What You Say

Have you ever been to Key West…

It is one of our favorite spots to visit…

 

Anyone who has dropped out of life….

Has relocated to Key West

 

Quite an eclectic crowd

 

Some years ago…

We were at a neighborhood party and I was speaking to a friend

He and his wife had just got back from Key West

I told them my wife and I were heading to Key West in a couple of weeks

 

He went on to say that while they were in the Keys

They had attended a Séance and…

It was unbelievable

 

A….. Séance….Really…

 

When Janet and I got to Key West, we decided to check it out

We found out where it was located

Walked around the neighborhood

(It was an older home)

We got up the courage to go up

And knocked on the door

 

After a brief discussion

We were told

The Séance begins at 7pm

We told them we would be there

 

The next question was…

Should we eat dinner before the Séance

Around 5pm and then head over

(There was a small restaurant down the street)

Or do we want to grab something to eat afterwards

 

We decided we would do dinner at 5…

 

After a nice dinner

We walk up the street and knocked on the door

As we walked in we saw about 10 people standing in the foyer

They all asked….

 

Are you guys here for the Séance…

 

We did some initial small talk…

 

Where are you from…

How long are you in the Keys…

And of course….

 

Is this your 1^st Séance…

 

Suddenly, the door opened,

We were asked to come into the dining area…

There was a large Dining Room table and…

We were asked to take a seat around the table

 

The Seancer welcomed us and introduced himself

 

He started by saying…

 

 I know you probably have a lot of questions about…

What can you expect from the Séance

 

Have you ever heard of Kreskin…

(He was a very famous mentalist in our day)

That is what I do…

 

I am a mentalist and I can read peoples’ minds….

And…. I can communicate with the spirit world

 

To give you an idea of what I can do

I want everyone to think of someone

Who is very special in your life

I want you to concentrate on their name and…

I am going to tell you who that person is

 

Ok….Is everybody ready…

Now I want you all to concentrate

 

He looks at my wife and asks…

 

What is your name…

I am Janet…

 

Have you thought of someone special in your life…

Yes, I have…

 

Please stand up and I will tell you who you are thinking of

Better yet…

 

He points to the person sitting next to Janet

 

Will you please stand up…

What is your name…Jim

 

Do you know Janet…

No, I just met her when we came here tonight

 

While Janet is thinking of her person, I am going to send it from my mind to Jim’s mind

And Jim is going to say the name of the person Janet is thinking about

 

Yeah right…

 

Before I reveal who Janet is thinking about…

I want Janet to do one thing…

 

Janet, in front of you will see a tray of ashes

Please pick up the tray of ashes and dump it onto the plate next to it

Now…I want you to take the napkin laying there

Open it up and place it over the ashes on the plate

 

Ok…Now we can get started

Janet… you are still thinking of your name

Think real hard and…

Jim standing next to you is going to say that name

 

Are you ready…

 

All of a sudden…

Jim blurts out the name Janet is thinking about

 

My wife shrieks….

 

How could he possibly know who I was thinking about…

 

Now we are coming to the best part…

 

Janet…was that the name you were thinking of…

Yes, It was my grandmother’s name

 

Ok…

Now I want you to take the napkin off the plate with the ashes

 

As she removes the napkin

Janet see the name of her grandmother

Spelled out with the ashes on the plate

 

It was spelled in the original Gaelic form

 

Bessie

 

The way her grandmother used to spell her name

 

We have never seen anything like that in our lives

 

How did he do it…

I don’t know

 

I could go into more detail about rest of the night

But all I can say…

 

We never saw any of these people before

We will never see them again

And that night will live in our minds forever

 

The spirits were active that night

It was draining on all of us

 

I am not a big fan of the dark…

 

All I can say is…

That there was a lot of energy flowing around the room

 

Good thing we ate at 5pm

We would not have been able to go dinner afterward

 

We all walked out of the house numb…

Yardstick

I went to a Catholic grade school. One of the most important things you do when you are in 2nd grade is study for your 1st communion.

