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Who doesn’t love a good story?

by | Dec 8, 2012

When Jesus wanted to make a point, he told a good story. That’s because when you merely tell someone information or tell them what to think, they tend to forget it.

Ah, but tell them a story with believable heroes they fall in love, a villain they despise, and now you’re coming in loud and clear.

Who hasn’t heard of the Good Samaritan? Or the Prodigal Son?

It took me seven months to write “A Martyr’s Crown.”

During that time, I did not go to the gym. I did not visit my friends. I did not plant flowers in my garden. And, it must be admitted, I did not clean our house. (Thank God for our teenagers who did.)

Then, six trusted friends and advisors reviewed the manuscript and helped me to refine it. They cheered me on when I felt discouraged. They took me to lunch when I got too busy to eat.

Sometimes the only quiet place I could find to write was in the laundry room.

Mostly, I worked here, in my eldest son’s bedroom, while he was at school or work.

Finally, I finished.

I wound up planting petunias after all.

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I looked up from the pages of the book I was engrossed in at the sound: My husband of nearly 40 years was sitting at the kitchen table drumming his fingers steadily.

“I know that sound,” I told him with a smirk. “That’s the sound you make when there’s something that needs doing, something you’d rather not have to do, BUT you’re going to get up and do it anyway. Because that’s just how you roll.” He laughed, knowing I had read his mind. At this point in our journey, I know his “tells” and he knows mine.

On that particular day, it turned out to be a problematic toilet in the kids’ bathroom — not exactly most people’s favorite DIY task. Later that day, as I smiled at the memory of our playful bantering, it got me thinking.

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The phrase jumped out at me and set off alarm bells:
“The growing burden on this sandwich generation weakens careers and quality of life…”
The Soulful Catholic’s quiet perusal of the Sunday-morning edition of the Wall Street Journal is generally not fraught with consternation. And yet this seemingly innocuous turn of phrase had her taking screenshots for further reflection.
The article in question was examining the challenges faced by the sandwich generation, referring to those adults charged with the care of both young children and elderly parents or grandparents.
As someone who navigated that season of life not so long ago, I sympathize with the struggle. But a burden? A drag on my career? A lower quality of life?
Uh, no. Definitely no.

Our joy will attract others to faith in Christ. Outrage and vitriol? Not so much.

Our joy will attract others to faith in Christ. Outrage and vitriol? Not so much.

“Next week, don’t be the same person you were last week. Let’s start to live a more radical response to the gift of the best news ever … I beg you to respond by sharing the Gospel with confidence, by rejoicing in his love even when life is really hard.”— Chris Stefanick, National Eucharistic Congress, July 21

Of all the powerful statements that were uttered at the National Eucharistic Congress, this is the one that stays with me.

Many of us seem to have lost the sense that the Gospel is, in fact, good news. When faith becomes caught up in debate and politics and keeping score, the heart of the Gospel is lost. When we become cynics who are quick to complain, criticize and condemn, we forget to share the joy we should have from being a disciple of the Lord Jesus. We forget what Jesus told us: “I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world (John 12:47).”

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