The pushing, striving & struggling of a seed.

I found this gem by Caryll Houselander (†1954) this week in Magnificat. There is no circumventing the painful process of the green blade bursting through the "hard, frozen earth".

Learn to love yourself, to forgive yourself, to be kind to yourself, by looking outwards to God, by accepting the fact that you are infinitely loved by Infinite Love, and that if you will only cease to build up notions of the perfection you demand of yourself, and lay your soul open to that love, you will cease to fear, and you will cease to be exhausted as soon as you stop fighting one part of yourself with another.

Realize that in you is the power, strength, and love of Christ, that you can carry all that darkness and not go under. If you realize that in you Christ lives his risen life, you will soon be convinced that you will also come right up through the darkness into the light. Try to believe that life is in you like a seed, pushing, striving, struggling up to light. Instead of fighting yourself, let this seed of supernatural life fight its way out through the darkness, just as an ordinary seed fights up through the darkness and heaviness of the hard, frozen earth.

First it has to sharpen its own green blade in the night and cut through the ground, but suddenly it breaks into flower, and when it does that, it does not see its own beauty. The world outside sees that. What it sees is the glorious sun that drew it up out of the darkness and into Light.

-- The Letters of Caryll Houselander, Her Spiritual Legacy

Here I Am To Worship

I did a harmony work-up of "Here I Am To Worship" & posted it here on ReverbNation.

“Being Italian means never having to wear sunscreen.“

A Few Words From My Italian Siblings

I am the second born of eight children to Alfonso & Giuseppina Natalie … 100% Sicilian-American from “testa a punta” (head to toe). October is Italian Heritage Month so [a couple years ago]I posted a question to my family about ethnic pride. The answers follow my post. My baby sister Nancy didn’t respond. I think her computer is down. I also got some great responses from aunts, uncles, cousins and nieces. Fahgeddaboudit! These seven responses are plenty.

Please don’t be offended with any subtle boastfulness you might detect. It’s all in fun. We love non-Italians. None of our spouses are Italian and all 22 of our kids are half-mozzarella/half-Velveeta. (Besides, being half-Sicilian makes you full-blooded Italian anyway.)

Oh … I didn’t get their permission to publish. But I got one question if they object: “What’s your problem!? Go sit down! Here … have a cannoli.”

  

Angelo’s question:

We all know there's the bad kind of pride that "goes before a fall" or keeps us from forgiving or bending the knee. But there is "good pride: a reasonable or justifiable self-respect; to be extremely joyful and delighted" in something noble ... like your ethnic heritage. So what is it about being of Italian descent that makes you joyful & delighted?

Personally? I'm in it for the food. ;-)

Peter:

One of the unique aspects about being Italian are the emotions that are so strong in all of us.   When we love, it is unparalleled.   When we hate, look out!   In a way, it's both a blessing as well as a curse.   Not easy dealing with those emotions sometimes.   I want to say that I love all of you to an extreme (usually ;-) and am so proud to be a member of this family, and 100% Sicilian!   Ti voglio bene, familgia!

Pietro DiNatali

Annie:

We're Italian????!!!!!! Seriously, all the posts so far have made me vaklempt. I know that's Jewish, but they’re cool too.   I have always felt set apart and somewhat special to all my mixed breed friends throughout my life to say that I am 100% Italian.   Aside from the olive skin and dark hair which sets us apart, all the things that have been written so far are so true.   Even though we can't go too far back in our Serpe history [Mom’s maiden name], I am so proud of our family and all that has been accomplished through our ancestors until now.   I have friends today that tell me they envy the closeness of our family.   So obviously our pride does show!

Connie:

Being Italian means never having to wear sunscreen...always making people feel at home...feeding anyone that walks through your door...there is our kind of food on every corner of every city in the US...arguing if Sicily is really in Italy...knowing people are afraid if they cross you, you might be able to get a cousin to rub them out...the cookies...the lasagna...antipasto...pasta...Christmas traditions of family, food and yelling at kids...raising other peoples kids as your own...never being alone when you need people around...all priceless   Connie

Joel:

Being Italian sometimes gives you liberties to be loud and boisterous, in which I take plenty of license.   I find it funny how there are zillions of Italian restaurants but very few Irish or Polish ones, even though they probably out-number us...so the food is key. Big families and lots of cousins and great weddings and heart-wrenching funerals and slow metabolisms and wondering if you're somehow linked to "La Costa Nostra" and saying "butta bing" and having fifteen cousins named Angelo and being the guy in the room with some "character."

Alan:

One word:   "Amore!"

Jeff:

Who doesn't want to be Italian and better yet, Sicilian? I tell people in therapy "Don't make me break your knee caps" and they all know immediately what I'm talking about. There's a certain amount of street credibility you get when you say your 100% Sicilian and grew up on 18th Street. Even the big shots that I see in therapy give me my propers...

As for the really valuable stuff, like Pete said, who better knows how to love, to hate that's what I feel great about. We're not afraid to experience life, to really embrace people and love them. We do that so well. We feed others (as Connie said); there is no one better at hospitality. We care deeply.

Great post Gelo.

Oh...I almost forgot. As a result of being Sicilian/Italian...we get to meet amazing people who you end up marrying. Like my bride....

Ride "Secretariat" to a feel-good place.

We saw "Secretariat" this weekend. Excellent & inspiring.

I love that Walter Hawkins' recording of "Oh Happy Day" moved the horse's owner to keep on keepin' on.

Cristoforo Colombo

Best wishes for an adventurous Columbus Day ... a day when everybody is an honorary Italian.

Check out Fr. Hardon's article here.

10-10-10

I ponder the significance of Sunday's date: 10/10/10. Next year we'll have an 11/11/11 and then a 12/12/12. Then what will we do?

Michael Had A Motorcycle

I wish our youngest offspring Michael a very Happy 21st Birthday! ... a father's prayer that you will be a man after God's own heart.

Francesco

Have a a Happy St. Francis of Assisi memorial day: "It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching. "