A Catholic Hermit's Family

Today, the nothing Catholic hermit's family (daughter, son-in-law, grandson) will drive a distance to this desert exile domicile, and help (or actually do the work) of shifting some boxes and furnishings into the pole barn.  The items in the pole barn need some shifting and re-organizing, first.  

All this is in effort to make more work space in the hermitage, in order for the electrician, a man he knows who does some plumbing, and then in a week or so, Raphael and his men, to come and try to make great gains in getting the hermitage finished and salable.

Although the hermit had visited another family member (daughter, son-in-law, granddaughters), far away, and with financial assistance from the daughter to do so, there is once more not communication with them.  But the nothing Catholic hermit now has a better understanding as to the reason, after having visited them for awhile.  They are extremely busy in their lives, and it is as if those who are present, right there, are communicated with.  When another is out of sight, the responsibilities of their present moments press them into that mode of distance to that which is outside.  It also has some to do with priorities and the amount of work emails and phone calls the daughter deals with in her career, during the week.  On weekends her phone and emails go untended.  

Kind of "out of sight, out of mind" mentality, but am thankful to learn it is not in rancor or malice that calls and emails go unanswered.  When plans were made to visit, in that present moment space of time, there were responses.  It is how it is and to be accepted as such.  Not the ideal in some ways, for family closeness, but the hermit accepts the various personality styles and understands the demands that others must live with in their busy lives.  Hermits, of all persons, try to keep their own lives simplified.

The adult son is a different situation.  He has chosen to remove himself from belief in God.  Quite busy in his career, he, too, does not keep in contact.  In this case of family, there is anger and contentiousness against the hermit.  There are earthly reasons for this, and over the hermit's being duped by the real estate deal here and the ensuing efforts to turn the place around, make it livable, but running out of time and resources to do so. 

For the first time in over a year and a half, the son responded to an email the hermit sent, alerting that it was going to need to try to sell before long and hoping there would be cooperation in signing off documents.  (The son is part of the hermitage mortgage deal, which he desired to be at the time.)  He made the hermit an offer that would have left the hermit penniless in a few years, so of course that had to be declined.  He did not grasp quite what he was proposing, surely.  Rather, the hermit would prefer being helped along month-by-month so that it could continue doing a lot of the manual labor, thus saving high labor costs.  (Remote areas can end up being costly in various ways.  There is usury in any situation some humans can wrangle it in.)

No, His Real Presence did not move the son to desire to help in that way, which is fine.  It only means the door is closing on remaining here.  The hermit must go for broke and do all it can, hire the two trusted workers even if costly--but just and fair in charges--to finish as soon as feasible, and then try to sell the hermitage.  The son, if not sole owner, would like to be disassociated with the endeavor.  That is quite all right.  

Catholic hermits, being Christian and called out of this world, not more into it, understand and flex with whatever His Real Presence brings and allows.  And this one knows also that there are various factors involved, behind the scenes so to speak.  It grasps the clash between this nothing Catholic hermit who is totally devoted to and in love with His Real Presence and the Faith and all therein, and a young man in the full prime of life, successful in the temporal world, who is in a phase of ridiculing Christians and disbelieving of God. Yes, it is but a phase.

The hermit's aunt in a distant place, a nonogenarian, has been most supportive in prayer and encouragement, and has financially assisted the hermit such as in this terrible illness and back when it was thought the hermit could turn the hermitage into a more livable place with the desire to remain here once finished.  The hermit's spiritual director, also, has helped--his in part to make reparation for the dismal actions of a diocese in yet another situation that has been forgiven but was very costly to the hermit, and perhaps unfairly so.  

In these rather personal details of family (and also of financial risks and struggles), the point is always of being open to and heeding God's will.  A hermit must be responsible for its own livelihood and sustenance, as far as the temporal and material aspects of life play out.  It must not hold attachments too much, and be willing to go without when situations unfold even down to abodes.  

It is all a journey, and that includes a hermit's family, for unless one is in a religious order of hermits in which it is understood that one detaches from family and no longer belongs to family in that sense but rather belongs solely to God and in obedience to the religious order, a hermit must be sensitive to the needs of others, such as family sensitivities, and let God do as He wills in the ups and downs that can occur.  Since this hermit is the lone Catholic of its immediate family and the bulk of the extended family, there is not the grasp of a hermit's life that a hermit from a Catholic family would understand.

