I Am
I am 13 years old and my great story is being written and my great accomplishments and successes are to come.

I am a self-advocate speaker. I like giving Power Point presentations and answering questions. When I was six years old I read a welcoming statement in three languages at the National Down Syndrome Society Conference in St. Louis. At age 12 I spoke at the 10th World Down Syndrome Congress in Ireland and played a violin recital in front of 900 people at the Plenary Session.

I am a swimmer. I train everyday. I set six Junior Down Syndrome World Records in freestyle, long course:
• 50 meters
• 100 meters
• 200 meters
• 400 meters
• 800 meters
• 1,500 meters

I am a traveler. I have a passport. I have visited:
• Canada
• Mexico
• Honduras
• Ireland
• France

I am a violinist. I started to play when I was six years old. I am on Suzuki Book 3. I am a golfer. I learned to play when I was 8 years old. I like to practice at the driving range. I open golf events with ceremonial drives. I am a polyglot. I am good at learning foreign languages. I speak:
• English
• Spanish
• French
• and I study Latin

I am homeschooled. I know the multiplication tables. I know the Ten Commandments. I know all the presidents of the United States. I study botany and entomology. I am a reader. I learned to sight-read when I was 2 years old. I have a bookcase at home with all my books. I have a library card.

I am a cyclist. I learned to ride a bike when I was 8 years old with Dr. Dick Klein at Lose the Training Wheels bike camp in Chicago. I ride 12 miles with my father in the summer and fall. I am Catholic. I was baptized when I was a baby. I made my First Communion when I was 10 years old. I am an altar server and I am studying for my Confirmation.

I am valuable because I exist. Not because of what I do or what I have done.

I am not a burden to society. My life is worth living with respect and dignity.

I am a self-advocate so that others may understand.

I am a person.

I am Emmanuel Joseph Bishop.

Friends. This is what life is all about. God said “I Am who Am”. We are His creation, always. There is no sometimes, or not this time…God is all in for us 100% of the time. I cannot explain why this young man, and countless others, is born a little different in how they see the world, communicate, and think. I can however be certain that they are beautiful, just like you.

So, why am I posting about this? What’s the point Bob…you ask…

I read this story and my first thought was “I hope that I have the courage to love as this young man’s parents have.” There is another story on the website in which a young lady says she is glad her parents did not abort her! Have you ever had that thought?

As spouses we are expected by God to love unconditionally. Do we?

As parents we are expected by God to love unconditionally. Do we?

As siblings. As friends.

Friends in this young man I see Christ. I see pure Love. And I’ve never met him. And I probably never will. But in reading this story I learned something about me that I needed to hear…and perhaps you do to.

I have value because I am…not because I do.

Lord if we could only learn that our world would be dramatically different. Our marriages would be different. We would be different. And God would be greatly glorified.

Thank you Emmanuel for teaching me how beautiful we are in God. You are in my prayers.

Please become a fan of the IDSC for Life on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/IDSCforLIFE

Also visit their website and learn more about this great organization: http://www.idscforlife.org/p/self-advocates.html

Please take the time to read the stories of the other Self Advocates here: http://www.idscforlife.org/p/self-advocates.html

We live today in a world of comfort.  You may disagree…perhaps you will tell me of the number of people suffering from hunger, poverty, and the like.  And you are correct, a portion of the world suffers, but overall we are an ungrateful glutton bunch.  Look around, note the number of things people own…the amount of wasted food at any restaurant or house…the amount of apathy among men. 

Last night while in Adoration I read this:

And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?” But Satan answered the LORD and said, “Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing? Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land. But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has, and surely he will blaspheme you to your face.”  - Job 1:8-11

While Job had everything he praised the Lord who is worthy to be praised.  Satan argued that Job is of course an upright servant of the Lord, for God has allowed him to have many possessions and a wonderful family.  The Lord hath looked with favor on Job.

So the Lord, knowing the strength of Job’s faith allowed Satan to test him.  In the first trial all of Job’s livestock is stolen and all of his seven children are killed on the same day at the same time.  Job, being the upright and fitting servant of the Lord responds by saying this…

Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said, “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!” In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God. – Job 1:20-22

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!  Are you kidding me!  Job praises God on the very day when his livelihood is taken from him!  And on the same day in which his children are killed!  Are you kidding me!!

See if you can follow me on this.  The U.S. is the richest country in the history of the world, we all have houses, cars, refrigerators, stoves, microwaves, Costco, Wal-Mart, Target, Guitar Center, Lehboner Children’s Hospital, St. Jude, and on and on and on.  People born in the U.S. are the luckiest people on the planet because no matter your race, in the U.S. you have more opportunity to survive then anywhere else. 

We have all of this, and yet we are not upright and worthy servants of the Lord.  You tell me how many people here truly, honestly, when attacked by Satin say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord!”  Rather people respond “God why have you forsaken me!” 

America…you are weak.  We call ourselves a Christian nation and then we live and act like pagans. 

