Controversial?

 

 

I was watching Good Morning America and they had an intriguing report about moms who call themselves "Garden Moms" or "Canna Moms."

That's right, it was about moms who use cannabis in some form to get through a day of raising their kids. Apparently, "it makes it easier."

The one mom they referenced outlined her rules: 

-There is always another adult in the house
-She never drives while using
-The kids are never exposed to the weed and it is always kept out-of-sight

Seems to me that just needing these rules reveals something about it not being a good thing to use. 

"Addiction specialists suggest it should not be used as a 'harmless alternative to alcohol'" according to the GMA report. "It can also have health affects like "mood, memory, attention and heart health."

According to Dr. Lief Fenno, Chair of the American Psychiatric Association's Council on Addiction Psychiatry, "alcohol and marijuana both impair reaction time and decision-making" and people who engage in regular use of marijuana can have their ability to provide life-saving care, make emergency decisions and operate motor vehicles safely, impacted. 

According to the report by GMA's doctor, it is understood that "Cannabis is not medicine," and the most recent study did not find any benefit to it in regards to anxiety, PTSD or psychotic disorders."

She went on to talk about the risks, which are plenty.

In regards to raising children, I'll end with one of my favorite Tom Hanks quotes from A League of their Own, which I have found to be generally applicable:  

"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard . . . is what makes it great." 

Raising kids is not easy. It's not supposed to be. But it can be great.

Clearly, regular use of marijuana or alcohol to take the edge off of raising children is not healthy. If raising your children is a great struggle for you, search for a better alternative, like friendships, or therapy, or taking breaks as needed. Especially, prayer can help.

We learn something from enduring difficulty and overcoming challenges. Like everything else in life, we need to find our way through them, not necessarily around them.

Pray for peace, joy, and an end to war.

Janet Cassidy
Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com

janetcassidy.com
https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/
https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy 

 

 

Be kind to yourself

 

As I came to the end of the rosary early one morning, I realized that my fingers on the beads didn't match the words I was praying.

In other words, I came to the end of the rosary before I came to the end of my prayers! 

I have no idea what happened (maybe it was too early in the morning!), but I just finished up and moved on.

As we mature in faith, it becomes easier not to be a stickler when such things happen. For instance, if life gets in the way and I simply cannot (or do not) get my quiet prayer time in as I ought, I just move with the Holy Spirit in the moment and resist the temptation to torment myself. I mean, God surely wouldn't condemn me for it, right?

If you find that you berate yourself when you imperfectly carry out your prayers--or whatever it is you do--try to be more forgiving. 

My husband and I often joke because I will say, "I feel guilty" about whatever, and he'll kindly remind me, "There's always something to feel guilty about."

So true. I think we can be harder on ourselves than God is, sometimes.

A priest we know says that God is bigger than we give him credit for being. Do we really think God is so small? Don't we have to factor in God's love and mercy? 

Let's not forget that when we make our best effort, and sometimes come up short, God isn't standing over us, with his arms folded and his foot tapping, pointing his finger at us!

No, he's loving us in our imperfections. He's loving us as we try. He's loving us as we do our best. He's constantly trying to draw us in because he created us and wants us near him.

When we condemn ourselves for our faults and failures, that is not of God. Be a little kinder to yourself today. God knows you need it!

Pray for peace, joy, and an end to war.

Janet Cassidy
Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com

janetcassidy.com
https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/
https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy 

 

Make your move toward God

 

I find it fascinating to watch animals and how they move according to instincts. 

Although I must admit, I'm beginning to wonder about the instincts of squirrels. Why do they dart back and forth in front of a car until finally coming to a "decision" about which direction to go? 

We were out to a nature preserve one evening about dusk and we stopped our car to watch a deer standing beside the road. As we watched her watching us, we could tell that her wise instincts told her not to cross the road in front of us. 

We just sat there and waited her out, enjoying her beauty, and when it looked like we were not going to be a danger to her and her little ones, she decided it was safe to cross in front of us.

We've been watching a show on National Geographic about a baby lion cub growing up. Of course the narrator attaches human thoughts and emotions to every situation the cub and its mother finds itself in, but you can tell from the videos that a lion's instincts are truly amazing, from how they go after prey in order to survive, to how they seem to "comfort" each other when there is a death in the tribe.

What are your natural instincts? What about when it comes to faith, to God, or to having a Creator?

Are you like a squirrel running in every direction, unsure of the best way to go, or are you like a wise deer, observing what is around you, or are you like a lion who acts out of self-preservation.

In each and every one of us God has put an innate desire for him. The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" puts it this way in Paragraph 27:

"The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching 
for . . ."

Drawing from the Second Vatican Council, we know that "this invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as he comes into being." (Gaudium et Spes, 19)

So there you have it. We all have within us a natural instinct to seek God. The problem is, too many of us dismiss or deny it.

But even when we do, it is still within us. When we try to deny the existence of God and his connection to us, it creates within us unresolved tension. 

What do YOU think it does to us when we try to live without recognizing this "intimate and vital link with God, or [to] have explicitly rejected it"? (GS, 19)

Reflect on the fact that you are created by God, and consider how knowing this can--and should--impact the decisions you make in regards to the direction you will go in life.

Whether you run frantically, dangerously, in every direction like a squirrel, or you stand in observance of what is around you before making a move, know that God who created you, made you magnificent and wants nothing more than to draw you to himself.

Make your move toward him today. 

Pray for peace, joy, and an end to war.

Janet Cassidy
Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com

janetcassidy.com
https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/
https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy