DJ Pasternak, Author

Many years ago I found this picture among the numerous random mementos kept in boxes placed there untouched for who knows how long. It so happened that this particular item was one of those ‘sacred findings’ that connected with other happenings in our life. The unfortunate thing is I have forgotten where, in what box it belonged. Was it among the treasures of my husband’s Italian grandmother? And if so, which one? There was however another possibility. Let me start from the beginning of this one.

During the 1990’s we met a certain priest who served at Our Lady’s Shrine near us. His was a late vocation that began after the death of his wife. He was there for us during a difficult period, always available and kind. There is much more to his story for another day. I will just say that his wife was most likely a saint who suffered greatly throughout her life. He was her caretaker for 31 years and became a priest after her death..

His wife spent a few years at a monastery in Lufkin, Texas. She had a devotion to the Child Jesus and great spiritual gifts. But though she had entered other orders, she was turned away from every one of them after a period of time. Lufkin was the last in the series of rejections and she went to live with one of her sisters in Ohio. That is where she met and married her husband, our priest friend.

Now back to the other possibility of where that picture came from. When my husband was a student at a school of higher learning in Texas, he and his brother went on a silent retreat to that same monastery in Lufkin. I didn’t realize this until after the priest we knew passed on, when I happened upon a box of my husband’s that revealed the location of his earlier retreat. I am not sure the picture of Little Jesus was there among his mementos but I still think it might have been.?

Stayed tuned for other segments of this story that includes two other visual mementos.

Today is a memorable one for our family. Over four decades ago the number of members was increased by one. It happened about 5:00 am on a Friday morning. After a few hours of pain on my part, the most wonderful sound announced her arrival. The nature of the gift of God would be revealed over many years: the person created before she was in her mother’s womb only known fully to the Creator Himself, no small miracle, entrusted to us for a while.

Unrepeatable, not a clone, unlike her parents or anyone else on the face of the earth. Brought forth from a thought of the Almighty, the totally Real Intelligence, made in His likeness and image. Contrast this with the robot type of Artificial Intelligence, one unable to love, appreciate beauty, feel, hope… Soldiers without hearts, empty, artificial. Even if it were possible to produce something that looks, talks, walks, plays chess, it is not meant to be eternal as a child is; there is no love, no mother or father, an empty shell full of nothingness. No contest.

Are not five sparrows sold for a two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are numbered. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12: 6-7

Sitting on my deck past 10 am
My bathrobe on. My list upon the counter
My to dos not being done
The chair on the deck wet with dew
Hastily covered with a cushion
To keep me dry

A red hatted woodpecker 
Eats berries from the dogwood tree
Just above me near enough 
To almost touch the magnificent bird 
He flies away too soon
Huge, a wingspan as large as a hawk

A visitor welcome but uninvited
I wonder at the stillness
After he left the tree and me
Knowing he was sent to bring
An olive branch into my world
Despite the chaos that disturbs my mind 
And stings my heart

I have these stolen moments 
Before I walk inside and start my day
Just one more moment 
To google and identify my guest
An Ivory Billed Woodpecker
Rare, once thought extinct 
Seen in these stolen moments.
 
DJ Pasternak                   October 4, 2023

Sometimes it seems to me I am unable to do anything to change the world of vices: domination by the wealthy and powerful as my freedoms are undergoing constant attack, forced to pay taxes for schools promoting the pure evils of the day an agenda set to overtake everything good and sacred and replace it with the evil and vile.etc, etc.

Today is the feast day of St Theresa of Lisieux, the Little Flower. When she was a teenager she aspired to do great things: to become a missionary in India and join the Carmelite nuns. She was determined enough that while she and her father toured Italy she asked Pope Leo XIII to enter the Carmelite Monastary at the age of 15.

She lived there within the walls of the contemplative order until her death at 24 years of age. She spent her time doing menial tasks and spending time in prayer with rare visits from her family. She considered herself lacking in the ability to fully live the life of austerity, fasting, etc. In fact she described herself as a little bird wrapped in cotton a creature of comfort. She was in fact quite the opposite; resigned to the suffering she endured at so young an age.

