Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!!! 

With every new year, comes the inevitable looking back to the past, or making resolutions for the future.  At this time I am going to do a little bit of both.

As a school administrator, I get two weeks off at Christmas time, just like the students.  I am going to reflect on the last two weeks, and only the last two weeks, for my memory of the whole year is not that great(or maybe just not interesting).

My wife has finally figured out that I can get some serious housework done on my extended school breaks.  For example, over the Thanksgiving Break, I repainted my daughters bedroom(2 coats) and our bedroom(2 coats), as well.  Anything to keep me from just laying around the house doing nothing, is usually perfect for me.

That being said, I had no idea what I was in for over Christmas Break.  My wife and I decided to get new living room furniture.  The main reason for this decision was the fact that our current furniture was worn out and uncomfortable, not to mention the dogs and the number they have done on our couches.  So we went out on a Saturday, before Mass, and purchased our beautiful new couches and set up delivery for the Tuesday after. 

My wife and I had incredibly different levels of excitement for getting new furniture.  My excitement came in the form of new furniture.  I would no longer have to build up the worn down armrest with pillows.  I would no longer sink down, every time I sat on the worn out, ten year old couch, etc.  My wife's level of excitement came only after she decided that we should sand, stain, and seal our wood floors.  By the way, my wife thought of this project, the day before the furniture was to be delivered.

So, it was off to Lowes to pick up the necessary materials for this endeavor that took about two days longer then I thought.  I must say, I am not good at house work of such magnitude.  This is something that I would normally hire out, for the simple reason, I have no idea what I am doing.  My wife, on the other hand, is more than happy to take on any home improvement task, so off we went.

This is, without a doubt, the hardest, most involved home ownership task I have ever done.  But as you can see, in the pictures below, we(and I use we very lightly, for my wife did most of the work) accomplished this week long task, quite well, if I do say so myself.  And, our new furniture's first couple of days were in the garage covered with plastic, but now it is on floors that look as new as the furniture itself.


This is the floor before any work is done

After phase one, sanding

The early stages of staining and sealing

Finished Product

So over the last week of Christmas Break, you can tell my wife and I were pretty busy.

Now to the resolutions:  my hope is to read more, at least one chapter of a book, per day.  When I say read, I mean read for enjoyment, not for work related things.  So if you have any books recommendations, I will gladly take them.

I also, hope to start grad school, this February, for my Education Specialist(EdS) license.  I would have already been in classes, but the university I plan on attending has had some enrollment issues.

Finally, I hope to blog more often.  It has been a very, very, very long time, but I hope to make more time to share the things that happen in my life, my family life, and my work life.  There are a lot of good things that happen, and I hope to share them with you all, on hopes to balance out the negative things we hear about so often in the news.

Wishing you all the Happiest of New Years.

How Come I Can't Pray When I Need You Most?

Last week I had a principal meeting at St. Mary of the Woods.  St. Mary of the Woods is a convent run by the Sisters of Providence.  The most famous sister from this order was always known to me as Blessed Theodora Guerrin, now called St. Theodora.  She was canonized a saint in 2006, and I can imagine this place has been a buzz ever since.

We came to Saint Mary's, Wednesday evening, and started with a tour of the facilities, including the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, which has the remains of St. Theodora, including her relics.  After that we had a nice dinner, we came back to St. Marys for an evening with Sister Norma.  Sister Norma is always a treat to listen to.  She has a great disposition, a quiet voice, and always shares her personal spiritual journey.

As always, after hearing Sister Norma, I have noticed a challenge, that I struggle with everyday.  Why can't I pray when I need You most?  All I can say to that is, "Let me count the ways."  I am sure there is a specific order for what I am about to write, however, I am going to write the reasons in order of my struggles.  So, I guess I am essentially saying, these are in no particular order.

1.  Satan is as present in our world as God is.
Wow!!! I almost feel that I am going to hell just for typing that.  Imagine this, Satan is the darkness and God is the Light.  When sitting in church one day, it was dark.  When turning on the lights, it was overwhelming to see the church gradually light up from front to back.  Amazing, that day, Fr. Tom talked about how the light can overcome the darkness, but the darkness cannot overcome the light.  See the comparison?  Once the lights were on, darkness could not come back.

