Sunday, September 18, 2011

Baxter Is Back!

Baxter is back! He had a great summer doing his usual cat activities - sleeping, eating, getting in trouble, sleeping, eating, sleeping, eating, sleeping, eating, getting in trouble. You get the picture.

He passed his annual physical. He lost a pound, got a rabies shot and some drops for his ear, and overcame the trauma of going to the vet. He is ready for another year of cat routines. See the list mentioned above.

Fall is full of start-ups with new or resumed routines. The weather is cool. It’s football season. School has begun on all levels, and we are back to our more typical life style. This time of the year provides an opportunity for us to take stock of what we make a routine part of our lives. Sometimes we just fall into routines, and the routines rule our lives. But are we giving our time, talent and energy to what matters most?

Sometimes our lives get out of our hands because we get caught into meeting the expectations and demands of everyone else. We keep adding more and more activities to our schedules, and wonder why we are so exhausted and stressed. We fill free time with commitments and have no time to relax. We find ourselves in schedule conflicts, and so we end up meeting our commitments half the time and ignoring the rest. We gear up for a new school year, but we run only at top speed. There’s no time to think, reflect, pray, or watch our kids have fun without a “win” at stake. Is it any wonder we are depressed, distressed and disoriented?

God gave us only twenty-four hours to a day, seven days to a week, and fifty-two weeks to a year. How do we fill the time with what we need to be complete persons, nourished in body, mind and spirit? How do we get into a routine that helps us grow as persons and disciples of Christ? It doesn’t happen automatically or through some form of magic. We need to have time to pray, worship, relax, be together without an agenda except to connect with each other.

Baxter’s routine is quite simple. He does what cats need to do to be cats, and he doesn’t care what others want to make of him. No stupid cat tricks for him, no social commitments, no forced organized sports, no alarm clocks—except the one in his stomach for meal time. Our routines are a lot more complicated, but are they balanced to shape us into complete persons and faithful Catholics? Fall’s start-ups give us a chance to adjust our lives for the better. Think about it.