I visited with my sisters in Kentucky yesterday. We decided to go to the town of our father’s birth and search the cemeteries for our great-grandparents tombstones.
I was captivated as I drove through the lush green countryside along the river banks. Had my father driven these same roads? What would he think about his three girls making this trip? I think it would have pleased him that we took our time to learn about his family.
We didn’t have much luck at the cemetery so we headed off to the local genealogical library. The librarian found a death certificate of one relative and began to read, “Cause of death: cirrhosis of the liver.”
My sisters and I all looked at each other with wide eyes and laughed. “Yes, that’s our family.” We said. It is a family disease. We see it more and more each day. And, whether it is nature or nurture or both that is the cause, we can only change one thing: ourselves.
Early in my program of recovering me, I failed to see how changing myself would make things better. Other members of my group would often say, “It only takes one person to change for things to change.”
Sunday’s homily about Jesus feeding the five thousand held a new perspective that I hadn’t heard of or thought about before. It helped me to see why changing my actions, made things better, overall.
Father Thomas said that when the apostles approached Jesus, worrying how the crowds would be fed, it is important to note that he didn’t ask them to do more than they were capable of doing. He merely asked them to use what they had. He would take care of the rest.
Perhaps we are a lot like the apostles. We look at what needs to happen and we forget to reach out for help in the areas that are out of our control. We rush in and try to fix things with our limited means.
Instead, we might begin by first looking at what we have to offer.
What can we do?
What should we give to God?
In my program of recovery, that’s how we begin each meeting when we take a moment of silence and begin with the Serenity Prayer.
When I ask God to help me with the things that I can’t do, I am plugging into the source of all Love. In doing this, I’ve turned away from the chaos and have begun the process of seeking the right kind of help.
If you are affected by this family disease and it feels overwhelming, don’t loose heart. There is help and hope. And, you can participate in it by using what you have.
Praying for each of you and your families…
Thank you.