A hermit must always be grateful and to rise and fall with the waves, and to endure the doldrum and the storm, alike--in love, faith, trust--while always seeking His will, moment by moment.

In this terrible illness of which there is finally some break in the severity and improvement noticed, there is much gratitude for having survived it.  There is gratitude for the way in which His Real Presence has provided much prayer support through the aunt and some other long-time friends, including some very close Catholic friends, and the spiritual director.  

His Real Presence provided the Catholic deputy sheriff [remember, it may only take one angel] who happened to be on duty for five days in the worst of the illness, and who ran some errands that were critical, even though at first he wanted to take the hermit to a hospital.  He quickly understood that the situation warranted faith and trust, and suffering it out but with help from medication and two doctor visits.  The temporal financial aspect did not allow for more expense, and the aspect of this hermit's vocation as victim soul, also did not warrant other than allowing the Beloved to hold His hermit in His Arms.

So, the family members currently are on their way to the hermitage, and this nothing Catholic hermit must rise from bed, empty the chamber pot, and praise and pray and thank God in all situations--including whatever family issues, calm or stormy at any given time, and with holy awareness of the family that is the Body of Christ.  The ones coming today are Christians, and thus the reason for more communication and understanding, even if not agreeable with Catholicism.  Light is light, and love of Christ binds whoever in that light.  We must remember that darkness stands in opposition to the Light.  So we pray for our biological families, and for our family the Body of Christ, and for our family as in the family of man, of the world at large, believers and unbelievers.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another!  Remain in His Love, and bless those who do also and those who do not.  May our hands ever be in the open palm position other than when we must grasp hard the cross of Christ Crucified.  Let go all the earthly possessions and situations, and be open to receiving whatever His Real Presence brings, moment by moment.

Faith, Trust

Extremely difficult to have the kind of faith and trust in knowing or not if this all is God's will!  So cold in here:  44 degrees in lower level with heat pump running full force.  (Yes, it is putting out heat but just is not effective.)  Upstairs in this area it is probably 60 degrees.  Cannot plug in more than one space heater or circuit blows, as it did last night--and was in dark trying to find way to flashlight.

Keep praying and asking His Real Presence for wisdom, guidance, and FAITH.  It is true that one can wonder if all these hardships that tend to collect over time--the bad luck, being taken advantage of, meeting up with usurious people who seem kind and trusting, only to find out the hard way, not.  Is this really what God desires for this nothing human being?

It takes faith to consider hardships to be the way God is training and leading.  When thinking of St. John Climacus recommending stability--to stay put, to not go from place to place or be distracted in the mind or act upon it by movement--it is not easy to have faith and to remain, such as here where it has been very arduous if not getting to the point of unfeasible.

Yet, one has to try to keep going.  Just keep going.  Endure, for the hour, sometimes, is what's best.

Going on the fifth day in bed, trying to stay warm.  Found the old wool jacket and wool socks, and wear those in bed, too--and sock hat.  Will try to force into layered clothes again today.  Did not make it yesterday to that point.  Then will try to drive into civilization and put an infrared space heater on a charge card, and return and see if that helps more than the other space heater.

Called the electrician yesterday, and sobbed on the phone as was feeling so discouraged and cold!  For all the money paid out, there seems not that much worth finished in here.  Just three areas that have an outlet.

Yet, this nothing human being prays for faith.  It recalls certain amazing spiritual events in its past, reviews the spiritual scrapbook.  It tries to push aside the comments of others who implant doubts.  It rejoices in a friend from where used to live.  She has said can live in their upstairs--if could put up with her husband!  She emailed a "ha ha" with that comment!

But wonderful as her offer sounds and is, cannot think that is the best solution.  For now, it is to pray for more faith and stamina, and to at least try the infrared heater, which the friend's husband had kindly recommended.

To not trust the workers and others in this particular, remote area, is wisdom, though.  They have been trusted time and again, and this nothing human being would not be seriously cold in here, nor would be in here at all, had they been trustworthy to begin with.  The Catholic realtor, her inspector, her contractor so highly recommended, would have said more of what was wrong here, would have been honest about the costs involved, would have charged fairly and done better work.