Back in the day we had the Baltimore Catechism. To this day, I know many people whose faith has not grown beyond what they learned in the Baltimore Catechism….

You might remember some of the questions:

1….Who made us……God made us.

2…Who is God… God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things.

3…..Why did God make us…. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.

To make your 1st Communion you had to not only study the Baltimore Catechism, but you were constantly quizzed on the questions and you had better know the answers.

One thing about Catholic Schools in the 1950s…. we had nuns. They were real sticklers when it came to learning your Catechism.

“I would like you to go home tonight and review all these questions and tomorrow we will have a quiz.”

I went home that night….I studied and highlighted, took notes and went over the questions and answers multiple times. I was going to be ready and know all the answers.

The next day, in class the nun decided to have an oral quiz. I was in the 1st row and she started asking the 1st question to the 1st person in my row. The 2nd question went to the person in the 2nd seat.

I sensed, there is a pattern going on here… Now let me see. I am in seat number 7, that means I am going to get question number 7. What is that question? I know I know the answer. What was that question? Let me take a sneak peek in my book.

Ahhhh. Question 7

“Mister Hutchinson. Will you please come up here.”
Why did you open the book….”

I did not open the book.

I was caught red handed. There was no lying my way out of this one…

“Come here Mister Hutchinson…
Stick your hand out.”

Wow….What is going on…. What have I got myself into…

At this point, she reaches back and on the ledge of the chalk board is a yardstick…

Uh Oh…

“I said stick out your hand…”

I’m thinking….What are you going to do with that yardstick…

Crack….

Not only did she hit my hand with the yardstick…

The yardstick breaks.

The nun is very upset now…

“Now look what you done…
you are going to have to buy me a new yardstick.”

What…

Not only am I experiencing pain…now you are going to make me pay you for your infliction…

Is this some sort of Purgatory….

“You have to bring in $2.00 tomorrow so I can buy a new yardstick.”

I am thinking…

Well the yardstick wouldn’t have broken if you didn’t hit me with it.

Lying…Is that a venial sin…

Can I still make my 1st Holy Communion…

For those of you worrying…

Yes I did receive my 1st Communion and I went on to be an altar boy in later years…

Dominus Vobiscum…..Et cum spiritu tuo…

Thought for the Day

I like to start each day reading…
An inspirational thought
It helps to provide a little guidance…
And continues to nudge me in the right direction

It can be so easy to get caught up in our daily routines…

Do you find yourself running around…
Constantly putting out fires…
Pulling you away from what you do best…

Being you…

How can we connect with the inner you…

Many of us are so busy being the person
Everyone wants us to be…
We do not have the time to be…
Who we really are…

We all have been blessed with a special talent
That is what makes us unique

Identifying that talent can be difficult

We are always told to look inside

What am I supposed to be looking for…

I close my eye and try to slow down
And my mind starts racing…

How do I try to slow down…

I start each day with an inspirational thought

They serve as a reinforcement…
And coaches me to stay on
The right path

They help to capture
How or what I am feeling at that moment
And many times…
They just bring a smile to my face

When I first started working after college
I had a great uncle who used to call me everyday

He would say…

“George…take out your day timer and write this down
Here is the word for the day”…

He would give me a word with its’ definition and say…

“OK…read it back to me”…

I always admired the fact
That he took time out of his day
To think of me…

I have been forever grateful

I have used the thought for the day
As my vehicle to grow

About 5 years ago
I started sending out my thought for the day

At first…
It was only sent to our children
Then I started sharing it with
Our nieces and nephews…

As my confidence grew…
I expanded it…
Sending it to friends and people I have known
Thru the years

I have received great feedback from sharing…

These thoughts…

People say…

Thank you for sending out your thought for the day
I look forward to it…
It normally makes me stop and think
And many times… I just smile

I saw your thought for the day and…
It came at a perfect time

I look forward to getting your thought for the day…
Do you mind if I share it with a friend…

Could you add my son and daughter to your…
Thought for the day…
I read it to them all the time

I have people thank me for my consistency
In sharing these thoughts
During the week

I have also had people say…

How many of these thoughts do you have…

I guess I can’t please everyone

I only know that each thought for the day
Has helped me to grow as an individual…

It continues to center me

Life is a journey and…
I am embracing each day

We are all blessed…

PS: Should you like to be included in my Thought for the Day email, just hit reply and I will be glad to send them to you.

