I remember being struck by a song in a popular children’s video I was watching with my daughter. The song was about families and how we have different kinds (there was one where the dad was “far away”, one where the head was the grandma, etc.). The main theme of the song was for us to accept that families now come in “all different sizes and different kinds”. Some families have both parents; others live in a single parent household; some live with a caregiver. And in all instances, you are still a complete family. The song made me realize that we now live in a very different world from when there was typically a Father, a Mother and Two Children.
Forgiveness
It is easy to check how much taller we've grown or how many more wrinkles and gray hair we have and how much weight we've gained over the years. But it's a little bit more tricky when we want to check how far we've come in terms of our-as one writer calls it-"inner landscape." I've found that rereading journal entries, old letters and old college and high school compositions is a good way to look at emotional and psychological photographs of ourselves.
Whisperer
Fans do it with celebrities. If you've never been a fan, or if your theology tilts more on the sophisticated side, you might never really understand why people line up to the Nazareno and wipe a part of the image with their handkerchief. A few days ago, I found myself in such an unsophisticated state, lining up with people to touch the worn and darkened mantle at the foot of our Lady of Manaoag.
Mustard Seed Revolutions
The past few months, we were witnesses to protests and upheavals in the Middle East. As with all revolutions, its seeds were planted years ago when democracy was curtailed and dictators and the military took power. But the trigger for this series of upheavals can be traced back to Dec 17, 2010, when a young jobless graduate Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire after police confiscated the fruit and vegetables he was selling from a street stall. He had been unemployed for a long time and when the police stopped him from earning a living, he burned himself out of frustration and in protest. This event sparked widespread demonstrations in Tunisia. The Tunisian President went on television days later to promise more jobs. But it was too little too late.
prayersofapilgrim.com 