Forgive me my trespasses, as I forgive others theirs!  Let it go!  What is, is.  Keep faith and pray for others far worse off, and try to get dressed in layers, find the gloves, bundle, attempt the drive to civilization for another heater!  Try to get enough warmth in here to be up and working on whatever this old, tired, weakened body can do!  Pray with hope for future blessings!  Consider what if this is not God's will, and try to do whatever to be able to move on if God allows.  Swim out into the deep, regardless--in the spiritual depths of His Real Presence!

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another--even and especially if they have not loved in honesty and truth.  We must, though, do so!  We must!  Remain in His Love!

More on Renunciation

Yesterday managed to drive the distance into civilization to watch grandson give a science presentation.  The adult daughter discussed options to this situation here, with the latest obstacles and hardships.  The hermit explained how difficult, yet must trust in God and also, somehow, to trust the wisdom and guidance of this 6th century hermit solitary whose name somehow came to mind a few weeks ago, and whose book seems to be helping with the spiritual unraveling of events and explanation of what this hermit is experiencing.

As for renunciation of the world, which is necessary for at least some hermits who aspire to union with God (as Jesus and others have taught and lived), John Climacus makes the point that it is not a renunciation of the world due to the passions or of running away from it, but rather it is the desire to come closer to God in order to love more and attain life within His Real Presence to an ultimate degree.

And that, however, requires the death of the passions, which includes anger and frustration, pride, and various other aspects of the thoughts and emotions that can trip us and entangle us in the renunciation process.  Yet, the world and its increasing obstacles and pitting the soul with roadblocks of complexities, memories, desires of comfort, status or whatever all else--contains with it embers of growing disgust which does help the solitary hermit or any with spiritual aspirations of desiring God.   The reality of the hot embers will assist the hermit in  renouncing or dousing them.  The soul then can better develop an unhindered desire and will to go toward the object of its heart's and soul's desiring:  His Real Presence--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

...our act of renunciation is not for empty honor.  Exile is a separation from everything, in order that one may hold on totally to God.  It is a chosen route of great grief.  An exile is a fugitive, running from all....  Do not wait for souls enamored of the world when you are pressing on towards solitude and exile....Anyone telling you he can combine these yearnings [even of family, of the world] is deceiving himself.  "No one can serve two masters" [Matt. 6:24].

The words, the guidance, at times seems painfully harsh, even wrong.  Yet, we cannot deny the very life of Jesus and how He lived on earth any more than we can deny the holy souls that the Church has canonized over the centuries, whose lives were lived to a certain ideal, no matter the difficult deaths involved along the way.  [Am not referring to physical death of the earthly body, but of the many mental, emotional, and spiritual types of dying that occur in increasingly painful aspects.  Rather, the deaths are of the soul being purified and emptied in order to come to conformity of love in spiritual perfection, union with Christ and in His will, not that of our own.]

When a man has renounced the world and still returns to its affairs or draws near to it, he will either fall into its snares or will defile his heart with thoughts of it.  These are strong and difficult words to most of us.  Yet Climacus also adds that even if a person becomes uncorrupted, if he begins to hold contempt for others who are corrupted by the world, then he will join them in their corruption.

In the spiritual ascent, there is no room for pride or self-righteousness, nor for judging others who are not on the same path or who are called to some other level or pace of climbing the holy mountain.  At least that is what this nothing Catholic hermit concludes from the reading and praying thus far, and the living of life.  

Climacus also gives sound advice on getting caught up in dreams.  He recommends not paying much attention to those especially that leave a person in despair or conversely in some kind of pride.  It is important, or so this nothing Catholic hermit has concluded in its 63 years on earth and many dreams, that the discernment of spirits and of the effect of dreams, is rather a critical skill to learn.  Climacus mentions dreams that lead to fantasizing, and those are easy enough to pick off--if we are honest with ourselves.

As for this hermit's own dreams, such as the one in which Jesus told it He was very pleased when the hermit, over 19 years ago asked if it was truly God's will that it become a Catholic.  Had the hermit dismissed that dream and locution, it would not have converted to Catholicism.  The dream gave the hermit courage to follow through with being confirmed in the Church, even though the actual suffering and sorrows of its life have multiplied many times over as a result of that conversion.

An example of a dream that can lead to fantasizing, is one this hermit had a couple nights ago.  It dreamed it had won the lottery, and a huge amount, at that!  The dream was so real that upon waking, the hermit was working out in its mind (fantasizing), who it could possibly trust to help it deal with so much money.  What financial person, what attorney?  It decided upon two trusted ones, and then considered how it could have some kind of outreach to help the world with the funds.  