When we are in the need of prayer the most, when we truly recognize that we are in need, we are usually in the dark place, Satan's world.  Satan does not sit back and wait for you to acknowledge his presence.  He is actively trying to tempt us, and push us farther away from God.

2.  It is something I can handle and I don't want to bother/need God.
This is probably the excuse I use the most.  With all the daily struggles of being a school leader, with all the training that got me to this point, I often think I am qualified to get the task, at hand, done, I mean that is what I have been trained to do.

Many of the struggles I manage to handle, but some put me over the edge, get me frustrated, or are the reason I lose sleep at night.  Regardless, I am naive to think that I have done the easy task and the hard task without God.  I might think I did it all by myself, and pat myself on the back, but let's be realistic, I know it is God, I just need to recognize and give credit to Him.

3.  Because of my previous actions, I am not worthy.
If I were to have a favorite, this would be it.  Often times, I get myself so far into a jam, there is no where to go except the route of God.  However, I get so embarrassed that I got myself in the jam, that I am even more embarrassed to ask God to help me it of it.  I  know, I know, God will always be loving and kind.  He will always light the way, I just need to flip the switch.  I get it, but the whole point of this is to explain why I do not pray when I need Him most.

One thing that Sister Norma shared about her personal journey of faith, that I hope will allow me to avoid the three things I mentioned, or the many things I did not, is use your struggle for the God's grace.  Take those things that are angering me, or leading me away from prayer, or Him, and give them to God.  Her words were, "God take this.......... that is angering me and frustrating me and help me use it for your will and glory."

Wait a minute!!!!  The thing that I am struggling with, that is taking me away from God, that is being run by the darkness, you want me to offer it to God for His glory????  Absolutely!!!  Remember the light and darkness from the beginning of this post.  There is nothing that can overcome the light, unless we let it.  Inviting God to be part of the struggle will remove the darkness.

Will it still be a struggle for me to recognize I need prayer?  Probably...
Will I fail at giving my struggle to God, or inviting Him to help me with whatever issue I am having?  Absolutely!!!  All I can hope for is that with some knowledge and some strategies I have a better chance of gaining a closer relationship with God.  The closer I am, the better my chance of praying when I need to.

Merry Christmas from a Duck Dynasty Supporter

All,

Before I share with you my rant about Duck Dynasty, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  I am thankful for all of you flattering me, by reading this blog.  I am up to almost 5000 views.  I am truly humbled.  Thank you all and have a great Christmas season.

Alec Mayer

I am sure many of you have heard about the A&E network suspending Phil Robertson, of Duck Dynasty, for what is essentially his religious convictions.  There are some things I have boycotted, a restaurant, a television show, but never have I boycotted an entire television network.  Below is the email I just sent them expressing my disappointment in their decision and what I expect in order to watch their network again, no matter what show is on.

Dear A&E Executives,

 

I have been a longtime fan of the A&E network.  I enjoy the many shows that you produce and air.  Some of my favorites are Storage Wars, Shipping Wars, and Duck Dynasty.  I have never written a letter like this, but I feel that it is time, for I am tired of my Christian beliefs being trampled on.  I am tired of people, who know nothing about my faith, screaming the loudest as if they know what my faith is about.  It is time that you hear from the silent majority instead of catering to the loud minority.

 

I will be somewhat shocked if you are still reading this letter.  It is with great disappointment that you have suspended Phil Robertson, indefinitely, from your television station, for standing up for his religious convictions.  While I do not know Mr. Robertson, personally, I do believe he is a Christian man in his words, and hopefully his actions.  While we are all sinners, and nobody is perfect, I believe Mr. Robertson is a man of God.

 

Suspending Mr. Robertson for his Religious beliefs goes against the First Amendment of the Constitution.  While I would hope you already know that, in my line of work, I always find it is best to be clear in all situations.  Our country, founded on Freedom of Religion, is suffering greatly because of actions, such as yours.  Every time a person’s religious convictions are trampled on, by another group, it pulls us father and farther from the Constitution.

 

I want you to know that I am not joining any boycott, or aligning with any particular group.  I am sending this letter as a concerned citizen.  I am concerned that your catering to a small, but loud, group of people, based on their beliefs, all while trampling on a silent but large group of people because of theirs.  I am not asking you to cater to my large group, for as a Christian man that is not how I choose to do business.  I choose to vote with my choices, as I am sure many others will do as well. 

