We Are Writers
I am so thankful for this opportunity to write for Patheos
It is all due to my husband
And a woman named Rebecca who I have yet to meet, even via social media
And yet I am thankful for her
We write differently, Mark and I
I’m the poet though not always a rhymer
I like to reflect
Remembering and showing concern for situations
I thank you Rebecca and my dear husband Mark
Thank God for this page online
I hope my writing is welcomed by other readers and writers
Only so that I do not get thrown off the pageCatholic Bard
Kristin Wilson O.C.D.S.
As I was driving my wife to Walgreens to pick up her epilepsy medication, it dawned on me that God had actually answered my prayer.
Distinctly.
Clearly.
Precisely.
I told Kristin very assuredly and amazed that “God actually answered my prayer.”
“Why are you so surprised”, she replied.
Why am I surprised?
I sometimes feel God wants to leave us hanging. That God wants to keep us guessing.
It seems that God answers the St. Therese’s and Padre Pio’s of the world, but with people like me He keeps silent, as in that movie that came out directed by Martin Scorsese with Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) and Andy Garfield (Spider-Man) in the lead roles as priests waiting on God to speak to them in a dire situation but instead get only SILENCE.
It is asked in the movie and the book that it is based on, “Am I just praying to silence?” I sometimes wonder that myself. So, when God actually answers my prayer, I think “WHOA! God answered my prayer in a way that I actually understood. Who does that?”
I had asked God what direction my writing should go in. I have dabbled on and off over my life with creative writing. I have had phases in which I really worked on a project and then my mind and focus would drift and I would work on something else. Earlier that morning I had written a blog post of my random thoughts on this matter. I needed a clear and directive goal to channel my desire to write.
And one has been provided for me.
I was on Facebook not too long before this grand revelation of God, commenting on something when a conversation led to me asking my FB friend, Patheos Channel Manager Rebecca Bratten Weiss, if they actually took new writers. She told me to email her. So, I wrote her right away.
And I didn’t hear anything back.
Nothing.
I guess this isn’t happening then. It isn’t the first time I had thought God had said “no” to me.
I came to the conclusion when asking about my relationship with my now married wife of ten years, that God didn’t want me to marry her. I thought God’s answer had been “NO”. Move on to someone else. I was wrong.
About a week later after sending the email to Rebecca, I inquired about the writing offer again. There had been some email problems and I never saw her responded email. The offer was still on the table. It was actually going to happen. This is when I got the epiphany of God answering my prayer. I was going to write for a professional blog.
This isn’t the first time God had answered my prayer and it won’t be the last.
This isn’t the first time God had led me to do something I truly wanted to do.
It isn’t the first time that God lead me to a place that I wanted to be at in my heart.
Q: What made you decide to take a chance on us as writers. What did you see in us that made you want to add us to your roster of writers?
A: I like the eclectic mix of culture and spirituality you have to offer, as well as the fact that you are offering a somewhat more conservative perspective than many of our other writers, and I want to keep balance and diversity in our writer line-up.
This answer to prayer led me to see by the light of my answered prayer the other areas of life, God has had his hand in.
I got a degree in TV production from Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts and I ended up working at the Cable Studio for my home town, Hamilton and Wenham Cable. I had volunteered there and interned there and then I got to work there. It was A dream come true.
I also got to work with a professional Catholic production company called the Mercy Foundation on a documentary called ‘Unbridled Mercy: The Return of Jesus As A Child’. This is out of print and I am not sure what happen to the production company. I actually worked on a professional movie.
I had been going to the Chapel in the Mall in Peabody Mass, all my life. It is a Carmelite gift shop with an actual chapel. You can go shopping at J.C. Penny and then to the food court to get free samples at Umi Chicken and then come down and go to confession and then to Mass. You can also go and buy Catholic items in the gift shop. I ended up getting a job there. Scott Hahn referenced this chapel in one of his talks, that I listened to on cassette tape back in the day.
After volunteering at the Steubenville youth conferences, and after a road trip with some friends to a ‘Defending the Faith’ conference in the summer in 1997, I decided to venture out in 2005 and go to graduate school. I was going to the dream Catholic school, which Kristin has dubbed a school for rich, smart, Catholics. I got to meet wonderful people, take some classes from professors whose books I had read and got to leave the country for the first time. This does not count crossing the border into Mexico for less then 10 minutes with my friend Marshall on a road trip to California.
