Cardboard Creatures

Time 2021-11-01 14:07:55

Web Name: Cardboard Creatures

WebSite: http://cardboardcreatures.blogspot.com

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Cardboard Creatures

Thursday, October 29, 2015 Can you see me now?I was at Wawa this morning filling up my coffee cup. The slightly older man who was working that area was right behind my pot, checking a new one. He was right there. And made no attempt at eye contact, a good morning, or even a smile. Neither did most of the people in the store. They just walked by with vacancy signs for faces. All but one or two. The same is sadly true for many who work there, and other places. It it weren't for the products I enjoy, I'd just as soon stop going there.

What has become of customer service? What has become of kindness, courtesy, and politeness? What has become of human interaction? We arein the "Zombie Apocalypse." It is very easy to see dead people walking. And it seems to be more common by the day. We've come to the point where smiling and greeting a stranger is looked at as an abnormality. People think you either have something wrong with you, wonder at your motivations, or you must have won a contest or something. I mean, who does that? Well, there are some of us left. It's just getting harder to find us, and more awkward for us at the same time.

I told my wife about it in the car. I disagreed with her first point that people are afraid they'll be shot or attacked for simply saying hello. Sure, there is a time and a place to exercise caution. But really? She hit it on the head with her next observation. People just don't care anymore. Yeah, they care about their pets, their phones, their things. They care what they can get, as soon as they can get it, and who cares? How much time are we really giving to God,family, and friends? How much quality time are we taking with our spouses and children? How many people do we share a simple smile with?

Now, not all have ceased caring. Thank God! And we have to be the ones to give that gift of even a simple smile, given with the gift of genuine eye contact. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta said,
Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. Go out and give that gift away! This video is awkward, yet so beautiful. Please take the moment to enjoy it. And may it be a gift to you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wckdJqUvjE
Posted byUnknownat9:20 PMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Friday, October 16, 2015 Wanting To RememberHere it is, 2:02 in the morning, and i'm awake for no apparent reason other than i hate to go to sleep. But it has been so long since i posted on here, i've forgotten most of what i have posted. Why post now? Not for anyone else, really. i know from experience that it is a fruitless and vain pursuit trying to get people to read my blogs. And for a man full of pride (and that pride has no valid basis) it's better that no one really does read these or like them.

What i did find in reading some of my past entries is that i've been bluntly honest, which i'm not sure was good or bad. i also found stories about my life and my family i had forgotten. So seeing as my memory is pretty much toast, it's great to be able to re-visit my memories. Thus this return. What has happened in 3 years? Far more than i remember or expected. My daughter is 4. Theresa and i are married 5 years now, and face the struggles many are familiar with. i'm taking a course in something i feel overwhelmed by. Paging Samuel has done more than i could have asked for, and is still going. And my struggle is to accept where we are not, but primarily my struggle is to put God first, then my family, then everyone else. Now to remember how.Posted byUnknownat11:11 PMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Monday, December 31, 2012 La Grippe of FearWhat are your fears? Really...what scares you? I know as believers we are to trust Jesus without reserve. But do we really? As for me, I know I don't. I'm full of all sorts of phobias and anxieties. Most of them are irrational, and all of them are for whatever reason deep set in me.I hate them. I wish I could just rip them out. But they are there. Why? Only God knows.

One thing I fear is my memory, which I've mentioned on here in previous posts. I also fear people, physical attacks, not being liked, bugs, various animals and other creatures, getting in lakes, oceans, and so on, and the list goes on and on. My current biggest fears involve what would happen if my wife and/ or daughterfaced danger. I just don't know what I would do. I'm absolutely paralyzed by fear of any pain or death. People tell me I'd do the right thing, but I cannot honestly say I know that. My fear and selfishness run deeper than deep. I know this is by no means a good thing, but I also know myself too well, and how weak I am.

It's also impossible to ignore all the evils I see in this world, and think I will escape facing all these fears one day. Many don't believe much is coming. To them I say: You may be right, but pray to be prepared no matter what. I must say this to myself over and over. Because out of all my fears, I pray I fear being separated from God and going to hell the most.

We're going into the year 2013. Only god knows what's coming. And only He can heal us and replace our fears.I know this very well in my head. It's my heart that needs to catch up.

"Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.^"

Posted byUnknownat8:37 PMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Thursday, December 20, 2012 Prodigal (All Rights Reverved Paul Israel Forsyth 2012)Prodigal daughter/ Prodigal son/ You can keep tryin to hide/ You can keep tryin to run/ You can never get far enough away to escape My love

I am here waiting/ Waiting for you/ With my arms wide open regardless of all the hell you put yourself through/ Unabatingly I long to lavish you with robe and feast.

