Nightmare scenario. Not being able to
open files and be on the Net as much as I would like to be....Lately,
I have not had the nice internet opportunities I had in Malta. Malta
has lots of cafes and rental properties with wifi or cable links.
It is interesting how Intenet service
varies from country to country.
We are so dependent on the Net for our
virtual communities, which everyone knows have taken the place of
real communities. When God puts me in a real community, that will be
my sign to give up the blog, but this has not happened yet.
I miss my real communities which are
spread over many countries. It would be wonderful to visit new places
and have new communities spring up like little green shoots.
In the past week, I have met people
from Australia, France, New Zealand, Ireland, England, America and we
all have one thing in common. We are Catholics.
The Catholic Church is our primary
community. This is the way people created communities on the prairies
in America so long ago. The churches became the center of communal
life.
It is nice to find out that there are
places here and there where this is still true.
It is sad when I visit these places and
have to leave. There are too many rules for Americans abroad now.
But, to be honest, America has many rules for Europeans as well.
I would have loved to live in Medieval
times, when people crossed boundaries of nations freely and the
Church was united beyond borders.
Borders and laws are in place to
strangle the Church. Pay attention. Here and there, the activities of
the Church are already severely curtailed by laws which have been
increasing since about 2000.
From now on, more constrictions will be
in place, sadly.
Watch and see....pray for the freedom
of religion and especially, the freedom of Catholics to move about
the world. We could see in our lifetime a complete end of missionary
work because of laws.
Rain, stars, rain...
Tonight, I took a few short walks in
the dark. The sky was brilliant with stars and planets. Orion stalked
the sky like a giant and Cassiopeia reigns supreme above my head.
When I went out earlier, Venus shone
brightly, like the queen of the planets.
Then, the rains came again, heavy and
cold. This has to be one of the coldest winters in Europe.
I think of those soldiers, like my dad,
who fought in the Battle of the Bulge in one of the coldest winters
on record.
I cannot imagine being out in the cold
all the time. Where I have been this week has central heating, so the
chilblains have settled down. But, my fingers are still somewhat red
and swollen, as are my feet, but with less pain.
I think of how vulnerable humans are,
needing clothes, heat, warm food. We are needy little creatures. But
then, in the mornings, when I go for a short walk, I hear the song of
the birds, praising God in the rain, cold, sun or wind. So, I learn
from the birds to praise God daily in all things, in all weather.
How did our ancestors survive without
modern heating? How will humans survive if oil and gas are rationed,
or if the new ice age comes upon us?
The pouring rain shares no secrets of
God, Who is in control. We wait, patiently, listening, discerning,
trying to trust in His Ways daily, like the birds, hidden in the
trees, singing their songs to God.
When I hear the birds, I know that we
humans have complicated life to the point of forgetting too easily
why we are here. We are here to know God, to love Him, to serve Him,
and to praise Him.
Can we not learn this from the elements
which are so obedient in nature, following by instinct and physics
the laws of God?