In The Moment

I hope you had a nice holiday….

It seems like a lot of planning goes into
The Christmas celebrations and then…
In a blink of an eye
The holidays slip by…

Our family was able to get together a few times
During the holiday season

I found myself eating…
Way too much and thinking…

All the time I put toward healthy eating
Trying to maintain my weight all year
Just… went out the window

I hid my scale…

I think I will start dieting tomorrow…

Now it is back to reality…

2019 kicks off and I am excited about…
The possibilities

For the last 35+ years
I start each year
By going on a retreat

I approach each retreat with
No expectations…

However….I find Malvern has always been
A humbling experience

Our lives are so fast paced
We find ourselves running in 10 different directions
Constantly putting out fires

Our minds are racing…
We are thinking about….

What just happened and….
What are we going to do next…

What happens to the time in the middle of…
What just happened….and what to do next…

It is called…The Present

I think John Lennon said it best…

Life is what happens
While we are busy making other plans

While at Malvern
I pray to slow down…

Help me to appreciate
The moment

I force myself
To take time and
Look at the gifts
I have been blessed with

Then I ask myself…

Am I using these gifts
To the best of my ability…

That is always the toughest question to answer
We may beat ourselves up at times
But we make it easy to give ourselves a pass

However…
This is a very important question…

My life question…

What am I doing with the gifts I have been given…

Malvern gives me the time to reflect on…
What is my life’s purpose…

I pray for the grace…
To help me to be present
In every moment

And…

To use these gifts
To the best of my ability

The Magic Bank Account

Recently, a friend reached out to me and sent the below message. Thank you, John, for thinking of me. I would like to share it with you…

George, This is you!

John

THE AUTHOR IS NOT KNOWN.   IT WAS FOUND IN THE BILLFOLD OF
COACH PAUL BEAR BRYANT, ALABAMA, AFTER HE DIED IN 1982.

The Magic Bank Account

Imagine that you had won the Following *PRIZE* in a contest:

Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400 In your private account
for your use…..
However, this prize has Rules:
The set of Rules:

1. Everything that you didn’t spend during each day would be taken away from
you.

2. You may not simply transfer money into some other account.

3. You may only spend It.

4. Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another
$86,400 for that Day.

5. The bank can end the game without warning; at any time, it can say,

Game Over!” It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.

What would you personally do?

You would buy anything and everything you wanted right?  Not only
for yourself, but for all the people you love and care for.  Even for
people you don’t know because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on
yourself, right?

You would try to spend every penny, and use it all, because you knew
it would be replenished in the morning, right?

ACTUALLY, This GAME is REAL…   Shocked ???
YES!

Each of us is already a winner of this *PRIZE*. We just can’t seem to see
it.

The PRIZE is *TIME*

1. Each morning we awaken to Receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of Life.

2. And when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is not credited to us.

3. What we haven’t used up that day is forever lost.

4. Yesterday is forever gone.

5. Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your
account at any time WITHOUT WARNING…

SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?

Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars.
Think about it and remember to enjoy every second of your life, because
time races by so much quicker than you think.

So take care of yourself, be Happy, love deeply and enjoy life!

Here’s wishing you a wonderful and beautiful day…
Start spending….

“DON’T COMPLAIN ABOUT GROWING OLD!”

SOME PEOPLE DON’T GET THE PRIVILEGE!

 

Every Day is a Gift