What a Week

VEE:  This work week brought new changes to my job that require more of my already limited time, and if things get too tight for time I will have to ask my boss for an earlier start time.  At the same time that would mean I'd have to get up a bit earlier.  Also, I got in trouble at work for something that I did do but didn't know anything was wrong.  I can understand they need someone to blame it just sucks that I work hard, try my best and never see any rewards but only recognition if something goes wrong.  It's fine though because I am not my job and my job is not me, it is where I earn money to provide food, clothes and shelter but it isn't who I am.  TGIF!

DS:  Stick to it, things will get better.  When I started my job, things were tough.  I didn't quite understand the system, it took me a while to get into the groove of things.  At times, my work load was so overbearing, I would have stacks and stacks of paperwork to finish.  It was a thankless job, and I didn't receive any sort of consolation from the workplace, just more hardship.  I was having to go in on weekends to finish the jobs.  I rarely had time to do much of anything outside of the office that first year.  

In his encyclical, Laborem exercens, Pope John Paul II emphasized that work was initially given to man as a mark of his elevation above all creation.  Adam's "job" so to speak, was to be the ruler over all living things, in control of the earth's abundant gifts.  Once sin entered into the world, work became a  "announcement of death."  Work became a hardship.  Man must labor in order to survive.  "Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life" (Gn 3:17)


As abysmal as that may seem, Pope John Paul reminds us that our labor has a deeper purpose.  It is the means for our daily sanctification:


Sweat and toil, which work necessarily involves the present condition of the human race, present the Christian and everyone who is called to follow Christ with the possibility of sharing lovingly in the work that Christ came to do.  This work of salvation came about through suffering and death on a Cross.  By enduring the toil of work in  union with Christ crucified for us, man in a way collaborates with the Son of God for the redemption of humanity.  He shows himself a true disciple of Christ by carrying the cross in his turn every day in the activity that he is called upon to perform.  


I know it can be difficult to remember this while you are breaking your back  at work and not have the satisfaction of appreciation for a job well done.  It will be better if you offered up your work to the Lord.  He sees what you do and appreciates your offering.  No one else matters.  That doesn't mean to not voice your protests over injustice and unfairness (Jesus does  not want you to be a doormat,) but, just realize that you will never receive that satisfaction of a job well done from mere men.  People are weak, and the work environment is never at peace.  Look towards Jesus in the midst of your labor and then you can breath a sigh of relief.


Vee:  St. Teresa of Avila said something like, "God can be found amidst the pots and pans."  Since she thought that up, I often remind her to get in there and help me!!!  Same goes for Miss "I will spend my heaven doing good on Earth."  I know she meant spiritual good but she can get in there and help me too!!!  I don't ask Aquinas for help because he would just eat everything ...


DS:   <_<


The best part of work is leaving, coming home, putting my feet up, and drinking a nice refreshing beer ...


Thank God its the weekend!

Day Two

VEE:  Two days down out of two weeks and I'm a selfish grouch.  In my heart I want to be helpful and understanding but exteriorly I feel like I'm being a pain.  Radiation is so interesting in that we can't immediately see it, touch it, taste it or know it is there.  My mom said she was feeling a bit nauseous tonight and has an ice cream pail with her in case she vomits.  I'm sitting here with the number of the nuclear medicine office on my desk, in case she spews, because I know that her vomit is highly radioactive and must be taken there to be disposed of but if that happens I have a zillion other questions I will be asking them.  I hope I don't have to!

DS:  Vee, why didn't you prepare for this?  Didn't your mother have to do this before months ago?  What was the procedure back then?  Have things changed?  Is this a more "potent" dosage? 

Needless to say, I'm worried.  :/

VEE:  Yes mom did this a couple months ago, and yes this is a more potent dose.  I did prepare though.  I've got my own bathroom and after my nurse sister who has little kids (at home not here) is done staying here for work, tonight is her last night, I will move downstairs.  As she has kids she should have the least exposure possible.  The docs tend to measure the exposure at how long and how close one is to the patient.  She is not to be around anyone closer than 3ft for more than an hour.


It is really interesting as well how radiation in cancer patients can help them and slow or stop the spread of cancer, however, in non-cancer people it can cause lots of problems!


I love my mom and wish things weren't like this.  It is a crucible for all of us in our own way, hopefully forging us into better people.  As Our Lady said to St Bernadette, "I cant promise you happiness in this life" I am reminded that earthly happiness and the joy God brings are two different things and we have here no lasting home.


People think they know happiness, love, etc., but if they don't know God they know only a mere shadow of these things.  God is absolute Love, Truth, Justice, Mercy, Beauty beyond our comprehension because we are the creatures created by Him and we must have humility.  He loves my mom far more than I ever could and will care for her always, even when it seems He is far away and doesn't care.  


DS:  Suffering does bring about humility.  In my own experience, watching my mother die a slow and painful death, I stood before the Blessed Sacrament many times and came crashing down upon my knees totally spent.  There was nothing I could possibly do to alleviate my mother's pain, only God...ONLY GOD could do that.  I could do nothing.  In my human weakness, I failed to see the good of it all, but my mother, who was a saint, would tell me time and again, "You must be prepared for the Will of God."  (She could see I was not accepting it.)  Many times I woke to her praying in the middle of the night, bed-ridden, wounded and in pain, whispering to Jesus with a strange joy, "Here I am, Lord....I come to do your Will."  


You are correct, Vee, in saying that it seems like God is far away and not caring to a soul who has to endure much suffering.  The truth is, God is glorified and is Present in a mystical way in a person who suffers greatly.  It is one of the mysteries of our Faith, one of the mysteries of God, who Himself sent His Only Son to the world to die an agonizing death.  Unlike the standards set by the world to avoid suffering at any costs, God shows us that there is much merit in suffering, and I pray that your mother will be given abundant strength and graces in the midst of her agony.

Absolute

VEE:  one of the reasons (the other is in the last post's comments) I havent been posting is because tomorrow my mom will take a radioactive pill to help fight her cancer.  I've been working on renovating our other bathroom for my use in the next week or two so I am not exposed to the radiation from her.  The list of do's and dont's for her, and anyone in her home, is sobering.  She has to use her own utensils, she has to flush 2-3 times after using the toilet, she can't be around people closer than three feet for more than an hour so she won't be able to go to Mass ...and the list goes on and on. 

There are things in life that are black and white, no grey area,  no matter how much we might wish there was one or make one of our own imagining.  There is no grey area with radiation ...no grey area with death.  People shy away from absolutes but absolutes exist whether people acknowledge them or not ...

DS:   I will be praying for your mother, as I always do, and for you and the rest of the family during this time.  I can't imagine having a loved one go through such things, and I can only say that the Lord has really given you the grace to endure these trials.

Truth is an absolute.  People may have thousands of opinions of what Truth is, but their opinions neither take away or add to Truth.  I once met a blind man who refused to believe in the sun, even when he felt it beaming on him during the day, and enjoyed all the life that comes from it.  His opinion of the sun didn't stop it from traveling across the earth's sky, nor did his disbelief make it disappear.

Truth is Truth, and opinions are so insignificant against it ...  

Computer blues

For those of you who are wondering why we haven't posted as much these last few weeks, my computer is in the hospital, and I am hoping to get him back sometime this week. 

Until then, go to Mass, behave y'all selves and drink some good beer...