Christ tells us in the Gospel of Matthew (7:21) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

I wish to be like Job.  I wish to honor the Lord with all of my being every day, despite the weather, or my house, my car, my groceries, my friends, my family.  I wish to be like Job more today than ever before in my life.  Bring it on Satan…you haven’t met a man more focused on Praising the Lord.  I will not be stopped because I do not walk under my own power but only by the Grace of God go I. 

Please don’t mistake this as a woe to us post.  I am writing this more as a join me, let’s change the world, let’s make Christians Christian again.  We know that Christ has the victory!  This time will pass and He shall reign again in the hearts of all men.  Let us answer God’s call to carry our crosses, not count the cost of our labor, accept a fair daily wage, and Love unceasingly.  That maybe we could answer the Lord as Job does…

Then Job answered the LORD and said: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know. I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes. – Job 42:1-6

 I wish not to understand what God calls me to, but to have the Grace to say Yes and do it.  I pray that we all have this Grace and that, like Mary, we respond “Let it be done to me according to THY word.”

God bless you today and deliver you from all evil…because Satan isn’t done working, so neither should we be.

“Do I really Glorify God?”

What does that mean exactly?  To “glorify”? 

Well Mr. Webster says this:

 Taken from: www.webster.com  (content edited)

Main Entry: glo·ri·fy 

1. a : to make glorious by bestowing honor, praise, or admiration

   b : to elevate to celestial glory

2 : to light up brilliantly

3 : to represent as glorious : extol

4 : to give glory to (as in worship)

Read those definitions closely.  Very closely.

Do you bestow honor, praise, or admiration on God?  Do you light Him up brilliantly? 

Do you represent Him as glorious? 

That one hurts.  This is where I cried enough!  Honestly, when you say to someone that you are a Christian, do you then represent Him as GLORIOUS!  Consistently?

1 Cor 6:20 says, “For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” 

I can do that.  I am modest, have worked really hard to respect the dignity of others.  Have rooted out and continue to root out any objectification of others from my mind and heart.  I am not perfect, but I think I do this pretty okay.

But then I read this…

O LORD, you are my God, I will extol you and praise your name; For you have fulfilled your wonderful plans of old, faithful and true. For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; The castle of the insolent is a city no more, nor ever to be rebuilt. Therefore a strong people will honor you, fierce nations will fear you. For you are a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in distress; Shelter from the rain, shade from the heat. As with the cold rain, as with the desert heat, even so you quell the uproar of the wanton.   Is 25:1-5

What gets me is verse 3. “Therefore a strong people will honor you…”

Am I strong people?  Are you?  Are we? Check out what Paul writes to the Romans in 15:5-7

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God.

I don’t know about you, but that describes a place I desire to be.  A Church.  Not a brick and mortar place, but a people “set apart” for one purpose.  TO GLORIFY!  For me, bringing God glory has been about learning to Love.  I have and continue to learn not judge or berate or belittle; but instead to love, to commend, and to build up. 

Yesterday on the plane back from MI I sat next to a lady who is searching.  She is married, her husband sat across the isle with their 2 beautiful kids.  They live an average American life.  But something is missing.  We talked and she lit up as I shared my conversion story with her and talked about faith.  She took notes when I said things like “persistence is what sets apart the successful from the not”.  (The Saints were persistent.  Think about it. I have another post on this coming soon).  All in all, this was an amazing conversation, one divinely scheduled by the Master Carpenter.

The beautiful thing is that after we parted off the plane I thought I missed an opportunity.  We shared a great conversation; her husband is the one that really needs to learn that he is loved by God.  And I didn’t seek him out to tell him or to talk with him.  And as I began to tell God I was sorry I didn’t do everything in my power to Love this man….there he was, standing in front of me waiting for his wife.  Now keep in mind I went to the restroom, and took my time wandering because I knew it would take a while for the luggage to be unloaded, etc.  This is an airport, there are hundreds of people.  How is it that I almost run into the one person I so desperately wanted to Love.

So, I stopped, stunned for a moment, and then as if I knew what I supposed to do, I handed him my book and said, “Here, God wants you to read this.  I think you will enjoy it.”  He said thank you.  And I went on my way.  Almost to the sound track of some chick flick with a happy ending.  The whole thing was surreal.

What does this have to do with glorifying God?  Well, honestly, everything.  The book has nothing to do with it, nor does the circumstance.  To me, I repented and He saw fit to give me a chance to say Yes again.  That is glorifying God. 

Repenting and saying yes Lord.

It IS that simple.

Take some time to review the definitions of Glorify and see if you fit.  If not, perhaps it’s time to take stock in who God is, and who you are called to be.  Here is a simply examination to help.

-          Do I bring praise, honor, and admiration to God?

-          Do I elevate my soul to the supernatural in prayer and attention to the Holy Spirit daily?

-          Do I allow Christ to light up my life “brilliantly”?

-          Do I, in my words and actions, represent God as glorious?

-          Do I give God glory in worship often?

