Matthew Kelly in his book A Call to Joy (pages 82-84) shares the story of Amanda Wellings. Here is her story. Amanda Wellings was nine years old and living in Princeton when both her parents and her teacher, Mrs. Bobak, were prepared to admit that she had a problem with mathematics. The adults met to discuss the problem and decided on individual tutoring. Yet, even with tutoring, nothing changed. Amanda failed her mathematics test every week.
At this point both the parents and teacher agreed that mathematics was not one of Amanda's gifts. Perhaps she should be encouraged to change her focus.
Not long after, Mrs. Bobak called in Amanda's parents and congratulated them for their work. Mrs. Bobak mentioned that week after week Amanda's results in mathematics had been improving; she was now at the top of the class and had for the last three weeks not made a single mistake. The parents were stunned, sharing with Mrs. Bobak, that they had not done anything.
When Amanda's parents returned to their home, confused yet eager to know what had caused this remarkable change in their daughter's mathematics ability, Amanda was already asleep. So the next morning at the breakfast table Mr.Wellings asked, "Amanda, what has caused your grades to improve in mathematics?" The little girl replied, "I heard about a man in town who was good with numbers. So the day Mrs. Bobak told me that she would not be tutoring me anymore, I stopped at his house. Tommy, the boy who sits next to me in school, had told me where he lived. I knocked on the door and explained my problem to the man. He was very nice and patient. He listened to me, and then when I finished he told me to come to visit at the same time every day after school. He said he would help me." She continued, "Daddy, this man knows everything, even more than you. He taught me mathematics. It was the same stuff Mrs. Bobak had tried to teach me, but it was different."
Amanda's mother interrupted to ask, "What is the man's name?" The young girl replied, "I'm not sure, because it has all sorts of letters and its confusing. But it's something like Einstein."
Both parents just sat back and stared at each other. Amanda continued, "He told me that some of us are slower than others, but we all get there in the end."
Isn't it amazing what is possible when we place ourselves in the right hands? If what Einstein did with Amanda left her parents speechless, what is possible with the hands of God?
God's blessings! Father Peter Schuster
Friday, November 6, 2015
Thursday, July 2, 2015
You and Your Word
Matthew Kelly on pages 51-52 in his book A Call To Joy shares the following story.
There once was a successful businessman who owned a very large company. Business was not too good, however, and his company was in a lot of trouble. It looked like the company might go down, and his competitors were ready to pounce on his market share. But this man had a plan that he knew, without a doubt, would revive his company.
It was Saturday morning and he was preparing a speech to give at his company's annual staff dinner that evening. In his speech, he wanted to show them the first part of his plan. But more than that, he wanted to emphasize that if his plan was to be speedily and successfully implemented, it was dependent on the individual response of each one of his employees.
That morning while writing his speech, his wife had to go out shopping. Ten minutes after she left, he heard a knock on the study door. There stood his seven-year-old son, who complained, "Dad, I'm bored." The father attempted to play a game with the boy and write the speech at the same time. This went on for nearly two hours until the father realized that unless he could find some other way to amuse his son, he was not going to finish his speech in time. So he picked up a magazine and flipped through the pages until he found a large, brightly colored map of the world. He tore the page out and ripped it into many pieces. Throwing the pieces all over the living room floor, the father said, "Son, if you can put the map of the world back together, I will give you a dollar."
The child rushed to the task, eager to earn some extra money, while the father returned to his study believing that he had just bought himself two or maybe three hours to finish his speech; he knew that his seven-year-old son had no idea what the map of the world looked like. But within ten minutes, he heard another knock on the study door, and there stood his smiling son with the completed puzzle in his hands. Amazed, the father said to the child, "Son, how did you finish to so quickly?" The child smiled larger than ever, "Well, dad, I had no idea what the map of the world looked like, but there was a picture of a man on the back. I put a piece of paper down on the floor. Then on top of that piece of paper I put the picture of the man together. I put another piece of paper on top and turned them both over. I took the top piece of paper off and there was the world, complete and in order."
As the father stood there in awe, the boy continued, "Dad, I figured if I got the man right, the world would be right."
And so, the moral is simple. Get the man (woman) right, and the world will fall in order! A great lesson to have before us.
Father Schuster
There once was a successful businessman who owned a very large company. Business was not too good, however, and his company was in a lot of trouble. It looked like the company might go down, and his competitors were ready to pounce on his market share. But this man had a plan that he knew, without a doubt, would revive his company.
It was Saturday morning and he was preparing a speech to give at his company's annual staff dinner that evening. In his speech, he wanted to show them the first part of his plan. But more than that, he wanted to emphasize that if his plan was to be speedily and successfully implemented, it was dependent on the individual response of each one of his employees.