Soon it was thinking what a cross to bear, and how many people would misuse the funds, or those people who had not been loyal would be considering themselves as good friends to the hermit, after all!  But mostly, the hermit considered being able to walk away from this hermitage, and to hire someone to finish it and donate it to a single mother or to some group so it could be a hermitage experience if anyone wanted. 

Another night the hermit had a dream of looking at a house, dated but yet livable, with the thought of purchasing and moving there.  It was not a house it had seen in this life, but in the dream there were some drawbacks in practical ways, but the hermit was wanting to just have a place that is neat, clean and functional.  Then it realized it did not have any means to buy it or to move there.  A person from the hermit's past who has a husband and has financial security, popped into the dream and was making herself very confident and rather triumphant that they were going to buy the house, and even mentioned some famous, wealthy person who owned the house next to it!

So, we see how such dreams as these reflect the hermit's current weariness and desire to flee temporal hardship as well as the dying it is facing on many levels.  See how the fantasizing can enter in?  All the same, when the hermit noticed in civilization that a lottery amount was over the high amount in the one dream, it--God forgive and have mercy!--purchased a ticket!  This nothing Catholic hermit is not nearly ready to renounce the world, at least not nearly to the degree necessary for holiness!

One must keep a sense of humor and be without guile in admitting its weaknesses.  Yes, perhaps this hermit has not the will nor the desire enough to rise into greater death in order to be brought through the mourning into the laughter of the heart.  But, it will still pray for such desire and strength of will.  As the hermit mentioned to the adult daughter, it does take much faith and trust in what holy people have written and what Jesus says in Scriptures, to let go of what the world tells us.  That can include the Christian world which in certain mindsets, highlights the softer and easier parts of Jesus' teachings and life.  His mercy and love are truth, but the reality of unrepentant sin and its consequences are truth, as well.

And, as to another note on dreams, had the hermit not dismissed some of them, it would not have ended up in such a terrible location with the previous neighbors of which the hermit was warned in a dream, the night before the house foundation was to be laid.  Could have gotten out of that one!  Yet, more often than not, the warnings at other times have come more after the fact.  It is more as if the Lord allows the rose-colored glasses to remain long enough to get the hermit to where He wills it, even though it is going to mean much suffering.  But He has the hermit planted in its new place of assignment for prayer and some soul or other to be helped before the hermit realizes the cost; otherwise the hermit would be like Jonah and try avoiding Ninevah....

Enough of all this.  There is more to share of John Climacus' guidance which always flows from and adheres to Scripture.  There is good to share about why ponder death and how that will help the soul to not sin as much.  There is good to share about mourning and tears.   There is good to share about the differing paths of the theologian compared to the hermit.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another and remain in His Love!

[Note:  This laptop has yet again had its same old issues, and for the fourth time is going into repair.  It is allowed and willed by God--yes such a detail in the temporal for God is in all details--and probably good for this hermit to have a break from as much internet or writing.  Will attempt writing on an iPad.  Yes, at some point, will the good Lord help this hermit all the more detach from words?]

Takes So Much Faith!

The past couple of days have caused more challenges.  The power went off again, and this time for over 24 hours.  No space heater, thus.  Finally decided to make the long trip back to civilization, after trying to get to a neighbor's to see if the man would hold the generator on one end so this hermit could do the pulling on the other to try to start it.

Small detail, of course, when sold the generator a year ago.  Not easy for one older person to start.  Takes two or a very strong man.  Then, there is the main breaker to electric panel.  The contractor put one in that is too small, but that is beside the point.  A problem is that the main breaker takes a man's full strength to turn back on, and running the generator requires turning it off.  So need someone to come and push the very tight breaker back, if one is going to use the generator, if one has someone to hold one end of it while the other does the pull cord to start it.

So, we see that the area is not flush with people willing to assist another.  The neighbor who someone said was friendlier than the others, has blockade across their front entrance and a fence with gate to the back, and two dogs....

Headed back into civilization to get warm and to use Lowe's guest internet to check to see when power might be back on out in the remote desert.  Ended up spending the night at the daughter's, which is a way farther from the Lowe's, which is a distance to begin with.

