Friday Dec 12 \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0\u201cIntimate knowledge of the many blessings received\u201d \u00a0Ignatius of Loyola<\/p>\n
It\u2019s almost 5:00 am in Western Nevada. \u00a0I come here each December for a few days with my sister Midge and Jim, taking time to breathe family air and savor our long kinship, what St. Ignatius calls \u201cintimate knowledge of the many blessings received.\u201d \u00a0 He meant, I think, that we humans never exhaust our awareness of the depths in our loves; they remain capable of surprise life long.<\/p>\n
It’s 8:00 am on UDM\u2019s campus where, Weather.com<\/a>\u00a0says, the sun just rose from nearly its farthest southern place on the compass, over the corner of Calihan Hall. \u00a0Weather.com<\/a>\u00a0predicts a short sunny day for today\u2019s final exams and exam grading, and for this year\u2019s UDM employee recognition party in the still-new ballroom. \u00a0 One of the costs of finding this family time is missing the party I have come to love. \u00a0About 3:00 pm ET,\u00a0I want to send some blessings over the Rockies, across the Great Plains, and over Lake Michigan to Livernois and McNichols.<\/p>\n Just as I typed that \u201cI will send some blessings . . . \u201c line, a Terri Breeden poem came to mind. \u00a0She is probably getting the kids ready for school about 500 yards east of her Mom and Dad\u2019s home where I sit with coffee and laptop. \u00a0 \u00a0I love her flint-hard language, especially when she and I give each other real hugs, in the same place this one time of the year. \u00a0 \u201cPrayers that Mean Something\u201d comes from\u00a0her \u201cGrandma Hilde\u201d series. \u00a0 My mom died in October 2005 at age 102. \u00a0I don\u2019t know how old she was when Terri wrote this poem. \u00a0 I\u2019ll ask her when I see her.<\/p>\n Best to read the poem out loud, with pauses.<\/p>\n Come 3:00 pm I will be thinking of UDM employees in our Ballroom and wishing I was there . . . \u00a0 and savoring gladness that I live and work at Six Mile and Livernois, proud of the mission of the university in the city of Detroit and grateful that I share it with many women and men on this list.<\/p>\n Have a blest day and a blest weekend.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n john sj<\/p>\n ps\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Today is the feast of The Lady of Guadalupe, an anointing for millions of people who live in the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll be heading home early next Monday so the list takes a day off. \u00a0 \u00a0Back Wednesday.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Post \u2014 \u201cPrayers That Mean Something”<\/strong><\/p>\n Grandmother loans out guardian angels. If my need is truly great, she sends two or three, or When Grandmother says she\u2019ll pray for something, Her prayers are long, And she prays, And I, without any gods, pray too, pray, dear god dear that she still is able.<\/p>\n Terri Breeden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Friday Dec 12 \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0\u201cIntimate knowledge of the many blessings received\u201d \u00a0Ignatius of Loyola It\u2019s almost 5:00 am in Western Nevada. \u00a0I come here each December for a few days with my sister Midge and Jim, taking time to breathe … Continue reading
\nShe is generous with them, always
\nhas an extra. I suppose she\u2019s been
\ncollecting them, maybe inheriting them,
\none every five years or so,
\nfrom loved ones gone.<\/p>\n
\none of her best, my grandfather\u2019s
\nor her own. She
\ngrips my hand, without
\nfragility, tells me,
\n\u201cYou are good\u201d and
\nit means just that.<\/p>\n
\nit is wise to have faith. For her,
\neven wishbone wishes come true.<\/p>\n
\ninclude every grandchild by name.
\nShe prays, \u201cDear Lord, for what is best…\u201d
\nand it is not less to be one
\nof so many grandchildren, for
\nher prayers have strength.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cDear God, thank you that I still am able,\u201d as
\nshe hangs wet clothing between
\ntwo trees older than she, but
\nless gnarled.<\/p>\n
\ngod, dear
\nthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou<\/p>\n