The Case of the Wal-Mart Damsel

Today one of my roommates and I went to Wal-Mart in order to purchase some items with which to make a care package.  As we were parking a lady came and knocked on my car window.   We rolled down the window to discover that she was a woman in distress.

Apparently, the lady, named Phyllis was driving with her four children(two of them newborns, twins) when her can broke down on the interstate.  Phyllis had called 911, who called roadside assistance.  Then, roadside assistance brought her to the IHOP near Wal-Mart, but informed her that her car was not safe to drive home (her home was about an hour and a half away).  She said she called a couple of local Churches, the St. Vincent de Paul center, and the bus service, but could not find help.  Finally, she called a cab service, but she was short $16 and asked if my roommate and I would be willing to either find her a ride or just give her the $16.

My initial response was, it's only $16.  That's not very much money, right?  Certainly I can spare $16 to help someone in need.   But then it occurred to me that it might just be a scam.   And if the lady approaches 30 people in an hour and 1 in 3 people give her the $16, then in only 5 hours, that would be $800.  If it was a scam, it could certainly be a profitable one.  I asked the lady for her phone number and gave her mine, then I told her that I would get back to her after we got our groceries.

So, first things first, I called my mom.  She said she would not give the lady anything were she in my shoes.  Then my roommate called one of the churches that Phyllis claimed to have called.  They said that they hadn't heard anything of that nature, but if they had, they would only be able to help a parishioner as their funds were limited.  Still not convinced that it was a scam and wanting to help Phyllis if it wasn't,  I called the police department.

They sent an officer over to look into it.   The officer seemed to believe that it was a scam but agreed to take a look around the Wal-Mart and IHOP parking lots to make sure that she didn't need help.  In the end, I think that it turned out to be a scam, but either way if it hadn't been a scam, then the good officer would have helped Phyllis and goodness will be served!

That said, how would you have handled this situation?  I'm really interested to know.  =)

The Case of the Sleeping Student

So I have this babysitting job once a week.  It's on Wednesday mornings from 7:45-10:30.  I love the little boy I babysit.   He's so cute and smiley!  The trouble is, I'm pretty sure I'm about to lose the job.

Why?  Well, the answer is simple enough.  I have been late due to oversleeping no less than 6 of 11 times.  Pretty bad, right?  I've tried just about everything I can think of: going to bed early, setting multiple alarms, having my employer text me as a reminder.  It's looking pretty grim, folks.  So, what's a girl to do?

I really don't want to lose the job, but the parents of this little boy need to get to work/school in a timely manner and if they can't depend on me, then that's a problem.  This morning, I actually woke up to my alarm, couldn't figure out why it went off so early and adjusted it to go off at 9:45.  It will be a miracle if I still have this job by the end of the month.

Any advice?

Tough luck...

Allow me to geek out for a moment.  I LOVE J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings(LOTR).  It is one of my favorite books.  I feel that there is so much that a person might learn from reading this story. 

Today's LOTR lesson is: Life is Hard.
Life is incredibly hard.   I'm sure that we've all had those days when we just feel that we cannot go on.  It's painful.  There is an overwhelming sense of long, unending, difficult monotony.  We think to ourselves, "This is it.  It's never going to get better.  This feeling is not going to end.  Everything is such a struggle.  I want to quit.  It's all such an impossible mess."

Think of Frodo.  A lot of people don't like Frodo.  For some, that is exclusively do to the Elijah Wood interpretation of Frodo.  For others, they just feel that Frodo is a difficult, whiny, weak, and pathetic character.  In some ways, I think that's true.  Frodo complains.  Frodo is weak and fragile.  He is injured.  He carries a burden that is too great for him.  There is an evil, which is always pulling at his heart, begging him to give up.   He has to take this great evil, which lurks in his own heart, and destroy it.  All the while, this evil whispers, "Just give up.  If you give up, this will all be over.  All of this pain, all of this struggle will all be over if you just give up."

For me, the entirety of Frodo's struggle is excellently captured in the above picture.  You guys, I've been there.  I've been there so many times.  It stinks.  Sometimes, things are just bad, with no consolations.  It happens.

Sometimes, the pain doesn't go away for a long time.  Even after the cause of the pain is long gone, sometimes the pain remains.  Sometimes, we don't get closure.  Sometimes, it takes a long time to just begin to move on.

Before you freak out, I am not currently in such a place, but I know a few people who are or have recently been there.  So, it's on my mind and now I'm writing about it.  There are so many people who know what I'm talking about and it really isn't fun. 

So, here is the second LOTR Lesson of the Day: There is Hope

No matter how dark things get, no matter how alone you feel, no matter how how desperate things seem, there is always hope.  At the end of all things, there is something worth fighting for.  There is a reason for keep on keeping on.  Don't abandon that.  Don't give up.  =)  You matter to someone.  You matter to me!  Don't be afraid to face the hard stuff.

The Ten Lepers

Today at Mass, our associate pastor gave a very insightful homily regarding today's Gospel reading(Luke 17:11-19).   He began by focusing on something which I often don't really think about: leprosy.   Anyone who reads the Bible has at one time or another encountered a passage that deals with the subject of leprosy, but do we ever stop and think about what leprosy meant to someone in Jesus's time?  Or even to someone of our time who lacks the necessary resources to be cured?  Well, here's an idea for you:

For a better understanding of the technical aspects of the disease click here.

Leprosy is horrible, painful, slow, hideous, divisive, lonely, depressing, and so much more to the person afflicted with the disease without a hope for a cure.  

Take a moment to think about that.   Really.  Think about it.

That is what sin does to our souls.  It slowly eats away at the life within us.  It cripples us.  It isolates us from what is good.  It leaves us alone and without hope.  We are in pain.  There is no escape.

Sin brings doubt, fear, distrust, anger, selfishness, loneliness, restlessness, despair, sickness, and suffering.

Enter Jesus!

He lovingly and persistently offers a way to be healed.  It is not an easy way.  It is a way of sacrifice.  A way of martyrdom.  But it is a way of supreme joy and love.  It is such a beautiful thing to be healed and alive!   There is such a peace in knowing that you are no longer decaying from within.  Thank you, Jesus!

My Sweet Friend...

Today is my girl's feast day.  St. Therese and I have so much history.  She's pretty much been there with me, the whole way.   Her life is a special witness to God's grace because it was so ordinary.  St. Therese was sort of a spoiled little girl and she was a tender, sensitive person.   She wasn't tough.  She wanted to be.  She had a great admiration for Joan of Arc.   She was certainly no great fighter like Joan, or at least not physically.

But Therese had a great love for her Lord.   More importantly, she trusted blindly in His great love for her.  She had no fear as she threw herself at the feet of His benevolent mercy.  

St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us!