So what is all the fuss about this “little saint”? For one thing a Mother Superior told her to keep a journal and she obeyed. The Story of a Soul became one of the most sold religious books to this day. She has countless devotees throughout the world; one of whom was Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Her words are lived out in the world today: I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth. Another quote might be worth knowing and acting upon is: You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.

St John Paul the Great declared her a Doctor of the Church, the youngest saint to have that title. Never underestimate what God has planned for you. His ways are far above our ways.

In the 2008 presidential campaign Hillary Clinton used the slogan that: “Abortion should be safe, legal and rare.” It was first used in 1992 by her husband Bill. I remember it being said that abortion was not a major issue in presidential elections but it seems by the amount of discussion concerning abortion in regard to elections today, it is a major issue.

President Trump voiced his opposition to abortion both during his campaign in 2016 and also throughout his presidency. Hillary Clinton supported abortion at all stages of pregnancy up to nine months which would require partial birth abortions; that is, delivering the head of the baby and then inserting a needle into the neck and removing the contents of the brain and crushing the skull.

Early on as the candidates for office lined up, we heard many pollsters proclaim a strongly pro-life candidate was not electable. They attributed many failed campaigns to this ‘fact’; however, President Trump won over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

At one point recently I heard Trump falter on abortion softening his support for life. Just today I heard a recording of an interview on Meet the Press in which he condemned Ron DeSantis for outlawing abortion at six weeks. Plus Trump also supports exceptions that include rape, incest and life of the mother. He was unclear of when abortion should be outlawed.

I have heard that half the country are pro-life. As time passes and the facts are leaking out about abortion, sadly the former president will realize he has been duped by the very same ‘fake news’ he so adamantly condemned. His base is pro-life, pro-family and pro-God. Pray he realizes he needs their strong support and more importantly that without God he can do nothing. He needs our prayers!

In my last post, I’m afraid that in trying to circumvent the real core of my own thinking on President Donald Trump, I gave an example that might be taken by some as a negative. However, it was the opposite. To me that particular incident I happened to view stayed with me, because it reflected my own beliefs as a young person and now as a young old person.

In reflecting on its significance I realized that signature song of his “Young Man” had a meaning beyond the snappy beat. It signified the optimism I had when starting out. The deep down belief that anything was possible. Perhaps taken too far, it was sometimes delusions of grandeur on my part. Yet, better than the present indoctrination in the young generation today of ‘doomsday’.

Truly I did grow to appreciate and actually love this man with the unique hair color. He did what he said he would. He was courageous in standing up for life. He invoked God and Melania prayed the Lord’s prayer in public. He called out the swamp crowd. He cut the ridiculous regulations & on & on. We were actually becoming energy independent, feared by our enemies, respected once again. He must have worked day and night.

President Trump retained that precious gift of the young, optimism and a fierce drive to achieve greatness. And if God wants, no matter the obstacles thrown to block him, he will weather the 11,000,000 accusations and bring us back to that which made our country great: love of God and neighbor and all that is good. Plus we will be able to heat our homes and eat.

Listening to WABC early this Sat. morning, I heard James Golden/Bo Snerdley say the defense lawyers of Pres. Trump have 11,000,000 pages of offenses committed by him that they must review and…quickly!! I read there are 19 legal actions filed against him. He is beyond doubt the president who spent the most money defending himself in our country’s history.

To me he is an enigma which means; mysterious, puzzling or difficult to understand. I don’t know about mysterious but I believe he is a mystery that only God in heaven knows just as He knows each of us. So I won’t even deal with that.

Puzzling? Why would a playboy, millionaire son born into, though be it perhaps hard earned wealth, decide he would be president one day. I remember hearing that years ago and cringing. He owned Casinos. I despised gambling.

Hard to understand? Why does he continue to persist in running a third time to be president? Think about it! Let me digress: In the numerous times I surfed the net, there was one video snippet ingrained in my memory of the Donald walking down an NYC street being asked by a reporter tailing behind him: “How are you going to raise the million dollars to build that building.?” He answered: “I have $100,000 and I only need $900,000, more.” I found the answer to at least two of the above. By golly, Donald Trump is an American!

Perhaps this sounds disrespectful but it is not meant to be that at all. I believe our President is a patriot, loves his country and desires to work, work, work to make it Great once more. That is the way I see it. How about you?

