“Bless me, Father, for I have erred. My last post was 15 months ago.” How quickly time flies, and the irony in that phrase, is how valuable a resource it is in life, and how minimal an influence we have on it. This brings me to yet again question some of the cliché statements, we so quickly utter without actually giving it some thought. “When you eat with the devil, ensure that you do so with a long spoon.” Why on earth would you even want to dine with the devil? “The devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know.” Yet again, how and where on earth, would you categorize good and evil as not just being equals, but we push the limits even further by inferring that there’s some goodness in evil.

It’s being a while, and I apologize however, I still write, but I just started posting directly on Facebook. I decided to come back here because I had auto-renewed the fee, but more importantly, as I watched the darkness of the night gradually give way to the dawn and light of a new day, I could see my kids in slumber because we decided to go camping yesterday. One about to leave the nest, and the other about to be thrust into the maelstrom that usually qualifies life. Each representing a dynasty, each unique and yet different, but the love that so tightly binds them together being tested severely and all I can do is watch, unable to do anything but trust the One who made me, and has kept me thus far even when I really contemplated the insouciance of the struggles, the fights, and the unrelenting pummeling.

I mean it does fill like I can write a few movie scripts from just the events of the last 6 months. “Stay on course, mate” I mutter to myself even as I catalogue events and categorize them, futile in keeping pace with time. I did realize, for maybe the first time, that I cannot move from the front door of where we call home, to the back door in 11 seconds. Screw dystonia, and every malady that plagues man. Well, that’s going to be the subjects of some other posts that I hopefully get to write before I no longer can. Is it fair to call vulnerability a strength? It is impossible for one to have all the answers because we would just re-create the ice age or the era of the caveman. That’s how limited we are, so what’s better than entrusting all of our cares and worries to The One who created all things.

For some reason, as I watched my kids sleep (the next generation, my descendants) and mused over recent events, I was thrust back to memories about 40 years old. I was raised Roman Catholic, and so the first sentence was paying homage to that. We would wake up by 5am, usually with the help of the rod of correction. Nothing, I can assure you, drives sleep away faster than the painful lash of the whip. How different today is, kids sleep in on weekends, corporate punishment and discipline are on the verge of becoming extinct with the tweaking that society compels you to do, as a parent. Oh, yes, back then, sleeping in wasn’t even imagined, least of all having a vestige of what it is today. Thank you, 7Up, the difference is clear.

Even on weekends, we woke up by 5 am and then we would herd out to the sitting room, of course after making your own bed, and we would say or pray or recite the rosary. No offense meant to my brethren under the authority of Pope Leo XIV. Weekends usually meant there was time to say the Joyful, Sorrowful & Glorious mysteries, that’s 15 beads comprising of 3 recitals of 5 beads. Then, my dad would read or have one of us read a page from ‘Just a Moment Please!’ by J. Maurus and then we would ‘discuss’ it and round up family devotion with a prayer from one of the many prayer books. Then it was off to the races, each of us going to the section of the house where your chore demanded your presence. The external chores were dreadful, but I remember this story.

A man watched a farmer harvest his potatoes and just throw them into the cart with the donkey hitched and patiently waiting, in what seemed like a very disorganized manner. It bothered this man so much because he knew sorting it would be better because it could be sold faster, that he politely asked the farmer why he was not sorting them first. The farmer took a break, looked at the man and responded, “Oh, I always take the roughest road to the market and by the time I arrive at the market, it would be sorted.” The man thought about it and asked for more clarification. “Oh, I take the roughest path, because with every bump, the potatoes would move and ultimately by the end of the trip, the largest ones would have made their way to the bottom and the smaller ones would remain on top.”

The fascinating thing about the explanation was that farmers back then were usually not very educated but today schools charge an arm and a leg to ‘teach’ what the farmer was already applying; the law of gravity, Newton’s laws of motion etc. And till today, I’ve never forgotten the ‘moral’ of the story (usually real life events) and the moral for the day. You see, life is that rough road and we are the potatoes. Every obstacle we face; separating men from boys, the strong from the weak, the leaders from the followers. However ,the true takeaway is that the big ones get to the bottom because they can bear the weight of the smaller ones without being crushed. Till this day, the objective of society is emphasis on getting a ‘better’ bargain and so most people choose to sorting, putting the smaller ones at the bottom so that you get a ‘better’ bargain.

At first glance, the cart looks great with large potatoes but at the bottom are crushed potatoes, and that by any standard is a bad purchase. We can not live life without figuring and accepting our identity and purpose. Some of us are made strong, not so that we flaunt it or bully others weaker than us, but rather to help elevate them. We’re blessed with wealth, not to have men kowtow and gravel before you, but so that with those blessings and riches, you pull others up and empower those who are in need. It’s a difficult concept and thus John Ruskin captures it aptly, “A man wrapped up in himself, makes a small package.” Each day, we get to choose how we impact the lives we encounter as we bounce around on life’s rough road. We must choose what is more important to us, getting a better bargain through deceit or getting a better bargain by selling the smaller potatoes first.

Oh, not again, why are his posts so grave and serious? Well, my friend, I talk about life and my experiences, I’m not a circus owner, so do forgive me because my objective is to help at least one person who reads this. I want you to know that I see you, and I may not understand what you are going through at the moment, but I can say to you, “Keep your chin up, and never give up because life is not fair.” The market is closer than you think, and all the soreness, all the pain, all the anguish, is about to end as long as you don’t give up. You have got value, and if you have been told contrary all your life, take this one statement from one who has been through stuff that you can not even imagine, “You are valuable!”

I’m in no way saying that my road is rougher than yours, that would be ignorance, all that I am saying is that you are in charge of your life. You’re the only one whose decisions really count because you’re going to face the consequences of your decisions. So stop, take a breath, look around, smell the fragrance of the flowers, listen to the twittering of the birds, and remind yourself that the future will always be better than today, as long as you don’t bring the mistakes of the past into today. Today’s all we have, let us make it count for something great because there’s someone out there that could use a smile, a kind word or a hand extended in assistance. Remember that you have a smile, a means of communication and a limb, prosthetic or not.

Adieu!

עד שניפגש שוב, תרימו את הראש ותחייכו אל הסערה!