Nativity Catholic Church
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Caution: Falling Ice…and Other “Signs of the Times”
A "FIRESTARTER" Spiritual Essay by Rev.
Dr. Benjamin
Berinti, C.Pp.S. After too many seasons of missing out on one of the great joys of big city living that I sacrificed when I moved to Orlando over 10 years ago, I was able to return to Chicago for two days of pre-Christmas excitement! While I make no bones about my new-found love for Florida Decembers, and my delight at singing Christmas carols around a light-strewn areca palm tree, there’s nothing in this town that even remotely comes close to the glitter and extravagance of Christmas along the “Magnificent Mile” in the Windy City. Disney can keep their Osborne display, Universal can bask in their fake Macy’s parade, and even the Gaylord Palms can chill with their “Ice” wonderland—but none of this can beat the sights, sounds, smells and other-worldly experience of Christmas in a great American city. Unfortunately, my travels to Chicago took me there in the midst of an incredible wave of deep, arctic freeze—wind chills below zero that made it feel as though my ears would detach from the side of my head at any moment and be whisked away into the icy darkness of Lake Michigan. Nonetheless, there was a warmth of spirit that made the absurd temperatures bearable, and the glow of millions of lights, blaring trumpets jutting from the sides of massive department stores (really, more than two floors high), animated window scenes of Mary Poppins, and a performance of the Goodman Theatre’s immortal holiday season classic, A Christmas Carol, all conspired to keep the freeze from short-circuiting my enthusiasm. Lots of great memories were stirred as I navigated the streets and alleys of downtown Chicago, but one cityscape experience I had completely forgotten about that quickly, and humorously, caught my attention, were the signs posted on sandwich-boards and nestled into orange traffic cones along the sidewalks—“CAUTION: FALLING ICE”! While people have actually been killed in cities by chunks of ice plummeting from the eaves and window ledges of skyscrapers, I say “humorous” because I chuckled to wonder if anyone, including myself, would actually step out into the street or go more than 10 steps out of our way to avoid passing through the dangerous corridors laden with “icicles of Damocles” perched overhead! There’s probably a greater chance of being struck by an erratic taxi driver (are there any other kind in a city?) than by a block of ice hurtling down from the Hancock Tower, so the thought of taking the warning seriously seemed only something the uninitiated-in-city-life would give a second glance at. I suppose the general idea is to walk as far away from a building that’s surrounded by “Falling Ice” alerts, but when you consider that the holiday sidewalks are inundated with shoppers, all lugging more bags than Santa Claus during his opening volley on Christmas Eve, and that, quite frankly, there really isn’t anywhere else to go except into the middle of a traffic-clogged avenue—what’s a person to do but gloss over the “signs of the times” and take one’s chances (which are no less threatening in the long run than making a daily commute up or down I-4 through Orlando). The “Ice warnings” did, however, get me to thinking (thank goodness I was spared from any “debris” falling from the skies over Michigan Avenue, including the always present frozen deposits offered by flocks of city pigeons darting above)—how often do I pay little heed to other “signs” that I cross in any given day. No, not the ones posted at street corners, or boasting advertising for yet another burgeoning condo development in town, or even the funny ones where the cows try to get us to “eat more chik’n”. No, I’m speaking about the important signs that alert us to what may be happening within our relationships, within our commitments, within our very souls. These signs, which God so graciously sets before us, but which we notice with the same lack of intensity or seriousness that I passed by warnings of errant ice daggers, are littered along our daily paths. Being alert to the signs of the times in which we pass our days calls us to a kind of attentiveness that we are becoming less and less accustomed to. We often navigate through our days, our commitments, our relationships with a kind of detachment to our surroundings that, when we actually stop to reflect upon it, is down right frightening. We move so quickly, so haphazardly through a good deal of each day that we can’t help but miss the signs of deeper meaning and opportunities. In a world where we drive through “Stop” signs, disregard speed limits, toss away important letters our kids bring home from school, miss the announcement that the meeting day and date have changed, and didn’t see the note our spouse left behind about being late from work—is it any wonder that our sensitivities are dulled toward the more significant signs that speak to the deep-down matters of our lives—who and what is important to us; where are we willing to stake our lives; who and what is worthy of our more than half-hearted commitments; what significant changes do I need to make to come closer to fulfillment, happiness, satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment; who or what becomes the object of my best efforts at love and compassion? These are the kinds of questions that are worth attending too with as much alertness as we can muster, but alas, despite the “signs” that God places along the path of our daily choices and decisions, we are ignorant of their existence. Michael J. Smith, a professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who studies industrial and engineering systems, when asked about the value of “Falling Ice” warnings dotting the city’s sidewalks in winter, had this to say: “Pedestrians need to be mindful of their surroundings.... The big problem with the signs is that people may not be paying attention…people tend not to take actions that inconvenience them….” Clearly, what Smith shares about falling ice signs is equally applicable to “God-Signs” that are plunked down along the sidewalks we wander in the course of our daily living. In the waning days of this Advent Season, when signs abound in the reading of sacred Scripture, and we await the return of the fullness of God’s love for us, Jesus the Christ, can we make a decision to be more alert to the important signs that we are stepping around each day, but which desperately need our focus and attention? More than once I am sure, God has “inconvenienced” most of us, as God has done with many people throughout salvation history, but the path God sets before us, if we read the signs and heed their promptings, is the one that always leads to safety, security, comfort, and abundant love.
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