For every harlot on which you've wasted your coin/ That led to starvation and your desire to be one with the swine/ You've forgotten who your are/ Your dignity/ Your inheritance

Prodigal daughter/ Prodigal son/ You can keep tryin to hide/ You can keep tryin to run/ You can never get far enough away to escape My love

You can't see clearly now/ One day I'll lift the cloud/ And you'll know as you're known
You can't see clearly now/ One day I'll lift the cloud/ And you'll know as you're knownPosted byUnknownat10:07 PMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestProdigal Siblings
Spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant. A person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way. This is what "prodigal" means.

This makes a lot more sense to me now that I finally looked it up. When we choose to ignore the graces set before us, we throw them away recklessly. I did it. I do it still. We all do. But there comes a time when hopefully we realize we can get back up and be made whole again, and again, and again.

That time came for me on December 8, 2008. I had left the Faith for 2 1/2 years. I had decided I was gonna do whatever I wanted to, and that it wasn't wrong anymore.Have premarital sex with no conscience...even demanding it from my then girlfriend (among many other horrible manifestations)? Check. Curse like a sailor, and even take God's Name? Check. Accept homosexual lifestyle and marriage? Check. The list goes on, and it was what I had come to embrace. Keep in mind this is well after my addiction to massage parlors and similar situations entrenched itself firmly in my life. It showed up again in the relationship I was then in as well.

I had forgotten who I was, and how to be even a shadow of that guy. I was lost. I was wastefully, recklessly extravagant. To this day, in many ways I still am. Damn that concupiscence of the flesh and fallen nature of man!But the best part is...as bad as I still am...I now have recourse in my circumstances. How did I get back? You may or may not agree with this, but I testify to its being 100% true: The Blessed Mother Mary.

I asked her numerous times through those 2 1/2 years of hell not to give up on me...to please keep praying for me. If God saw fit to choose her as His own Son's Mother, then she was mine too...and who am I not to turn to her like He did? Best. Decision. Ever. She brought me back on the day we celebrate her being conceived without any stain of sin...the Immaculate Conception. Thanks to her intercession, I was freed from a mutually abusive relationship that week, was led back to Ave Maria Singles less than a month later, and right after joining was contacted by some girl named Theresa Hardy. O yeah, she's now my wife, and mother of our amazing 1 year old daughter. Months later, my band Paging Samuel was founded, and soon after my former girlfriend and I made peace with one another. Since then, Theresa and I consecrated ourselves together to Jesus through Mary. I recommend this practice wholeheartedly. For more info, please find the book "True Devotion to Jesus through Mary" by St. Lois Marie de Montfort.

How old was I? 33. Same as Jesus when He died, rose, and ascended to Heaven. And I KNEW it was going to be a life defining year for me even while I was lost. Like I said, I'm still lost in so many ways. But now I have Confession again, Mass where I get to receive Jesus, and a wife and daughter who constantly challenge me to grow...or at least keep trying to.

That brings me to another person who is 33 until next month, and her different, yet no less beautiful situation.I grew up with her, fought like mad with her, joked, with her, played games with her, you name it. She's been through her own (deeper than mine in my opinion) version of hell. She's my little sister.

She had been away from the Faith for a while herself. The road back is a difficult one. Some never return. But she did have 2 things going for her: 1) Prayers of loved ones, and 2) The foundation of God that was still in her. I received the best phone call ever Sunday on my lunch break. I answered, and she said: "I'm found. I was lost, and I've been found." My heart overflowed with joy and gratitude! It takes great love and courage to humble yourself and return...to admit you were wrong for so long. But she did. She told me of her tears of joy after receiving the 2 great Sacraments of Confession and Communion. Would that we always all kept that joy and love burning! But the road is long, and we grow weary. Coming back to our waiting Father is one great step in the right direction. The Prodigal Siblings have come home!



Posted byUnknownat9:33 PMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Tuesday, October 2, 2012 Two Years to the Day (All rights reserved Paul Israel Forsyth 2012)Two years to the day we started our way on the road of I do I do for you
Yeah we've taken our shots argued a lot more than anyone anyone should
I've critcized you no end as if your weren't my best friend the woman the woman I love
You've grown frustrated I see with my tendencies and you have tried to tried to change me

Love is a choice it's not a feelin
It was never meant to be easy
It's about findin someone worth fightin for and stickin with
Well baby you're stuck with me
Baby Your stuck with me

Two years and romance I've lost a step in that dance and I wonder where it where it has gone
You know that is used to be something that came naturally to me I guess I have to have to re-learn
We've sat and wasted our time let life walk on by while we should have should have progressed on so many fronts
Youjump the gunand take aimputme ondefensive playand you know I have I havetried change you too

Underneath it all we know it's not so true
Our imperfections are not what make us who we are or the marriage of our hearts