 Can't express how difficult to desire to return to the austerities!  Called the financial adviser to see just what is the final straw?  Can try to endure another 2-3 months or perhaps until spring.  Try to keep working in here with what materials already purchased, and have purchased more insulation to at least try to keep the place warmer.

The daughter mentioned how the heat pump man certainly had a convincing sales pitch a year ago.  Yes, that is how it has turned out to be in this area.  Rather a ruthless environment, with people who seem so genuine and kindly, selling this and that and having others vouch for them.  They do mean well, probably, or so it seems.  But now to find out this area has many power outages and the circuit board can blow in power outages, does not leave this hermit with reliable heat.  The daughter reminded this hermit was told it would heat and cool the whole house, which of course it does not.

The financial adviser is a good and decent Catholic man.  The hermit pointed out the pleading phone calls and emails to the closest Catholic parish, where the priest does the least and doubtful he is consecrating the Host.  The head of the St. Vincent de Paul Society turned a deaf ear to a plea for just one man to come and help for one hour, to please help out this older female hermit with a task.  The priest has said he knows of no man who, when the hermit called asking for help, to assist carrying plywood 4x8 sheets from pole barn to house.  He also said he could not bring communion nor do a house blessing as he needed another person to come with him, and he said there was no one who would come with him.

The financial adviser, far away, said again that there will need to be a point in which this hermit is going to have to give up the efforts, abandon this rather sinking ship of an effort; but he admitted he'd not gone through such a process with any clients before. It is rather sad to think that the resources are dwindling, but that all good intentions, research and hope, faith and prayers went into this.  It is sad to think that all was set and comfortable in the previous hermitage, but the police advised needing to leave due to the threatening couple next door and the protective order running out.  Not to forget the adult children insisting this hermit leave and have a better and safer life, closer to where one lives.

The Catholic realtor did a good sales job, had an upbeat inspector check it over, recommended quite the contractor who she said was such a wonderful man and good contractor....  She even said she'd have the hermit over for dinner, but that never occurred.  The daughter has said she always thought the realtor very phony, but that this hermit always thinks Catholics are going to be so good and trustworthy, when they are not.

Well, that is true.  This hermit always tends to place hope in Catholics, for Catholics have the Eucharist, have His Real Presence.  However, it does not seem to be enough for many.  We can say we are all sinners, but that excuse wears thin, when countered with daily or weekly reception of His Real Presence in the Body and Blood.

The hermit needed a medical doctor, and the parish at a distance--the priest--said there were many doctors in the parish, he would talk with some, and give some names and numbers.  Then he backed away from that offer, and so he and others did from even giving recommendations for plumbers and other workers.  It was so strange, in a way, for people to say they will, and then not, on such simple matters.  The hermit this morning was pondering Matthew 25, and the validity of what Jesus says, and what will happen to people who turn a deaf ear and blind eye to their fellow man.

All this hermit can do, now back in this hermitage, is to try to lift up the spirits and place them before His Real Presence, pray for those who have been a disappointment, pray for wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and get to work.  Even though the place is still quite cold, there is at least a space heater in this small area upstairs, and the hermit will plug in a space heater in a small area downstairs...and start doing anything, just anything, such as bringing in some batts of insulation and fitting them between some studs.

The Psalms in the Office of Reading this morning brought comfort, and the Book of Wisdom in the daily Mass readings is helpful.  Having a downcast spirit, although it certainly could be understandable, is not going to help matters.

Had even mentioned to the daughter of perhaps living with them until spring, and that did not meet with any approval.  No, the Lord asks of this hermit to gut it out, and to keep the faith, and to praise and love and pray and persevere!  This has more to it than the temporal, that is obvious.  It is a matter of a soul striving to rise beyond the temporal, and to not lose faith, hope, and love, especially of those who for whatever reasons, are receiving His Body and Blood but seem stuck in some other world.

Scupoli, in the chapters read quite early this morning when still in civilization, mentioned turning the soul to receiving spiritual Communion each hour.  He writes that this is as effective as the tangible reception, and even more effective and worthwhile than to receive the tangible Body and Blood when the soul is not open or not in a worthy frame of mind.  So this hermit will pray to have a worthy frame of mind, and to desire with all its heart and soul, His Real Presence, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, and to receive Him fully each hour or even each present moment!

In faith, it is all very possible.  And this hermit must strive to be a possibility thinker...and do-er.