 

I choose television shows based on my beliefs.  I choose not to watch shows, nor do I allow my children to watch shows that destroy the meaning of family.  I am not a hunter, or “redneck” as they often refer to themselves, on Duck Dynasty.  I would have never watched this show if not for my friends description of the Christian values of the show.  I did latch onto it and now it is one of my favorite shows.  Because of your decision to suspend Mr. Robertson, I will not longer watch your entire network.  This fan will no longer watch about 4 programs because of the way your network has trampled my Christian beliefs.

 

Do not get me wrong.  If you have a show that supports the LGBT or GLAAD lifestyle, I would not write you to, I would just choose not to watch that program.  I find it disappointing that you did not stand up for the right of Christian values and tell the complainers, if they do not like it, choose to watch something else.  It is my experience that when you cater to one group and turn from the rest, the catered group will stay long enough to get their way, and then move to the next task at hand, leaving you high and dry with nobody.  It kind of reminds me of the way that Satan works.

 

I wish you all the best of luck and would hope that you come to your senses and allow me to be part of your programming in the future.  I assure you it will not happen until there is an apology for your reaction to Mr. Robertson and the entire Duck Dynasty company, and an apology to the entire Christian community. 

 

I wish you all a Very Merry CHRISTmas and Happy New Year.

 

Alec Mayer, disappointed and no longer fan

Hope, Change and Adoration...

I am sure there are many people that are not going to read this particular blog entry because of the title.  Hope and Change are two things that have been racing through our society the last 10 years.  Hope and Change is associated with President Obama's campaign, and has been all the rage for quite some time.  I wish you all will give me a chance to prove otherwise.

I start this blog with the definitions of Hope and Change.  Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.  Change is defined as to make or become different.  Both of these words have very personal meanings.  Both words have a meaning that affects the individual personally.  My idea of a certain thing to happen(hope), might be different than yours.  My idea of to become different(change) will most certainly be different than yours.

What about putting these words in a different context? 

Instead of putting my hope in a political system, or the leaders of an organization, I choose to put my Hope in the God.  Lately, I have had my struggles.  I have been overwhelmed with all aspects of my life.  Things had been building and building.  I tried to dodge the bullet, so to speak, put out the fire, etc. and they all came upon me at one time and I could not handle it anymore.  So I took drastic measures.

In the Catholic faith, we have Eucharist Adoration.  It is a time where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, in a monstrance, and people will sit and pray before the Sacrament.  We believe that the Eucharist is the actual body of Christ.  We believe that Christ is actually present.  In our parish, we can adore Christ, just about every day of the week.  There is at least one person, but usually more, in adoration every hour from 6AM-9PM.  I, for the first time, willingly decided to attend Adoration and share time with God.  For those that follow my blog, you know that me spending time in deep conversation with God, is a huge struggle.

Anyway, I decided to spend some time in prayer, in our Adoration chapel.  I went looking for answers to some of my issues, but really, looking back in hindsight, I went because God had humbled me.  I had just about enough of trying to do things my way, that I decided to attend the chapel to listen what God wanted me to do.  I went looking for answers, but really I was searching for Hope. 

Well, as you can imagine, after stumbling through the process of having a conversation with God that went something like, "God, I am not worthy to be in your presence.  I know that you are always there for me, but I have pushed you away to do things my way, so I am not worthy...." I prayed for guidance.  I asked for direction.  I asked if I am doing the right things.  It wasn't until a couple of days later, that I realized I was going to God looking for Hope, a desire for a certain thing to happen.  I needed to change and I needed it very soon, or I was not going to make it based on the path I was on.  I hoped that God would redirect my path, towards His kingdom.

Well wouldn't you know it, after some time in Adoration, being humbled by God, getting down on my knees and begging forgiveness, I started to notice change.  Now, I am not talking about the change like some people might think.  For example, I did not ask for the winning lottery numbers and they magically appeared.  I am talking about a change in my path.  I knew the path I was on, was not leading me anywhere I wanted to go.  I need a change in direction, a change in understanding.  I need something to be different.  I have tried and tried to change on my own, but that clearly wasn't working.