That morning while writing his speech, his wife had to go out shopping. Ten minutes after she left, he heard a knock on the study door. There stood his seven-year-old son, who complained, "Dad, I'm bored." The father attempted to play a game with the boy and write the speech at the same time. This went on for nearly two hours until the father realized that unless he could find some other way to amuse his son, he was not going to finish his speech in time. So he picked up a magazine and flipped through the pages until he found a large, brightly colored map of the world. He tore the page out and ripped it into many pieces. Throwing the pieces all over the living room floor, the father said, "Son, if you can put the map of the world back together, I will give you a dollar."
The child rushed to the task, eager to earn some extra money, while the father returned to his study believing that he had just bought himself two or maybe three hours to finish his speech; he knew that his seven-year-old son had no idea what the map of the world looked like. But within ten minutes, he heard another knock on the study door, and there stood his smiling son with the completed puzzle in his hands. Amazed, the father said to the child, "Son, how did you finish to so quickly?" The child smiled larger than ever, "Well, dad, I had no idea what the map of the world looked like, but there was a picture of a man on the back. I put a piece of paper down on the floor. Then on top of that piece of paper I put the picture of the man together. I put another piece of paper on top and turned them both over. I took the top piece of paper off and there was the world, complete and in order."
As the father stood there in awe, the boy continued, "Dad, I figured if I got the man right, the world would be right."
And so, the moral is simple. Get the man (woman) right, and the world will fall in order! A great lesson to have before us.
Father Schuster
Friday, January 23, 2015
Thoughts on Prayer
In his book Catching Fire Becoming Flame: A Guide for Spiritual Transformation, Father Albert Haase addresses our spiritual relationship with God. On pages 46-47, Father Haase writes about two of the most common concerns regarding prayer.
"Dryness in prayer is a sign that something is happening. There is a common misconception that if prayer becomes dry, boring, dissatisfying, or meaningless, we are doing something wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dryness is always an indication that our prayer techniques are flaming out as God takes over and teaches us new ways to communicate. When we are not getting anything out of prayer, it's important that we continue to remain faithful to it. Just showing up every day and going through the motions is a bold act of fidelity that is blessed by God." (page 46)
"The goal of prayer is not a mind free of distractions but a surrendered heart of love. Every time I (Father Haase) pray , I have distractions. My mind seems stoked with green wood that crackles, hisses, pops, and shoots sparks everywhere. My attention follows those sparks and I become discouraged as I struggle to rid myself of the distractions; to make matters worse, the very effort to rid myself of them becomes another distraction! Distractions are not as bad as you may think; they can be great teachers in the spiritual life. They sometimes indicate what we are really passionate about and invested in. They might also point out areas where we tend to throw water on the kindling. In both cases, distractions can tell us exactly where are are and become the topics for our heart-to-heart conversation with him by whom we know ourselves to be loved. The aim of prayer is not the attainment of some Zen-like, thoughtless state of consciousness. Its fundamental aim is a heart-to-heart conversation in which we learn openness to the call and challenge of the Spirit to lovingly serve our neighbor." (page 46-47)
In these words, Father Haase provides us words of encouragement. Dryness sometimes happens in prayer and distractions can point us in the direction we need to take in prayer. Simply put, whatever comes our way, the important thing is that we pray.
God's blessings! Father Schuster
"Dryness in prayer is a sign that something is happening. There is a common misconception that if prayer becomes dry, boring, dissatisfying, or meaningless, we are doing something wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dryness is always an indication that our prayer techniques are flaming out as God takes over and teaches us new ways to communicate. When we are not getting anything out of prayer, it's important that we continue to remain faithful to it. Just showing up every day and going through the motions is a bold act of fidelity that is blessed by God." (page 46)
"The goal of prayer is not a mind free of distractions but a surrendered heart of love. Every time I (Father Haase) pray , I have distractions. My mind seems stoked with green wood that crackles, hisses, pops, and shoots sparks everywhere. My attention follows those sparks and I become discouraged as I struggle to rid myself of the distractions; to make matters worse, the very effort to rid myself of them becomes another distraction! Distractions are not as bad as you may think; they can be great teachers in the spiritual life. They sometimes indicate what we are really passionate about and invested in. They might also point out areas where we tend to throw water on the kindling. In both cases, distractions can tell us exactly where are are and become the topics for our heart-to-heart conversation with him by whom we know ourselves to be loved. The aim of prayer is not the attainment of some Zen-like, thoughtless state of consciousness. Its fundamental aim is a heart-to-heart conversation in which we learn openness to the call and challenge of the Spirit to lovingly serve our neighbor." (page 46-47)
In these words, Father Haase provides us words of encouragement. Dryness sometimes happens in prayer and distractions can point us in the direction we need to take in prayer. Simply put, whatever comes our way, the important thing is that we pray.
God's blessings! Father Schuster
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