I got my degree in theology and wondered where God would send me. Back to Massachusetts of course. I then got to work at a job using both my undergraduate communications degree and my master’s theology degree, by working at Boston CatholicTV. They had dropped the Boston part when I was there. I was the scheduler and decided when to put on what show at what time. I got to meet some interesting people including local Catholic celebrities including Fr. Dan O’Connell and now Bishop Robert Reed who con-celebrated at our wedding. I actually meet Fr. James Martin and talked to now Bishop Robert Barron on the phone once.
When I lost the job at CatholicTV, I eventually got to work at another Catholic establishment in my hometown, right down the street from my house. St. Patrick’s Manor run by the Carmelite Sisters of the Aged and Infirm. It is a place I had driven by many times and thought about what it might be like to work there. I had delivered pizza there a few times in my time as a Papa Gino’s delivery driver.
It is run by the Carmelites, just like the book store. My wife is now a Secular Carmelite O.C.D.S. In my current job and in others including the bookstore, the TV station and college I always had easy access to the Blessed Sacrament. Not everyone can say that. What an extreme blessing that has been throughout my working and academic life. My current job may not have been what I went to school for. It may not be exactly where I want to be right now, but during this time of Covid-19, I’m gainfully employed with steady work. A higher paying job in my field may not have provided that. I realize by writing this article that God has puts me where He wants me to be.
So, this is a small sampling of some of the places and jobs God has led me to. It is not just an answer to my prayer but to my wife’s prayer. Epilepsy has kept her from holding down a steady job. It has led to depression and a sense of emptiness. She wants to work and make a difference. She wants to help contribute to the household. She was just as joyous to learn; she can now be a professional writer.
Well I’m not a Patheos writer.
We’re Patheos writers.
We are a team.
We hope to provide interesting, uplifting, and encouraging posts for you to read.
It’s a privilege to be writing for a blog, I’ve long admired.
God has answered my prayers once again and led both of us to become the
‘Catholic Bard’.
May 10th, 2020
The 5th Sunday of Easter
Mother’s Day
We thank God for our blessed mother who prays for us constantly.
We thank God for our earthly mothers, Kristin’s Mom who still lives and Mine who has gone on. She would be pleased to see me get this wonderful opportunity to do what I’ve always wanted to do.
Feast of St. Damien of Malaki (pray for us)
Interesting Trivia: Author Robert Lewis Stevenson (the man who wrote Treasure Island back in 1883) was a devout Christian who was an outspoken defender of St. Damian of Molokai. St. Damian contracted leprosy while serving the leaper colonies in Hawaii.
On This Day in History:
Bill Haley & His Comets release “Rock Around the Clock”, the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts. (1954)
Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder in Japan. (1975)
New World Trade Center becomes the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere (2013)
So what on earth could I possibly contribute to a place like Patheos, where the conversation is intelligent, current, and never pulls any punches? I don’t need to try to blog boldly like Mark Shea or to be as holy and wise as Deacon Greg Kandra.I like to give. I love sharing the good news about authors, musicians, and just generally cool people doing totally awesome stuff to share their faith. I like my life to be full of adventure, of loved ones and of busyness. My “measure” is ready to be packed together to make room for a bit more goodness. Its ready to be shaken down to welcome new friends, new thoughts, and new memories. I welcome that moment of overflowing, and invite you to join me in considering the possibilities of “yes” when the logical option is “no”. Guess what: He will provide, according to His plan, not Lisa’s.
Unimaginable gifts have already been given me, so abundant that I sometimes marvel at my life. How is it possible? Don’t ask me. But Luke’s exhortation to “Give and gifts will be given to you” sometimes feels like the theme of my life. I don’t give nearly enough to ever merit what I’ve been given, but I’ll keep trying.
Our call — each of ours — to be a part of the New Evangelization doesn’t come based upon our talents or abilities. It’s universal. We have the greatest gift ever to give: our faith in a God who loves us so unconditionally and a Church who — despite her flaws — acts every day to draw us closer in relationship with Jesus Christ and with one another. I’m thrilled to have this little corner of Patheos to do my best to share the joy (and occasional frustration) I find in being a Catholic.
Lisa M. Hendey A Good Measure (October 14, 2012) Lisa M. Hendey @ Patheos Catholic
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