Maureen Pratt

Happy New Year!

I've heard - and I'm trying to obey...the comments, that is, from friends and readers who have asked that I Tweet, blog, Facebook, and just communicate more! It's something that I surely want to do and, health allowing, will do into the New Year.

But it is impossible to keep  Read More 

Last night, I was jolted out of sleep by an earthquake. Although there have been several in and around Los Angeles during the past few weeks, this was the first one that I've felt in awhile, and was especially "jolting" because I was asleep at the time.

We don't have warnings, as such, about earthquakes. Seismologists and other scientists are trying to figure out a way to predict these events, but without much success thus far. If only they knew my angel fish!

My aquarium has been in continuous use by any number of tropical, freshwater fish, for sixteen years. My current group of swimmers includes four very large angel fish and one smaller one. And they seem to know...

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If you gave up something for Lent or if you added activity to punctuate deepening your spiritual life, by now, you might be tired. Tired of the new activity, tired of the "giving up," tired of having to do something every day...Just plain tired. But wait! Easter is near! In this blog, I urge you, encourage you, to hold on!

Setting a goal is often quite easy. There's a euphoria that accompanies setting our sights on meeting a challenge like those during Lent. Determination is often at a high point. We're "psyched" and ready, eager to get going. And we look at the calendar and see that 40 days is really not that long a time.

But as those days unfold, we start to waver. And we enter the "murky middle" of days, when the beginning excitement has faded and the goal seems ever-so-far off.

It's like this with many other activities leading to goals, too. In writing, for example, we authors can visualize the beginning, know what's going to happen at the end. But what are all those pesky dots to connect between them?

Sadly, many people hit the "murky middle" and get lost in the fog, buffeted by the ennuie and frustration, capsized by the challenges of completing the appointed task. Perhaps this is why many of the dreams we hold dear in our younger years get tossed to the side as we live the day-to-day and find that it's difficult to keep goals steady and tough to persevere.

One of the best ways to attack the "murky middle" is to understand that that is, simply, where we are. The middle. Not the crash and burn end, when the thought of not being able to continue turns to reality. Not the "I just can't do this anymore" sense that a marathoner gets before getting a second wind. No, these are the middle days. And they ARE leading to somewhere - the goal - if we slog through, continue on, hold fast.

Revisit the beginning of Lent. Recognize that there is much that is holy in the days that remain. Reaffirm your determination to continue, undaunted by the "murky middle," through to Easter.

Glean from this middling experience the courage and determination you can have in other "middles." And, maybe, rekindle one of those dreams that got tossed aside years ago. After all, middles can be beginnings, too. Read More 

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to give up pain for Lent? To begin on Ash Wednesday with not a twinge, not a cramp, not a creaky, cranky feeling of hurt? Then Easter would be a true celebration of joy, wouldn't it? Yes, it would be awesome...but, alas, it's just not possible, especially for those of us with ongoing, serious pain and illness. Oh, there are moments when we feel "better." There might even be entire days when movement is easy, well, easier. But chronic is just that - ongoing and seemingly never-ending.

So, does the wishful thinking do us any good?

No, but yes!

Clinging to a wish that we know is unreasonable can sap our energy, strength and spirit. It's a bit like setting ourselves up for diappointment - and it perpetuates a terrible cycle of that same disappointment when we experience the "better" times and think "this is it! No more pain!"

But the wishful thinking can also be good for us, if we take it to another level. What if, instead of focusing on our own pain this Lent, we prayed for others who are suffering? What if we made an effort to learn about another ailment, not our own, and did something to advocate for someone who suffers and does not have nearly the energy we do? What if Lent was not about "giving up" the pain, but rather about "making something positive happen" in the life of another person?

One of the most challenging things about living with pain is the feeling of helplessness that can creep up upon us. What if, this Lent, we consciously decided to do something positive and, in so doing, turned that helplessness into something wonderful-ly effective?

Oh, what an Easter that will be! Read More 

Seems every day we hear about another food that's good for us - or bad for us. I digest these stories with more than a grain of salt (pardon the pun). But a new study that indicates how good chocolate is for us has really caught and held my attention. In part, the news story about this very delightful study says, "In a presentation at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2011 Congress, British investigators are reporting that individuals who ate the most chocolate had a 37% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 29% lower risk of stroke compared with individuals who ate the least amount of chocolate." Of course, there are the usual caveats that the fat content of chocolate products is not exactly beneficial for the waistline, and that moderation is important. But it does my heart good (besides the benefits of chocolate) to see that hardcore scientists are softening up to the idea that one of the most delicious things on the planet CAN be good for us, too. Mmmmm!  Read More 

I've found myself saying, more often these days, "What were they thinking?!" Take the tragedy at the Indiana State Fair, for instance. Midwesterners are no naifs when it comes to violent weather - winds, rain, snow, tornadoes. What were the fair and concert organizers thinking to carry on with the concert during a horrible wind/storm event? And what were the concertgoers thinking to remain on the grounds as blustering gusts wreaked havoc upon and around them? As a native Midwesterner, I find great direction and comfort in relying upon common sense. . Read More 

Saw Dolly Parton's new concert last night at the Hollywood Bowl. It was one of the best concerts I've seen (and I've seen a lot of them - from Muddy Waters to The Boss). She took the stage at 8:30 (no opening act) and sang and played (guitar, banjo, saxophone, harmonica, autoharp, piano, dulcimer...really  Read More 

The WallStreet Journal reported late today that Borders Bookstores will be sold to liquidators. All of the Borders and Waldenbooks stores will be closed, and the act of liquidation may begin as early as Friday of this week. Borders was the second largest bookstore chain. But more than that, it was often the only bookstore left in communities, such as the stores in Decatur and Matoon, Illinois, where readers truly live and truly read books. The physical kind. The kind you can curl up with, turn down the pages of, scrunch up, display on bookshelves, reach for again and again. The kind you can talk about with others. The kind that, sometimes, build communities,  Read More 

Wednesday, July 13,the ABC Primetime/Nightline program "Beyond Belief" featured an hour of reportage about Marian apparitions throughout the world. Although it was interesting to see a "mainstream media" treatment of the subject, there were many aspects about it that, to me, fell far short of doing justice to what many Catholics find a  Read More