As for Catholics and parishes who cannot help someone who asks for a small assistance, once one summer and once the next summer, or cannot suggest names of good doctors or workers from among the faithful, then they are not those of whom the rubber meets the road (so to speak), no matter how marvelous the homilies or how well-attended the parish fund-raisers.  We must pray for the Church, the Body of Christ and all Members.  Surely we can do better, although the Book of Job comes to mind in this hermit's existence, the trials, the errors, and the need to have that total trust in God above all else and all others.

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another, for God so loves us and wants us to love Him and all peoples, not just those who are nice or helpful.  Remain in His Love!

The Furniture Novena

A few days ago, a woman called.  She started the conversation with, "I know what you will probably say, but I want to ask you, anyway."

A few short months ago her mother-in-law had passed from this earthly life.  After the funeral, she and her husband met with his siblings to express which pieces of mostly humble, earthly possessions of their mother, they would like.  The siblings wrote down their desires, and there was agreement at the time...or so it seemed. 

The woman and her husband were to have a hutch, a bedroom set, and a desk.  Others had chosen other pieces of furniture and various items, mostly all of but sentimental value.

At this point, I knew the outcome.  We all can, based upon so many stories like this involving possessions of a deceased family member.  Greed and covetousness rear ugly heads.  Of the siblings, a daughter who lived near her mother and had access to the items, decided she and her two adult children should have what her brother and his wife were to have.

The woman (who called me) and her husband, had planned a vacation of which part would be to buy a trailer on Craigslist in order to pick up and bring back the stuff, a few hours' distance from the deceased mother's home.  But the ugliness of the possessions caper had turned the situation into upset and confusion.

At the time of her call, she felt bad that she had agreed with her husband to stick up for their rights and insist on what had been agreed would be their furniture bequest.  The woman did have good memories of her mother-in-law and her hutch, and her husband wanted his mother's bed set and desk.  And there is really no reason (other than sin) that his sister decided to take what was not agreed upon.

What to do?  Well, I pointed out that this is looking grim for the sister's soul.  We discussed how it is just furniture, just stuff, and any of it could be easily purchased elsewhere and for not a huge sum of money.  And this type of uproar is typical after the deceased is buried and the grief that can unite survivors has mellowed, and divisiveness over possessions begins to sprout.

It is a no-win situation on the temporal playing field.  If this couple gives in to the essential "theft" of what they were to have, they will have negative feelings and see the reality of the sister's greed and deceit.  If they show up and fight for what is rightfully theirs, by previous agreement, there will be ugliness in the confrontation, words exchanged, and perhaps even some force required.  Either way, relationships will be damaged.

 

We discussed the "high road," if both the woman and her husband could at all levels detach from the items, much as Jesus had recommended to the rich young man who asked what it would take to enter the kingdom of heaven.  At the time of the young man's asking, what Jesus said about relinquishing possessions (and this can be within the soul's attachment as well as in tangible letting go), was too much for the rich young man to do, at least just yet.

Since the husband in this current situation was not one to give in to wrongs, he also was prone to not ask his wife's input on matters.  My asked-for-opinion thinking it best to let the husband deal with the issue in the way he wanted, which was then to get the trailer and go to his late mother's house, and attempt to get the items.  This was to be done in conjunction with the couple's vacation.  I pointed out the possessions might not be there when they arrive, as the sister knew they were planning to come to that area in a week. 

The woman who had called me was in distress for added reasons.  She said in part she felt guilty for having wanted the hutch in the first place.  Well, that is not a horrible sin, for it is very human to appreciate and desire tangible reminders of those we love and who have loved us.  And how many of us can suddenly have that kind of utmost detachment?  But we talked a bit more, and I pointed out that we are getting older, and literally, "what on earth" are we going to do with the "stuff" we already have, let alone more stuff?

We agreed that their week of vacation and the days leading into it, and possibly the days following, are now and could be fraught with tension.  The could be depends upon the woman and her husband's letting it get to them.  

But again, the main issue in all this seemed to me to be the state of the sister's soul, for this was an ugly mess caused by her wanting what was not agreed upon to be hers in addition to what she had taken already.  How sad a soul so needy of tangibles, so attached to more than enough for touchstones of her mother's memory!

