Road in Retirement

Sacrifice Throughout my life I have learned the pain and reward of sacrifice. In a godly spiritual sense, those two powerful concepts are intimately intertwined. Ok, I will confess I am talking about Lent. Lent leads up to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s painful death on the cross, resulting in the reward of salvation being offered to all mankind. The United Conference of Catholic Bishops has what I think is a good definition: “Lent is a 40-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully.” I think that covers it beautifully. My Len...

Irish Roots On Monday, March 17, I will be honoring the passing of a special person with a toast of Baileys. In my road in retirement with Parkinson’s and a brain-bleed speech impediment, these moments have a bit more meaning because they add to my purpose. No, I will be honoring not only St. Patrick but my mother, Rita, as well. You see, my mom has sown principles, maybe even unknown to her, that St. Patrick lived by. She always prided the Irish side of her heritage and genes, O’Cullen, and in that spirit, many of us kids ended up with Irish-origin names; but we also took hold of some of that St. Patrick resiliency.  St. Patrick’s Influence St. Patrick was enslaved by Irish raiders or pirates who took him from his native Scotland to Ireland, where he was sold into slavery for six years. During that immensely dark time in his life, he endured great hardship. But later on, as a missionary priest to Ireland, he returned to Ireland and brought Christianity to Ireland, gained sainthood...

Be Still in Phoenix My last blog teed up what I’d been calling “be still” moments I experienced while vacationing a few days in the Phoenix, Arizona area with Chris and my younger son. To me, a be still moment is just taking a pause and focusing for a minute on God and his awesome presence, no matter the circumstances. When Moses killed an Egyptian and fled for the desert in a hurry (Exodus 3), no longer as a prince but as a fugitive, God had him stop and be still for a few moments, and then he spoke to Moses through a fiery blazing shrub. When Elijah killed the prophets of Baal and then ran into the desert fearing the wrath of Jezebel (1 Kings 19), God had him be still and then spoke to him through a still, small voice or gentle whisper. I haven’t killed anyone recently, but I needed some time in the desert and some be-still moments. First “Be Still” Moment To be truthful, one of my most poignant “be still” moments was within an hour after we arrived in Phoenix in a Walmart parking lo...