Deacon Speakin'

Its funny how a melody can bring back a memory, putting you in that place and time and pulling in all the good, and sometimes bad in its entirety. Listen to The Good Song Theory and see if you agree.

Elvis Presley had a deep-seeded foundation in his faith and he seemed to be reaching for that when all else was reaching for him, placing him on a pedestal, and calling him King. Deacon Speakin' Episode 132: The Elvis Sermon

We are living in a time of "show me proof." We seem to want something concrete or something at least solid that we can hold, and study, and weigh, and judge, in order to believe it. How can we hear God if we don't know what he sounds like? How can we describe Jesus and say who He is? How can we roll up our sleeves and get to work on faith alone?

When was the last time you saw a good miracle? Can you recall? Can you remember ever seeing a miracle in your lifetime? Maybe you can't. Maybe miracles are those things we only read about in the old days – those things that just don't happen any more...well, I say that's not true!

Some of the storms of life are spring showers while others are categorical hurricanes. As they approach and we anticipate the mark they will leave, we inevitably ask the question, "Will the levee hold?"

Why do people climb mountains? Why do we make the journey, to exert ourselves, to risk a slip or a fall, to challenge our minds and bodies to go up and up. For my friend, Scott, its about the view – that spectacular sight from the top of the mountain. The moments when you appreciate the effort to get to the reward. It is the high points in life.

When the pasture is not looked after, weeds will grow making the grass difficult for the cows to reach. It seems that when the weeds take over the pasture, the cows have to work hard to feed and to get to the good grass. The cow at the fence has discovered sweet grass on the other side.

The basics of story-telling go like this: Take a hero; put him in a tree; throw rocks at him; get him out of the tree. You can't ask that your story end while still in the tree. Perhaps the chapter you are currently living is full of rocks. And they hurt. And there is lots of them. And then you hear God say, "But wait, there's more..."

Why, did God create these animals in the first place. He had to know from the very beginning that we would tame them and bring them close to us and make them part of our families. He had to know that we would grow fond of them and take care of them – removing their animal necessities to survive in the wild and replacing it with decorative collars, cute names, and special dishes. But most of the ti...

Why doesn't God talk to the people now like He did in the Old Testament. Why don't we hear from Him? Well – fishes and loaves. Have a listen...Episode 124

In a kindergarten classroom in 1975 Mrs Banta taught an unintentional lesson about life, growing from a small styrofoam cup.  Season 3 Episode 123 - Mrs Banta's Marigold

"I want you to be brave because this will not be popular with lots of folks because many of them do not know about me, and many have their own religions, and many of them will try to kill you because of what you believe." "And you may very well die for serving…you may very well be killed for loving me… the same question asked 2000 years ago today - are you ready?"

Now we have faith: we profess our faith ever week at the Mass when we proclaim, "I believe," but can your faith lead you to Jesus for only a touch of His cloak?

The bees mean no harm to the flowers they fuss over and they actually make them better by simply being a part of their lives. To me that is rather biblical. I've not witnessed a bee to be picky in the flowers it chooses to pollinate or to turn away from a flower it thought might be unattractive in some way. I don't believe bees are made this way. And couldn't we learn quite a lot about ourselves i...

People get their spots and apparently they are tattooed deeply beneath the skin. But, I have to disagree with this categorizing and labeling and the finality of "this guy will always be this way, because that is the way he was made…like a leopard."

Graduation day can mean many things to many people, but it is always moving onto something in which you have been prepared for. It marks the moment when the classroom stops and the real world begins.

Appreciation for the basic things will always return more to you than want for the extra.

We hear of things like "the spice of life," and refer to this as something special and added that makes life taste better; things like vacations, family, Church, and life experiences in general. These things often make life taste better as a good spice should, but without the spices, what does life taste like to you?          

"You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people...

If you have raised kids or even been at Mass 15 minutes into a 25 minute homily, you know that kids can get rather vocal and they don't care who knows it. To prune or be pruned...that is the question.

The cornerstone is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation and all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. The integrity of the cornerstone had to be just so in order for it to receive the prestigious designation. After all, there is only one cornerstone in any building.

...I found a coffee can, went to the garden hose, filled the can with water, and placed the crab in it thinking only good thoughts for my new pet. I left the can and the crab outside, because after all, it was a wild creature and wouldn't fare well in the house, and off I went to play in the summer Florida heat...

To mask up or not, to social distance, to listen to politicians or scientists, how do we know what the best decision is for us. What is the consequence of making the wrong decision? Uncertainty can cause us a great level of fear and in the case of Covid has caused amplified and exaggerated anxiety for all ages.

Wilderness is the described as "last wild places on this planet that humans do not control." I believe it is in our nature to control and to steer our own course, especially throughout life. Do you remember riding your bike downhill as a kid and you started to get a shake in your handle bars that kept getting bigger and bigger and you knew you were heading for a crash? Losing control is scary like...

Most times when dealing with concrete, the bubble are helped to the surface by the guy working and smoothing the concrete by shaking and vibrating the project. This causes the trapped bubbles to surface more quickly where they are smoothed again. This is repeated until the bubbles stop and the mix is allowed to dry and harden – smooth as glass.