Keep Our Eyes on Christ Above and Not The Things of This World

Hello dear amici (friends) in Christ,

I have not posted in over a week because it is an incredibly busy time of the year in education before the semester ends in a few weeks. Also, my computer came down with a few flu bugs itself and had to have a few computer doctor house calls to get it well again......make sure your adware and spyware and virus protection software is on and run those checks weekly! What a mess my computer was in!

We all know that the economy is on everyone's minds AROUND THE WORLD now.....what proof that 'no man is an island'!

This week in my little local newspaper was an article written by Jim Mullen in which he compares the real suffering of those who lived through the Great Depression and those of us who are living through this current recession. It really helps you ask yourself, "What truly is SUFFERING?"

In the Great Depression:

• people had to walk everywhere . . . not take their heated and air conditioned cars with DVD players and navigation systems!
• people were not in debt up to their eyeballs with home mortgages way beyond the ability to pay with their earnings.
• people did not drink $5 - 6.00 cups of gourmet coffee!
• people knew how to 'do it themselves' and did not hire out every service - they painted their homes themselves, repaired their cars, re-used and recycled or went without things, they washed and ironed their own clothes and did not drop clothes off at the dry cleaners, they did not eat out at restaurants, movies were a treat.
• people did not have cable or satellite services added to their TVs, nor had the added premium channels such as HBO, Showtime, the Disney Channel or Starz.
• people drove cars and repaired them until they couldn't drive anymore; they didn't buy a new car every 2 years (who started that stupid idea anyway?)
• people cooked meals at home and did not rely on dining out or purchasing packaged, fast-food, or take-out meals.
• people gave humble, but love-filled gifts at Christmas, and did not worry about the high priced gifts that are expected by kids today (Wii's, Xbox's) or adults expecting jewelry, vacations, etc.
• people went to the local parks to play for free and did not go to expensive theme parks (that are also expensive to get to and pay for lodging on top of it all).

So for this year's (and forever hopefully), let's all get REAL around the world ! Truly put Christ back into Christmas and don't make that saying another cliche'.....live our beautiful Catholic faith. What a perfect gift!

Blessings and amore',

~ Bella

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