50th Class Reunion

Recently I attended the 50th Reunion of my high school graduating class. It was a wonderful celebration with nearly half of the living members present, though some were more present than others.

Prior to the actual reunion, we had all been given the opportunity to submit an updated status report on our life. These writings were compiled into a booklet, a copy of which we all received at the banquet and dance. What follows is the summary which I sent in to fill everyone in on the happenings in my life since we graduated 50 years ago.

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Choose Life

"I set before you Life and Death, the Blessing and the Curse. Choose Life then that you may live" (Deut 30:19). This scripture passage has been a guiding light for me over the last 50 years as I've tried to make the most life-giving choice at each opportunity.

Following graduation in 1960, I attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, where I graduated in 1964 with a BA in Philosopy and a Minor in Education. I then continued my education at Mount St Bernard Seminary, completing my studies in 1968 with an MA in Theology and an MS Education from Creighton University.

After ordination to the priesthood, I served for 28 years in various northwest Iowa (Sioux City diocese) schools and parishes. Alongside those ministries, I was gifted with the opportunity to travel to Germany, Africa, India and the Philippines in order to work with diocesan priests developing their spirituality and fostering a supportive community within their dioceses.

My time in the priesthood culminated in 1995-96 when I journeyed to Bolivia to learn Spanish and work as a missionary in the jungles of northern Bolivia. From that distance, I was also able to gain a new perspective on my life and identify a change of focus for my ministry.

The nuanced call to Choose Life came in the form of my soon-to-be wife, Janella, whom I had known and worked with for more than 10 years. We were wed in June, 1996, after returning to the USA. Settling in southern Texas, we ministered jointly through our professions as Nursing Home Administrator and Admissions Coordinator. It was a blessed time during which we were able to assist people through a difficult period in their lives, both as residents and as care-giving families.

In July, 2008, after losing our home in Texas to the flood waters of Hurricane Dolly, we decided that the Lord was calling us to Choose Life back at our origins. So we moved back to Iowa in order to be near our parents and assist them in their final years. What a blessing it has been to be close by, to be a support to them.

We live outside Cherokee, Iowa, where we rent a small acreage beside the Little Sioux River. I work as the Business Manager at the local Ford Dealership -- a perfect "retirement" job. Our lives are simple, peaceful, filled with the joy and love that comes from Choosing Life.

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With that serving as an introduction, I am picking up my blog again by popular request.  I will attempt to add reflections a couple of times each week in the vein of "Idle Ramblings of a Not-So-Idle Mind."  If you have questions or comments, please direct them to me through either my email (address given on my profile) or in the comment section below.

Whose Fault Is It?

Over the weekend there were three headlines in the news that caught my eye:

1. Tiger Woods: Sorry For Behavior
2. Texas Man, Angry With IRS, Crashes Plane Into Office
3. Lawyer: Prof Accused in Ala Slayings Doesn't Remember Shootings

It goes without saying that all three of these situations are sad and tragic. The lives of many people have been negatively impacted by the actions of these three individuals; some have died, others have had their futures changed drastically in a very short period of time.

But what strikes me most with these unfortunate occurrences is how typical they are of a prevailing theme in our society, namely, choices and actions made without thought of consequences. It seems, in my humble opinion, that our society is afflicted with a cancerous growth which has infected the attitudes and behavior of people from the highest profile politicians to sports heroes to church leaders to teachers, parents and not surprisingly even down to children themselves. This growth has choked off the lifeblood to a vital part of our human person, our conscience. Without this "small voice within", we end up witnessing (and perhaps engaging in) behavior that is self destructive and socially harmful.

We revert to all kinds of excuses and rationale, blaming upbringing, addictions, our educational system (or lack thereof), friends and enemies. Yet, in the end, our choices are our own responsibility, no one else.

The power of our choices and the consequences that they carry with them is infinite in its ramifications. As God tells us through Moses in Deuteronomy: "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him" (Deut 30:19-20). All around us, each day in the news headlines, we see examples of people who are making choices that are not life-giving, either to themselves or to those around them. Yet, somehow, in our modern society, we expect to be immune from the consequences of those choices. We believe that we are more enlightened than previous ages and hence free of the limitations and boundaries of human existence. How blind we are.

Lord, protect us from ourselves and our own blindness. Help us to see reality from Your perspective so that we can judge our own choices, actions and behaviors in the light of Your love. Awaken us to the full picture of the responsibility that goes with the powerful gift of making choices.

Love Is A Choice!

