Misery Loves Company

It is said, "misery loves company".  For the most part, I believe this to be true. We sure love to commiserate with each other, don't we?  When you're miserable, you just want everyone in your life to cheer you on in your misery. "Yeah, me too!" "That stinks!" "I hate my boss too!" "I wish I were single!" "Right on sister, husbands are clueless!" "That's right man, wives just nag, nag, nag!" "Kids are so ungrateful!" Have you ever heard these responses? They sure stroke your ego when you're upset.  Most people don't offer positive advice out of fear - fear of being different.  When we're the one who's down, we think we want someone to help us, but in reality we just want someone to egg on our selfish pity party and indulgent misery. It is much easier to complain than to actually acknowledge one might have to change part of him or herself.

Jesus calls us to be better than this.  Acknowledging we might have a hand in keeping our own misery alive is a difficult pill to swallow because it requires self-reflection (which might take you away from another self-indulgent activity), and *gasp* change (which might be painful).  Unhappiness can engulf any aspect of your life and leave you feeling like you're drowning... whether it is an unhappy marriage, unhappy work situation, difficult boss, difficulties with your children, feelings that are less than bliss when thinking of your pastor or parish, etc.  Sometimes difficult people come into our lives so that we can learn to love them, as we never would have otherwise.  If God is the Creator, then His face is imprinted on every human being - just as the parents' genetics are imprinted on their child(ren).  We are called to love as Jesus loved; to see the face of His Father in every person we meet.

When we feel that feeling of unhappiness or misery, we need to reflect and discern whether or not we can do something within ourselves to alleviate the pain, sadness, or weariness.  We should also pay heed to the people in our lives who are there giving us encouraging words and ideas. Don't dismiss one's positive outlook on your difficult situation as "impossible".  There might be some really great piece of advice you're overlooking.  Receive advice with a humble heart and you might be surprised how things in your life begin to change.  Do you REALLY want company in your misery? REALLY? Maybe for the moment, or a half hour, or hour...but that kind of company is fleeting and untrue.

Stay close to Jesus in prayer and in the Eucharist.  He loves you and He is REALLY present in the Eucharist.  He will give you answers you're looking for; maybe not that moment but they will come.  Pray the rosary and feel the Virgin Mary, our blessed Mother, sweep you up in her arms and hold you close to her heart.  Pray to your guardian angel.  Your angel is by your side standing vigil.  Don't forget that.  There is no need to remain in your misery when the life of Christ is coursing through your veins.  Visit our Lord in Adoration.  He is there and waiting for you.  He is the great healer - the great physician.

The Pro-Aborts Will Continue to Be Vile While We Will Continue to See Beauty in All Life

Today, Governor Rick Perry of the great state of Texas signed a bill that bans all abortions after 20 weeks.  That is a huge win for the prolife side, and it was a very contentious fight.  The night of the vote had me on pins and needles as I stayed tuned through twitter and Facebook.  The pro-abortion side came to the Texas capitol in Austin armed and ready to fight - reportedly with a semi-automatic weapon, blood, feces, urine, tampons, pads, and their foul mouths.  There was a time in the night that the pro-life supporters of the bill had to be rushed out of the capitol or into safe areas for their own livelihood.

Sadly, I understand the viewpoint of the pro-abortion crowd because I once was there too.  For the most part, they feel they are fighting for the safety of women...and for women's rights.  Many are very uninformed.  They do not know the horrors of the abortion industry.  They do not know the methods of abortions or the statistics surrounding abortions.  They do not know that abortions do so much harm to the women they think they are tying to protect.  It's really just a reversal of the mindset.  When you begin to think of the innocent life growing inside the woman, and not just the woman's desires, you begin to shift your thinking.

We have become a throw-away society, which unfortunately includes our own children.  It has become easy to discard our own offspring if they happen to come along at an inconvenient time.  I will tell you that most babies come at inconvenient times.  It is rare that one plans for a specific time that a baby will arrive and nine months later, a perfect baby arrives right on schedule.  We are also consumed with perfection.  Our babies have to arrive perfectly. All of the testing done on our children in utero to determine illnesses, genetic problems, etc. has risen to an all time high and women are choosing more than ever to abort these less than perfect creations of God's.  We forget in our race to perfection that these children are not ours, they are God's. They were created by Him and will return to Him one day. Our job is to love them, give them the best opportunities in life we can, and teach them to love God.

Today, Steve Ray posted this video on his page regarding what it is like to have an autistic brother.  It is a great and moving video.  How would Spencer's life be different if he didn't have his brother, Mitchell?  All life is beautiful, all life has a purpose, all life is a gift, and all life is created by God.