So I ask... Where do you go for Hope and Change?  Do you get it from your boss, your local political leaders?  After the most humbling experience, I have decided no more.  I will place my Hope in God and allow Him to Change me.  True Hope and Change can only come from God.  I know that we think we can change things, or hope for anything, but true hope and change can only come with the guidance of God, whether or not we decide to give Him credit is a different story.  Need something to change in your life, put your hope in God, and be ready for the changes to occur. 

Do you want to see a Change?  Are you comfortable with where you are, or do you want more from your life? Do you allow yourself to hope, after (possibly) being disappointed by who/what you placed your hope in before? Placing our hope in God is vulnerable and makes us dependent, two qualities that we as human beings tend to run away from like a disease..."I can sustain myself, I can make myself happy, I can fix what is wrong"...To hope in God means that we have to WAIT on God. Are "you" willing to hope?

Who would you take?

 

 

Imagine a bus.  Not the necessarily the bus above, just your typical, everyday bus.  Imagine you owned this bus and could take anyone you wanted on this bus.  Who would you pick to ride on your bus?

  

I give you this image because of our recent guest priest, Fr. Mike.  Fr. Mike is a missionary priest for Food for the Poor.  I know it is a little early for a side note, but when you hear missionary priest, it is typical for them to ask for money for their mission, not Fr. Mike.  Fr. Mike came to thank us for donating to Food for the Poor, last year, and of course to ask again, but not via second collection.

 

Fr. Mike's group is responsible for those living in poverty on some tropical island.  While he was visiting, Fr. Mike's guide told all the priest from this mission to get on the bus, for they were going to the dump.  Yes, the place where household trash is discarded.  Fr. Mike talked about driving into this dump and finding a colony of about 500 people.  This colony survives on the trash that is thrown in the dump.   They might get food, build shelter, get clothing, etc.  Imagine someone, in our country, going to the dump to get the basic survival needs.  I believe this is for another blog.

 

Anyway, Fr. Mike said as the bus entered the dump, a group of people will follow the bus, running along side of it, in hopes to get the best of whatever is about to be dumped.  His visit was no different, with the exception of Juan.  Juan, a child, was the first one seen by those on the bus.  Fr. Mike told the driver to stop the bus and let Juan on the bus.  Juan was so shocked, that there was a long pause before getting on the bus.  All the while, the bus was filling with flies and a stench that was about unbearable.

 

After a long visit to the dump, it was time for all to get back on the bus.  Fr. Mike started to say good-bye to Juan, but not without asking questions.  Fr. Mike asked Juan the best part of his day, and of course Juan said, riding the bus.  Juan felt like a normal person, one that comes into the dump and not a person that lives in the dump.  By this time, my eyes were starting to fill with tears.

 

We live in a world of possessions.  Many people are judged by the things they have, not who they are.  I imagine myself on that bus.  Would I have the courage to ask the driver to stop and pick up Juan?  How many times have I driven by someone stranded on the side of the road?  How many times have I lived in fear that if I stop, the consequences could have unpleasant results? 

 

Thanks to Fr. Mike for reminding us we all deserve to be on the bus.  Thank you for reminding us that whatsoever you do...  Thanks for the reminder, that when we work for God, we honor Him and are protected by Him. 

 

So again I ask, who is on your bus?

Pope Francis' Five Finger Prayer

As many of you know, I have struggled with my prayer life.  If you read my last post, there are many different reasons I struggle.  I have shared this personal struggle with my staff, and I have challenged them to not allow our students to be in the same boat, as an adult, that I am.  It is easy to teach children the rote prayers, but one of my teachers shared with us Pope Francis' Five Finger Prayer and I must say, I love it!!!  Leave it up to my great staff, to come up with ways to be teachers of prayer instead of teaching a prayer.  I hope you like this.

POPE FRANCIS' FIVE FINGER PRAYER

Looking at the picture above, you will see the five fingers.  Below is what each finger represents and could be taught to a child, very quickly. 

     1.  The thumb... The thumb is the closest finger to you.  So start praying for those who are closest to you.  They are the persons easiest to remember.  To pray for our dear ones is a "sweet obligation."

     2.  The next finger is the index.  Pray for those who teach you, instruct you and heal you.  They need the support and wisdom to show direction to others.  Always keep them in your prayers.

     3.  The following finger is the tallest.  It reminds us of our leaders, the Presidents, Kings, Governors and those who have authority.  They need God's guidance.

