by Father Mark Goldasich
Do one thing…
Oops, wait for one second please, I need to get something out of my book bag…. OK, I’m back. Let’s see, where was I? Oh, yeah, you might remember back in October I wrote a column inviting readers to construct their life motto or autobiography in six words. The idea came from the editors of Smith magazine, a storytelling publication. Mine was: God isn’t done with me yet!
A number of readers graciously answered, and I thought the new year was an ideal time to share their responses and maybe inspire others to construct their own six-word masterpieces.
Whoops, hang on while I go and retrieve that file. And, as long as I’m up, I guess I’ll grab one (or two) of the few remaining Christmas cookies. Be back in a jiffy. . . . All right, now we’re set. Here are some readers’ six-word entries:
• Mary-Theresa, of St. Francis de Sales in Lansing, wrote: God is good . . . all the time.
• Don, a former resident of the archdiocese who now lives in downtown Kansas City, Mo., had three written down in his pocket calendar: Love people and blessings of earth; Be joyful, be grateful, be prayerful (from a Father Ed Hays book); Death of old man not tragedy (which Don said becomes more and more appropriate for him!).
• Carolyn, from Sacred Heart in Tonganoxie, wrote: There is no peace without Christ.
Whoa, my iPhone just vibrated. There’s a voice mail there. Excuse me, while I check it. . . . OK, back to those responses:
• Mike’s made me nod in agreement: What I really should have done . . .
• Sister Mary Mediatrix of All Grace submitted a phrase (with a smile) that comes to her mind when being called to obedience (and trust) whether in the convent or in faith: No one’s paying you to think.
• Betty, of Sacred Heart Parish in Ottawa, proposed one where the sixth word changes, depending on the circumstance: It never hurts to ask . . . God, friends, family, salesclerk, etc.
• Louise, I suspect, is a real go-getter, judging from hers: Better to wear out than rust.
• A Topeka entry was sent via the regular mail and… oh boy, I put it down somewhere. Let me get up and see if I can find it. Be right back…
Well, that took longer than expected. While looking, I remembered that I was going to recharge my Nintendo DS. I’ve been running the battery down since Christmas playing “Cradle of Rome,” a great game, by the way. Then as I was passing by the cats’ food bowls, I saw they needed to be refilled, so I did that and gave each of them a little bit of attention. I also came across a few old magazines and skimmed a couple of good articles there. Oh, I found some old coupons and catalogs, too, that I shredded and recycled. Once I uncovered the Topeka letter, I realized I was saving it for something that I’ll be writing about in the future, so I won’t mention it here after all.
You know, it’s just occurred to me how long it takes to write this column anymore. You’d think that after about two decades, I’ve have it down pat, but . . . My e-mail program just chimed; let’s see who’s writing . . .
I’m back. That e-mail had a link to a really interesting Web site that . . . Eureka! I finally figured out why these columns (and other things) are taking so long to finish.
Folks, I’ve got my new six-word motto for 2009: Do one thing at a time!