This poem was written in the the middle of a sleepless night filled with anxiety. To dispel the mood I stepped out onto the deck and was greeted by the darkness interspersed with the lights of multiple stars. This simple poem sprang from the joy of the sight of the night sky on January 3rd 2023. Even if my poems may not be worthy of becoming known beyond my journal and perhaps this blog, they are, I believe, especially gifted to me. When considering periods when poems filled pages of my journal opposed to periods when they were absent, I noticed giving time to silence and seeking answers seemed to open the door to The mystery of some bit of truth Flowing from the mind of Truth itself To an unworthy poet… * (From the poem, The Gift by DJ Pasternak )

First Poem of 2023: How Beautiful is the Night

How beautiful is the night! Cold clear winter sky Aglow in darkness Do we gaze upon a world beyond in awe Silent, serene awaiting souls Thrust into the forever of beauty unknown A world of truth to behold Given as gold to those Yet wanting to know what awaits In the lighted heavens Seeking arms to hold, to love Creator Comforter How beautiful is the night!

Two other poems gathered in the Poetry of Silence:

One Page, One Hour

The day unfolds, the darkness lifts as the page of yesterday turns, revealing the light of today Not a chapter, just one page, one line at a time Sometimes glorious as the sunrise of colors: reds, yellows and violet Other times a preparation for something more As in the writing of a book

Pay attention, to stillness on waking, breaking the quiet Turning a dial listening to meaningless chatter Drawn to satisfy the senses Sight of sunrise, chill of January, warmth of fire, chatter, coffee, toast and peanut butter One fragrant pink carnation

The working of the mind awakening the spirit, noticing In the midst of clutter collected on the coffee table One forgotten slip of paper with a quote from Saint Ambose : Let no word escape your lips or be uttered without depth of meaning.

Or might I, a writer, change the word of lips to words of pen Poured out upon the page just turned To end the first hour of today

DJ Pasternak January 17, 2023

Three in One Love

May our heart forever be entwined And God with us in our love For in every truth and good I know His presence surely does reside Within the marriage vows we pledged Forever one together bound.

DJ Pasternak May 29, 2023

We pass a certain home of an acquaintance on our way to and from Church. He usually has a printed sign at the entrance to his driveway. We noticed a new one on Sunday. It is something many people are saying and many more are thinking. It is indeed a sad one and unfortunately valid at this moment in our country’s history.

Everything we have grown to love in the USA is being attacked and not only here but in the western world and other places. Good is bad and bad is good. “Don’t say this and don’t write that. Freedom is the name they give it but it is the opposite. The weather reflects the time we live in and terror seeks to stifle all that is good.

I had to write this down and hope no one cancels it in this cancel culture as they say. I am reading a book about Pope John Paul the Great and can’t help but cling to His words said so often beginning with his inauguration as Pope. Do not be afraid! And now to the sign: Stop the insanity! and add the words of JP 2 echoing those said some 2000 years ago during a raging storm on the Sea of Galilee. And the insanity of the storm ceased and the sea was calm. An ever present help in troubled times.

I’ve written several blogs about encounters with ‘feathered friends’ of mine: turkeys, little birds, chickens, even one vulture. I had never realized the trend here and something else came to mind a few days ago. When we were building our home from the ground up, actually the first and only house we ever owned, we heard a winsome sound in the early morning hours of work on our two acre lot.

I called it the song of the morning dove. It wasn’t until many years later I realized it was called a mourning dove. A day or two ago I also realized that my yet to be published first novel titled Daybreak from on High began and ended with a dove. In fact the first title I used was Doves in the Temple. Although most people think the sound is mournful, I associate the song of the dove with morning, a joyful time of day for me.

In fact I often say aloud a bible verse while sitting on my eastern deck at daybreak: The favors of the lord are renewed each morning, so great is His faithfulness. My husband put together a small fountain birdbath featuring two cement love birds. Frequently two living doves visit there to enjoy the cool waters. My novel includes both the mourning of Jesus passion and the joy of the morning of His resurrection. The dove is a symbol and reminder that like the olive branch carried in the beak of a dove, peace will eventually prevail. After the flood’s engulfing waters, solid ground will appear.