     4.  The fourth finger is the ring finger.  Even though it may surprise you, it is the weakest finger.  It should remind us to pray for the weakest, the sick or those plagued by problems.  They need your prayers.

     5.  And finally we have our smallest finger.  The smallest of them all.  Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself.  When you are done praying for the other four groups, you will be able to see your own needs, but in proper perspective, and also you will be able to pray for your own needs in a better way.

What a terrific start to teach our children to be effective people of prayer.  While it is not necessarily putting us in a deep conversation with God, it is allowing us to move our children to the next step in an effective prayer life. Again, nothing wrong with teaching the rote prayers, it is a must, in my opinion.  But now it is time to move on!! 

May the Lord continue to bless Pope Francis with the wisdom to be our teacher...

 



 





Somebody teach me...

I have to say I am embarrassed.  I am embarrassed because, as a Catholic School Principal, I just admitted to my staff that I do not feel comfortable with prayer.  I am not comfortable because, like anything else, I was not told what to do.  Much like school, we tell our children what we want them to learn and the students gain the knowledge that they need to pass a test or quiz.  It is how we are trained.  And since I was never "taught" how to pray, I have zero confidence in my prayer life.

There are many reasons people do not pray, they do not have faith, nobody ever showed them, nobody ever taught them to do it correctly.  You can rest assured, I have used everyone of those excuses and more. 

Don't get me wrong, I have the rote prayers down(Glory Be, Hail Mary, Creed).  I know them like the back of my hand.  To be honest, I probably could not write the prayers down on paper, because they are so rote in my head, that I do not have to think about them.  I am talking about the deep, spiritual prayer life with God, that I often hear about.  I do not have the skill to sit down and have a conversation with God.

As stated before, I have told my staff that I wish someone would have taught me to pray.  I wish someone would have sat down with me and explained the whole idea of having a true relationship with God, via prayer.  Instead, my parents have done exactly what I have done to my children, and taught me the rote prayers.  The rote prayers are great, but how do we get to that spiritual relationship?

Being a cradle Catholic, I have heard the gospel's over and over and over and over.  The only way I am going to hear a gospel for the first time is if they write a new gospel.  Guessing that is not going to happen.  However, I am amazed at the number of ways a priest can give a homily on the gospels.  

So here I sit, a couple of weeks ago, praying before Mass, and asking God for this, that and the other.  I am sitting there wondering if what I am doing is correct.  I am praying for guidance on how to teach my children to pray so they do not have the same feelings, as an adult, that I am feeling.  Well, low and behold, if there was ever a doubt God has conversations with me, it was brought to an end at that Mass.

In the Gospel, the disciples asked Jesus, "how do we pray?"  Jesus give the answer that becomes "The Lord's Prayer."  Wow!!!  Here I sit, asking God to help me become a better person of prayer and then he gives me the perfect prayer!!  God is GREAT!!!

The thing that is best about this prayer is that it is the perfect prayer.  Imagine, God giving us the perfect prayer, coincidence, I don't think so.  The "Lords Prayer" is the perfect prayer because it has the four parts of a successful prayer.(wait, there are four parts to the perfect prayer???  This is just what I have been looking for). 

The four parts of any prayer should consist of petitions, thanksgiving, forgiveness and adoration.  While I might not say "The Lord's Prayer" every time I pray, I can guide my prayers around those four things.  Some examples that I have done lately are as follows:

Heavenly Father- Starts by adoring Him and recognizing Him.
Thank you for.....- Listing all the things I am thankful for in my life, or just that day.  The most important thing I thank Him for is the death of His Son, Jesus, who died for my sins, so that I can have the opportunity to follow Him and receive forgiveness of my sins.
I want to pray for...  Here I list all those that I believe need prayer.
I ask that you help me...This is basically the spot I ask for forgiveness of my sins and to help me overcome the situation that is leading me to sin.

You see, I just prayed the perfect prayer.  I accomplished all four task in my prayer.  I must say, up until the last couple of weeks, my prayers were all about me, and I knew that it wasn't right.  It cannot always be about me and I knew that, but it was better than nothing.  Now that I know the four basic, yet important, parts of prayer, my prayer life has changed.  It is not about me, it is about the deep, personal conversation with God.  Even when I am asking and not always listening, it is about the relationship.

Imagine that, the Bible knew the answer all along.  How many more times is God gonna hit me in the head before I just turn to him in the first place.