Prayer would be the only balm for the couple's peace of mind and their own spiritual progression, and most importantly, for the deeper conversion of the sister's soul.  The woman (a spiritual friend) was distracted by all the emotions that go along with such issues.  (We all know what it feels like to have inner--and outer--peace disrupted.) 

The idea came:  Offer a furniture novena.  I suppose it came to mind due to recently praying the potato novena [previous post mentions this, or a video sharing].  I suggested that she and I select a piece of furniture in our own abodes--one that has some kind of meaning due to memories associated.  We would keep the prayer simple and tactile.  Lay a hand on whatever piece of furniture and simply repeat a Hail Mary.  Do this once a day for nine days.  (We each know the history of and Christian, Biblical symbolism for the "nine"--as in the nine days between Christ's ascension and Pentecost.)

On the second day of our prayer-across-the-miles, the woman emailed that she was in great distress again, feeling even more guilty that she had ever wanted her mother-in-law's hutch; and she reported her husband had decided to fight for his rightful possessions, his portion of personal effects from his mother's estate.   The woman's conscience was bothering her, and she had asked the Lord to give her another chance to somehow influence her husband's decision which was to demand tangible justice.

I emailed back that we should keep to our furniture prayer, and that right then if she could lay her hand on a piece of furniture in her house and ask Mary to help calm her upset, I would do likewise where I am.   Surely Mary would come to her aid immediately.

The next email I received was a day later.  The woman had done the praying, the laying on of hands, and peace within occurred.  But an outward miracle also occurred:  her husband had come home from work, showed her some photos of a trailer he intended to purchase so they could haul the furniture home.  However, he then he did what is rare if ever:  he asked her opinion on what he should do.  (Seriously, this is not like the husband at all.  He does not go in for praying, and he calls the shots.)

She had asked the Lord to give her another chance for input with her husband on the furniture snafu, and He gave it to her.  When given this moment, she told her husband to let his sister have whatever, and that they can go on their vacation and let all that other go. 

In another miracle, her husband agreed!

But the woman had been thinking much since our conversation.  All the more she realized that her sister's soul is endangered by what she had done, even though to others it may seem like a small matter and so very typical in estate situations.  So we are continuing the Furniture Novena, specifically now for the sister's soul and for conversion of mind, heart, and spirit--not for the furniture ordeal.

It is not that the "gimmick" of laying hands on a piece of furniture and praying a short Hail Mary is the gist here.  It is that of faith and of the simplicity of heart in the praying, that seems to be pleasing to God.  It includes the beautiful memories of people and created things and their usefulness.  We each are finding delight in praying with tangible "touchstones" but not as a heaviness or laborious effort.  We can think of the carpenter's Son, and add to that an intensity of desire for the good of souls: the woman, her husband, the sister, her adult children, for my own soul as well as all souls who have or will have these types of "furniture" or possession problems.

When I laid my hand upon (here very dusty, move-damaged, stacked and stored) furniture, the pieces I touch each have some memory included--either of who built the furniture such as in one my great-great-grandfather built, or in a $2 chair purchased at a yard sale four decades ago when I was first married.  That chair I refinished and reupholstered the seat, and it was a chair my eldest daughter sat on while at her desk doing homework during high school years.

Another was my harp stool, with thoughts of earlier desires to play but wondering if ever having this place habitable enough to take it out of protective packing.  Another is this twin bed which a neighbor gave me for my first house when married. Later, several years after the divorce, it a man with a drinking problem but needed work, refinished it. My second daughter slept in this bed through teen years.  I am in it as I write this!

Now, these details mean nothing to anyone else, but hopefully we can  grasp that somehow touching the items and praying for the resolution of the nasty situation brewing for my friend and her husband and his sister's soul, has touched my soul, my life.  It is all very good. 

And in faith, as we continue the Furniture Novena for another few days (lost count, but that does not matter), I am sure the sister's soul will be affected even if we never know or see outcomes.  For one thing, it will not be for the furniture or needing it for practical purposes or for sentiment.  The couple has overcome that "world."

And in another thought, these are some of the ways that the Lord interacts in our lives, and how we can talk with Him, interact with Him, and touch and be touched.  He talks with us; He guides our actions; and He lays out our path in little details and truly miraculous (even if nuanced) outcomes.  

These and more are God's miracles. 

No surprise, this Word reminder in Psalm 85, this morning:

"The Lord will give what is good,
   and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him,
   and will make a path for his steps."