - leaving you unfulfilled - take time away from the world and walk your own Vision Quest - Jesus will be with you - every step of the Way.
Deacon Dale
Anything that makes your heart beat faster may be called a heartthrob. This term was popular years ago and is not heard as frequently today. It refers to objects as well as people - a shiny new car - a flashy pair of shoes - a very handsome guy - a pretty girl - may all excite a person to the point that their heart rate increases and "throbs". Popular singers and actors are typically the most popular objects of excitement and affection. That which brings pleasure - real or perceived - generates an excitement above normal levels of interest. Being a heartthrob or having a heartthrob is common for many - a fleeting experience at best and never permanent. Although temporary - heartthrobs add value to life - if only to make us appreciate what we have and what we may attain. It provides hope - in a sea of disappointments and losses.
Jesus was not the original heartthrob - people existed before him who caused the normal experience of excitement - He was the ultimate heartthrob - the One who has endured for thousands of years. Just as His disciples related to each other after meeting Him on the road to Emmaus - "were not our hearts throbbing..." - Jesus caused peoples' heart to beat faster - stronger - because of the excitement He generated as He preached about God's love and forgiveness. He turned stony hearts into fleshy loving hearts - He changed minds and attitudes - He changed how people looked at each other - He changed the World - that alone should make Him your heartthrob.
Deacon Dale
In the Church's liturgical calendar we have now entered into that season known as Ordinary Time. To some this is interpreted as blah - boring - uneventful - mundane - time. The other seasons - Advent - Lent - Christmas - Easter - all seem to have a very special focus in which Holy Scripture has more meaning - more impact - more relevance - to our lives. It is true that each of these four seasons all have their special focus - and for many - special relevance to life itself. What many fail to realize - Ordinary Time - aside from its name - is in no way ordinary. It is just as special as the other seasons - filled with special events and moments - to keep our spiritual energy flowing between the other seasons. It is in ordinary time - the greatest time in the liturgical year - that we live and breathe - that we move and experience - life in its fullest. Our spiritual lives do not take vacations - do not take rest breaks - do not disappear - in ordinary time. It is then that we put into action all that we have learned and experienced in the other seasons.
Jesus lived His life in a very ordinary way - He ate and drank - He worked - He learned and He taught - He experienced life just as anyone else did in His time. How He lived His life was what made Him different. Unlike others - Jesus lived the Truth - spoke the Truth - breathed the Truth. He could do no other than be His ordinary self - and for each of us - we are called to be as ordinary as Jesus - to make our spiritual lives so much a normal part of our lives - that it becomes completely ordinary. The best thing you can do - is be as ordinary as Jesus was.
Deacon Dale
Just a brief post to keep everyone updated on my plans to walk the "Way of Saint James" otherwise known as the "El Camino de Santiago de Compostela". While reading a forum that I belong to that discusses various issues of the Camino, I came across these video clips about the making of the movie "The Way". See here for some insight into the movie and its actors and director. The Way
And a second interview here of Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez The Way
The practice walks are on going - as is equipment selection and testing everything for suitability. As I get back into the swing of normal posts (I am still coping with a dead computer - and have to borrow time on my wife's) I will not only get back to my regular daily posts but I will be starting another blog just about the Camino
Jesus calls each of us to journey with Him - to walk with Him and in His footsteps. The Camino
is a personal journey - even when walked with a companion - for each of us - our journey is our own - but never completely alone - as Jesus always walks with us.
Buen Camino
Deacon Dale
Perhaps that is one of life's biggest questions - to be or not to be - that is the question. Each of us has an inner calling to be - to exist - to excel - to define - our life's purpose. Is it better to be a king or queen - priest or prophet - teacher or student - master or slave? Before we can answer that question - we first must know who we are - what we are made of - where we come from - what our heart and mind tell us. We need to think - research - pray - study - examine - the inner most depths of our being. What influences have we experienced in our childhood - youth - adult lives - what and who has formed us into the person we are today - what are the possibilities for my life for tomorrow? Will we be rich or poor - happy or sad - lonely or fulfilled - all possibilities and options open to us. In time - with a serious effort - we may finally discover the answer to the question - to be or not to be.
When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan by his cousin John - He knew what He was about. He was sure of His mission - His goal - His purpose in life. When the skies opened and the Holy Spirit came upon Him like a dove and He heard the words "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased" - He and His disciples - knew that His was Divine - that His mission and purpose in life had been ordained by God. He taught His disciples - as a good role model - that they too shared in His baptism - in His mission - in His goal and that we - as His modern day disciples - also share in that same baptism and call to ministry. If we truly believe - then we will serve each other as He did.
Deacon Dale
Over the course of the next months I will be periodically posting status updates on our proposed pilgrimage on the "Way of Saint James" in northern Spain. I first learned about the "Way" i.e. "El Camino de Santiago de Compostela" in early October 2012 when I watched the movie "The Way". After being asked by my beautiful wife "do you want to do that?" - I started my research. First - was it just a story written for the wide screen or was it a semi-true story? - I found out it was true It took us about 20 seconds to both agree that we should do it. Since that time I have been doing lots of research - who walks "The Way" and why - how long does it take - can older folks like us do it - what is the cost - what equipment is needed - what do you do while walking 790 Km or approximately 500 miles? The list goes on and it is quite a list. So here we are the first week of 2013 and we have purchased trekking boots and socks - probably the most important pieces of equipment - along with back packs and other goodies. There is more to acquire but since we do not plan on walking until September 2013 - time to acquire the rest. We are currently testing our boots - I am already on my third pair and Arlene is on her second - who would have thought it would be so difficult buying boots? We have started serious walking - with and without the back packs and trekking poles. We not only have to learn how to carry our lives on our backs for some six weeks - we have to also learn how to walk over various terrain - it is a process that will be ongoing for the next eight months. That might sound excessive but my daughter-in-law just spent three months training to run one a half-marathon on one day. We will essentially be walking a half-marathon for some 30 plus days in a row - day after day. We need to build up our endurance - train our feet to be happy walking 15 to 20 miles a day. Will we succeed in our attempt - yes - because we have a vision - a purpose to our craziness.
