Prologue                                        

I am inserting this little notation as a way to explain my absence for a week.   I started this post seven days ago, but as life often gets in the way of life (well, that’s how I define all of the interruptions!) such as, just as I am sure you all may also experience, the June array of bridal showers, weddings, graduations, birthdays, pool time, baseball outings, lawn care (that pesky euonymus!), jobs (even the 5-10 hour/week ones…LOL), lemonade stands (to be explained in the next post), religious liberty rallies (ditto for the next post), visits from old friends, research for “p” blogs………………………well…………………..you get the picture.

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Where do I begin???????????  Well, I know where I won’t begin………………………….I won’t begin with any words about our President & I further promise you that I will not utter one, single, solitary political utterance for the entire length of this blog post!!!!!  There……………………….are you all breathing a sigh of relief?? You may now “safely” proceed:

Before the Memorial Tournament interrupted my thought process last week and started me out on a whole different topic than I had intended (which I cannot reference as it would lead to the mentioning of the “p” word…….LOL),  I had planned to write about another rather remarkable incident that happened to me.  It was the last Wednesday of the school year in which all eight grades at I.C. had their last opportunity to gather at Mass as an entire student body.  Usually there is a small group of daily church goers who remain after the Mass to pray the rosary, but on this particular day, after all of the students had finally departed, I found myself to be the only one remaining with the exception of one or two parishioners who were helping out in the sacristy.  And so, I decided to go over to one of the shrines devoted to  Our Lady which is set off to the side in the rear of the church.   I took out the rosary which had belonged to my Mom and began to meditate on the Glorious Mysteries.  Now for those of you who are not familiar with the Catholic tradition of the rosary,  it consists of the recitation of specific prayers corresponding with particular beads (from the Anglo-Saxon word “bede”, meaning prayer).  Around the rosary chain there are five sets of each of these beads and each set of ten beads is called a decade, and the thoughts during the prayer are directed to focus on a different mystery representing significant events in the life of Christ and Mary, His Mother.  (Clarks do not tell “short” stories!!!!)…………..now back to the Glorious Mysteries upon which  I was attempting to meditate!!!  I usually find the events of these Glorious Mysteries to be the more difficult for me to focus on as two of the Mysteries reflect on the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ into heaven (thus, it requires meditating on that very elusive and unnerving term………………….eternity!).   For some reason, as I was trying to put myself back to the moment in time when the two “Mary’s” went to inspect the tomb and encountered the angel who rolled back the stone and gave them the news that Jesus had been raised just as He had promised, I began to think about all of the “angels” that I have encountered in my life, especially over these last two years.  And then I questioned……………..just what would I have believed, had I lived over two thousand years ago, had I happened upon an Angel of God and an empty grave?? And then my terribly distracted mind started veering off track, wondering if “heavenly” angels really do have wings and what feathery material would they be made of…………..are the birds with their “feathery wings” and flying capability (minus their “annoying” chirping sounds LOL) thus divinely designed??  Does this then make the angels really stand out in heaven among all of those earthly beings (you know, like Crick) who dwell among them but have never had wings???

Fortunately…………… I came to the tenth bead (I probably should have started that decade over as I don’t think “angels”, their “wings” and the bird analogy was the type of “meditation” intended for spiritual growth!), and it was time to move on to the mystery of the Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven (reference previous comment from above regarding Clarks and “short” stories :-) ).  And, as I have just so clearly illustrated my inability to remain focused, I do keep with me a prayer-book which includes a chapter on specific thought-provoking scriptural passages pertaining to each mystery on a bead by bead basis.  I have found this to be immensely helpful (well…………….most of the time!).  As I was reflecting on the words………….”He goes to prepare a place for us, and has returned to the Father, in Heaven.  And He has promised: “Where I am, you can be too.”  I began to think of Crick and of all my other family members, who are gone from here and reflecting on how I have felt Crick’s presence on different occasions which have brought me peace and comfort; wondering about how he certainly must be enjoying heaven along with the freedom from all that plagues us here on earth.  As these thoughts went through my beleaguered mind, I began to consider what I might hopefully look forward to in the promise of Christ to share in that eternal joy of heaven.  My devotional passages spoke of the many Apostles, even the ones we don’t hear so much about, faithfully and trustingly committing their lives here on earth to spreading the messages of God’s promises to us, often sacrificing their lives in order that others might also come to know and believe.  I wondered if I was measuring up, hoping that Heaven would eventually also be revealed to me…………………..and then………………………in the stillness and emptiness of the church, a woman with whom I am only acquainted from our mutual attendance at daily Mass, taps me on the shoulder (how did she know that I was even there, kneeling at a shrine in a far off corner in the back of the church ????) and asks me if I have ever read the book………………………… Heaven Is For Real………………………………I can only imagine the startled expression on my face!!  She quite simply said, “If you haven’t read it, I think that you will really like it.”  That was all she said……………….I thanked her, she walked away as quietly as she had appeared.  Please follow the link below (for some unknown reason, and trust me (Stephanie, your phrases are haunting me LOL), I have spent hours and hours trying to resolve the fact that my wordpress blog no longer automatically links videos directly to the blog!!!)

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/F3xItrGOi6Q?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, what do you think of that????????!!!!!!!  Well, as I am a believer (and becoming more so!!), in my heart of hearts, I believe that God and Crick were once again “discussing” me and felt that I needed a boost and yet another reason to continue to believe and trust in God’s very real Presence in my daily life and in the hope of an eternal life.  And that what awaits us is something,  “That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him”.   1 Corinthians 2:9.  God, who alone knows us with a knowledge we can not even begin to wrap our minds around, simply asks us to continually seek Him through the silence and stillness of prayer, and He will reveal Himself and His promises in ways that bring us hope, comfort and peace!!  I truly believe that there are some events in our lives that are just not mere “coincidences”.

Perhaps there is yet another reason why this particular post has been delayed until today and why I unwittingly chose the “Living Life” picture for this particular blog which each of the kids and I have hanging in our homes as a reminder of how Crick envisioned life should be lived.  Perhaps, it is because today is Father’s Day, a bittersweet day of remembrance for Crick and for all of our loving, caring, hard-working Dads and Grandfathers, now deceased, who spent a lifetime nurturing, providing for and giving guidance to their children and grandchildren.  Today’s Mass at Immaculate Conception was offered in Crick’s memory (and all nine of the grandchildren attended and the younger ones fidgeted, squirmed, chewed gum, ate goldfish, climbed and were passed back and forth…………..it was almost as if Crick were there egging them on…….LOL).   And……………………………..in conclusion (having exceeded my self imposed 1200 words……….imagine that!!)…………………………………………I would like to wish Christopher, Joe, Jim, the Clark and Schultheis brothers and brother-in-laws all whom I observe on a regular basis faithfully executing the responsibilities of fatherhood……………………….a very Happy Father’s Day!!

This video link is a wonderful way of celebrating all fathers everywhere and from all time, just as we also celebrate Our Father in Heaven.

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/TffkAILd6EU?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0

TNT

TGW

P.S. If someone taps you on the shoulder and tells you Heaven is for real……………..believe it!!! LOL