Love is a choice it's not a feelin
It was never meant to be easy
It's about findin someone worth fightin for and stickin with
Well babyI'm stuck with you
BabyI'm stuck with you

Underneath it all we know it's not so true
Our imperfections are not what make us who we are or the marriage of our hearts the marriage of our hearts

Love is a choice it's not a feelin
It was never meant to be easy
It's about findin someone worth fightin for and stickin with
Love is a choice it's not a feelin
It was never meant to be easy
It's about findin someone worth fightin for and stickin with
Well babyyou'restuck with me
And baby I'm stuck with you
Baby you're stuck with me
And baby I'm stuck with you
Baby I'm stuck with youPosted byUnknownat4:09 PMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Monday, September 10, 2012 Haseltine Strikes a ChordI've been captivated by Dan Haseltine's blog www.danhaseltine.comthis week. If you don't know who Dan Haseltine is...he's the frontman for my all-timefavorite band Jars of Clay www.jarsofclay.com. I'm intrigued byJars' new direction...which is essentially their original direction. I'm also intrigued byhisdifferent views on things...even if I disagree with a few of them. But what I've been liking a lot is when Dan re-visits a song he wrote, and puts a personal story to it. I thought I'd try my hand at that myself. So here's entry number 1.

I think I'll start with a Paging Samuel song called Marble Heart (I Need You ). Our original lead guitarist Vinny Blanche came up with the riff for this song. Vinny was always coming up with something new...and he was full of life. He loves Dave Matthews Band, and pretty much has a funky acoustic Jack Johnson vibe. So it was a regular thing for him to come in with some fun, new guitar part to work off of.

But what to write? Lyrics are always my thing. Not sure if it's mostly because I may be good at it,if I'm just a control freak...or maybe a little of both. Well...one thing's for sure. I'm really great atwanting to wantto follow God. I certainly talk the talk. But walking the walk? I trip up constantly. I'm beyond lazy spiritually and otherwise. So I try...but not really. I know I need Jesus to pick me up and teach me...but equally...if not more...don't take the time to get to get to know Him.

Now, the original version was simply called"I Need You." Verse 2 said:"The time the time the time is near. My spirit can see it. It's not time not time to live in fear, but turn from our sin be watchful and ready. I wrote this based on my observations of the world we currently occupy. Too much is happening. So many things I consider "signs of the times" are taking place. No, I'm no expert...and I could always be wrong. But really...even if I am wrong...do people (myself included) realize how important these times are regardless? So much is at stake.

I changed it to its current lyrical content because my focus changed. Songs don't always stay the same...sometimes even after years. They are living, organic, wonderful (not cardboard)creatures. In this case, it was only a year or two. Thing is, we cry. We cry out loud. We cry in silence. We cry in our innermost depths...at times not even sensing or recognizing our own pain. Our souls cry out to God, even as the rest of who we are wrestles with that same God. We can become numb. But we must strive. We must try...and try...and try. No matter what it takes...we must try. We may have to to try to walk with broken legs, feet, or both. And we can't do it on our own. We need a strength we'll never find in ourselves.

I may have already shared this with you...but I have a severely poor prayer life. I mean, I know I should pray...and I do here and there. But overall? Yup...I suck at it. So my music is one way I really get to dive into praying. And this songis a prayer to be made whole...into who I've been created to be. Hopefully, it's that for the listener as well. That being said, songs are also quite good at being exactly what one person needs to hear...and exactly something different yet, just as necessary to another. Art is funny and amazing that way. I'd be interested to hear (or read) your thoughts on this song, and what it's words may mean to you. I'll end simply by sharing the lyrics.

I try I try I try so hard without really trying
I try I try I fall apart...consistently inconsistent
Take me off of my broken feet, Oh Love of mine
Take me off ofmy broken legs
Teach me how to walk with Yours

Hold onto me
Make me the man You made me to be
I need You I need You I need You You know I do
I need You Ineed You I need You You know I do

I cry I cry with a marble heart...no tears are flowing
I cry I cry I cry impart strength to do right to be watchful and ready
Take me off of my broken feet, Oh Love of mine
Take me off of my broken legs
Teach me how to walk with Yours

Hold onto me
Make me the man You made me to be
I need You I need You I need You You know I do
I need You I need You I need You You know I do
I need You I need You I need You You know I do
I need You I need You I need You You know I do

Hold onto me
Make me the man You made me to be
I need You I need You I need You You know I do
I need You I need You I need You You know I do
I need You I need You I need You You know I do
I need You I need You I need You You know I doPosted byUnknownat10:50 PMNo comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Older PostsHomeSubscribe to:Posts (Atom)Blog Archive 2015(2) October(2)Can you see me now?Wanting To Remember 2012(14) December(3) October(1) September(2) August(8)About MeUnknownView my complete profile

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