Lots of people do a lot of crazy things - bungee jump - sky dive - sail around the world - preach the Gospel of Jesus. When Jesus began His preaching ministry - many people thought He was going in a direction that would cause Him problems - and it did. He was preaching a way of life that was counter cultural - going against the flow of common thought. Today - those of us who preach that same Gospel - are still going against the flow of common thought - we preach life that is not what the World preaches. We preach reconciliation with enemies - not war - we preach forgiveness - not hate or revenge - we preach acceptance - not exclusion - we preach community - not individuation - we preach responsibility - not avoidance. We do as Jesus did - for the same reason - because God wills it - not for His good - but ours.
Deacon Dale
A fanatic is a person who is filled with zeal - excessive enthusiasm - for an idea - ideal - project. When a person becomes overly involved in anything - they will appear to family and friends as too involved - to excited - too overwhelming. To understand a fanatic - one needs to walk in their shoes - to find out what all the excitement is about - to learn and understand the ins and outs of whatever it is. On occasion - that which has the fanatic's focus - may be something beyond normal reason and thinking. More often than not - it is a new idea - which has taken root in that person's mind - that bears further scrutiny - further investigation - that holds true merit. These usually bring with them benefits for many people and groups. A person who has become fanatic about exercise very often draws others into the same mindset and as a result a group is created which benefits all of those involved.
Jesus was labeled a fanatic by many because He offered a new vision - a new idea of God. Those who were afraid of change were afraid of Him - those who embraced His new ideas became followers and disciples. What some viewed as going against the common sense - was viewed by many as a fresh breath in a spiritual atmosphere filled with old and stagnant ideas. Because of Jesus' intense focus on spreading His Gospel message of love - forgiveness - reconciliation - the peoples of the World have all benefited - Christian or not. As we begin this new year of 2013 - we should all become fanatic about living the lives that God has intended for us - completely - honestly - spiritually.
Deacon Dale
Happy New Year! The beginning of a new year and a fresh start for everyone. The old year is gone and with it all the disappointments and things left undone. With the beginning of a new year - new opportunities and another chance to accomplish everything that you want. Old projects that had been set aside may now be re-visited - half-finished tasks may now be attacked with new energies and completed - the new year is filled with opportunities - 365 days of possibilities! Each day offers us a chance to look at our lives with a fresh vision - a chance to re-invent and fine tune our skills.
God calls us each day - day after day - to re-imagine ourselves - to imagine what may be - to imagine our possibilities - to imagine a better future. This new year is filled with unbelievable possibilities - possibilities to create - to heal - to forgive - to reunite - to be. All is very possible - with God.
Deacon Dale
To recap means to recapitulate - to repeat in concise form - to restate - to make a summary - to place a cap back on. It is typically at this time of year - at year's end - that many sources will recap the events of the year - looking at where we have been - what we have done - where we are going - to summarize and finalize the current year's events - to mark as final and cap off that year. This process has value to all of us and most everyone will experience this recapping process in many different ways in their lives. Public events - work situations - personal accounting of one's life. To review the past helps us to rediscover the good and bad - the successes and failures - to give us good footing as we venture forth into a new and exciting year. Knowing what to avoid and what to continue - helps us set our aims at new and better goals and improves our chances of success. We begin with anticipation of better things to come.
When we do an annual assessment of our lives - we need to also assess our spiritual lives. Each of us has a spiritual aspect to our lives - whether we acknowledge it or not. Your spiritual life might be zero - completely void - or - completely filled up - satisfying. Wherever you stand - at the moment - is exactly where God wants you to be. In that moment - in that place - in that time - God wants you to experience that emptiness - that fullness - with or without Him. When it is time for you to change - to grow - to experience new things - He will move you - He will call you - He will reveal to you - He will touch you - to cause that change. In the meantime settle for an annual recap - and pray "Come Lord Jesus - Come".
Deacon Dale
A Christian Burial involves the burial tradition of a deceased person following specific Christian rites and rituals normally in consecrated grounds. In the early Christian Church burial was most often interment of the body in the ground. Cremation was frowned upon - in recent years the Christian community has come to accept cremation as an alternate to interment of the body. The question that was often debated was the need for the body in order to share in the ressurection in the last days. Today that issue has - for the most part - been dealt with and is now accepted by all the major denominations - including Catholics. When one is laid to rest it is the dignity of the rite that celebrates the deceased's life and future ressurection. Our prayers - united with all believers - assist the deceased in that "rite of passage" in which they transition from this life into eternal life. We lose our loved ones here - only to be reunited in the life that is to come.
Jesus said that He is the Way - the Truth - the Life. If we only believe in Him - we will have life eternal. As difficult as it is to bury a family member or friend - we must trust in Jesus' promise that "where I am you will be also" (John 14:1-3). It is with trust and faith in Jesus that we are able to say goodbye to those we love and care about.
Deacon Dale