Today she said "Yes!" That makes it doubly special for today is My Love's birthday. Today we celebrate the gift of life that she is to the world, to her family, but especially to me. Because of her great generosity of spirit many people have been blessed, and continue to be blessed. I admire her as she spends herself for her parents now, just as she did for her uncle and aunt in Texas and many others. Such self-giving is a constant challenge to me, forcing me to face up to the sometimes selfish tendencies that surface in my own relationships.

You can send her a birthday email at ron_franklreicks@hotmail.com. She would be more than happy to receive your greetings, your thoughts, your prayers as she celebrates with the rest of her family here in Cherokee.

As I said, I am doubly blessed this day. For almost 13 years now, My Love has responded with a "Yes" each morning when I have asked if she would be my wife for another day. Each day she has again chosen to walk with me in love and that choice has fashioned us both down through the years. As we celebrate her gift of life, I rejoice in the daily challenge and opportunity that we share to move outside ourselves as we make the choice to love. And I thank God for the gift that she is to me.

Positive Energy

When I was a child, there was a comic strip called "Lil Abner". (Now I'm really dating myself!) Anyway, there was a character in this comic called Joe Btfsplk (pronounced by putting your tongue between your teeth and blowing out). He always appeared with a little rain cloud over his head, and rain drops falling on him, even when others were enjoying a sunny day.

In the last six months or more, I've been reflecting on how many times I have met Joe in folks around me. Have you noticed how many people choose to always live in negative energy? How they choose to live their life under a cloud? I'm not talking about just seeing the glass as half empty instead of half full. It's more than that. "Sure is a beautiful day today." "Yes, but it's supposed to get colder tomorrow!" They define themselves by what they are against rather than what they are for. They seem to be constantly pushing back against something/someone. If they don't have some cause to be against, they don't know what to do with themselves.

I have learned, perhaps as I get older, that I have a limited amount of energy to expend, both physically, emotionally, psychically and spiritually. I no longer have the luxury of letting it drain off through negative thinking, negative speaking, negative actions.

This became especially clear for me during the recent elections. I made a conscious choice not to plug into all the negative energy that was being manifest through the negative ads, negative emails, negative campaigning and negative speaking. Regardless of party affiliation or candidate support, there was enough of it to go around. Yet, I decided not to plug into it, and it was a wonderful experience of freedom that I felt.

This is not the same as ignoring reality, or refusing to look at issues. Rather, it is choosing to adopt a positive stance toward life in the belief that God is in charge. With that belief, not even a hurricane can park a cloud over my head and rain on me. This is another way of Choosing Life for me.

Is your life characterized by positive or negative energy?

Choose Life

How painful and sad it is to watch the news and see the many families confronting financial disaster because of the loss of jobs, closing down of businesses and general collapsing of the economy, both here and around the world. The reality of having to make hard choices, for example between food or medications, education or transportation, heat or electricity, is putting people in a position that has been unknown in our lifetime.

Could there be a silver lining to this cloud that is effecting so many?

I believe there is. The secret for me lies in the Power to Choose. In my experience, there has never been a situation in which I have had NO choices. If the circumstances were beyond my control, at least my attitude in dealing with those circumstances was within my power. As one of my friends, Gail (whom you will get to meet frequently in these reflections) says: "You can choose to be bitter, or you can choose to be better."

Last evening on the nightly news, a father of a family who had lost his job was being interviewed. He was telling how in his family they were planning to have one night a week without electricity. After lighting candles, they were going to turn off the lights, get out the checkerboard, play games and talk to one another. It was his attitude and belief that his family was going to grow stronger by going through this tough time.

My own life has been guided for many years by two passages from the Bible, one from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament.

In Deuteronomy 30:19, God says: "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life then, that you and your descendants may live."

John's Gospel 10:10 records Jesus saying: "I came that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Putting these two verses together in my life, I have learned that in every occasion, I am confronted by a choice. When I ask myself: "What is the life-giving choice here, what is the death-dealing choice?" it becomes more evident which direction I need to go, how I need to respond, what my attitude needs to be. That doesn't mean that I've always responded correctly, or made the right choice. But it has helped me to clarify the choices available.

When I apply this framework to our present economic struggles, I see the father mentioned above making some very life-giving decisions for his family. These seem to be decisions that would not have been made if the circumstances had not backed them into this corner. His attitude and his faith are finding the life in the situation, and he is choosing it.

At this time, where in your life are you being given the choice between life and death, blessing and curse?