If you answered no to any of these, then you are like the rest of us….human.  God writes in Is 43:4, “Because you are precious in my eyes and glorious, and because I love you…”  Do not be discouraged by imperfection, rather be hopeful.  If you recognize that you are imperfect then you are willing and open to receive the Grace from He who Is perfect.  There is no such thing as imperfect Grace.  Every time we pray we become more like Him, and that is enough. 

Tonight I pray that I will glorify God with all my being.  I pray for you the same.  I am blessed to be in Church with others and to see Him in them.  I leave you with this.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” – MT 5:16

PS: I should note, the book was “Be A Man” by Fr. Larry Richards.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say “I can’t do it”. But is it “I can’t” or “I won’t”? One can be conquered. “

This struck a chord with me.  I’ve been “trying” to lose weight for a while.  I’ve been “trying” to have a better prayer life for a while.  I’ve been “trying” to do this and that for a while.

But what is “trying”?  For me it is saying I’m doing something about it, and then not really doing anything at all.  So really, I should be saying “I won’t”.

The greatest tragedy of life is not being truthful with yourself…and with God.  I’ve often told the story of my former spiritual director telling me I needed to pray, ‘Lord, show me how You see me.’  That is by far the hardest prayer I have ever made.  And it took me a few times to really mean it. 

So let me ask you this.  Is it that you “can’t” pray more, or get to Mass more, or talk about God with your spouse or friends…or is it that you “won’t”?  If you are like me, then you are tired of making excuses and saying ‘I can’t’ when you know the truth that you can, you’re just unwilling to. 

Today I started a swear jar at work.  While I don’t swear like a sailor, I do use some inappropriate words to often.  So I asked my coworkers to join me in rooting out the use of these words. 

Tomorrow I’m going to try and pray one rosary throughout the day.  And I’m going to ask my wife to hold me accountable to pray it before I go to bed, or start doing other things in the evening.

I say I don’t watch TV, but yet last night I watched TV for two hours.  Tonight, I’m going to read, or do something else, and ask my wife to do the same.

I spend too much money on lunches at work.  So I’m going to fast 1 day a week from now on to remember my responsibility to steward my finances and care for my family as God calls. 

Yesterday, in pure spite of my friends Facebook status, I came home and worked out.  Tomorrow I’ll work out again.  I’m asking my friend Wit to keep me accountable.

These are the things I’m going to do to tip the scales toward “I can”. 

So how is this Christian…other than praying more?  Well read this from Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, ¹¹ and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”  But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived ¹³ a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Mary says, “I can!”

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

I have long been in awe of Mary’s yes.  I’ve spoken on it.  Told others we are called to embody her response to God’s call.  Desired to respond the same.  Yet I still say “I won’t”.  My fiends, today I say “I can” with Mary in response to God’s call.  I’m not taking on foolish goals, just one simple one.  Say yes to God in my life.  It’s that simple.  He will guide me, pastor me, lead me to the places he has for me.  And He will do the same for you.

So are you in too?  Are you willing? Or “can’t you” muster the strength?  If not, that’s okay for now…but you better be praying that you gain strength because “I can’t” only suffices for a short time…then it’s time to be real with yourself before you get into trouble.

Let us pray.

Mary, we ask your intercession for us as we seek to say Yes to your Son in our lives.  Intercede for us that God the Holy Spirit would fill us with the Grace of faith, trust, and perseverance.  Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.  Blessed art though among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy women Jesus.  Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.

NOTE: so who was my friend on Facebook?  None other than my best man, Paul V.  You can check out his site at www.pvsfit.com.  Oh, and he doesn’t know I wrote this, nor that I took such an impact from his status.

Check this out…Job 25:2 “Dominion and awe belong to Him, Who establishes peace in His heights.”

To be in awe of God means to have ‘an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful…”.

I am in awe of God these days, and I’m loving it. Lately I see Him everywhere…in others…in the lives of the Saints…in the readings at Mass and in daily prayers…and most importantly to me, in my wife. God is revealing Himself to us everyday, we just need to list. Isaiah writes in chapter 29 verse 23:

But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

I encourage you to pray that you have the faith to see the work of His hands in your midst. I’ve been praying this for myself for sometime and it has just caught me off guard with wonder and awe. He is an awesome God. He is our King.

Not sure of how to do this? Or what it means to be in awe? Or if this is all just my mind playing tricks on me? All I have to say to you is this, God is more wonderful than we can ever imagine. And in my life I’ve seen things that cannot be explained. Last night I was talking with a friend at the Matt Maher concert about this and I told him that I read a book once that reasoned ‘faith is a belief in what we can reasonably expect to be true.’ I remember reading and liking the book very much until I shared the idea with my Pastor Fr. Ed. He quickly pointed out, correctly, that that premise lacks the “leap” necessary for “faith” in God. How true.

Faith is a belief in something that isn’t reasonable. I need to make the distinction here that I’m not talking about having faith in your wife doing the shopping, or that sun will shine tomorrow. Those are human things, keeping with the books premise. However when you consider the Supernatural, Godly things, faith cannot be a conclusion in what we can reasonable expect to be true, it Has to be a belief in the unexpected…the incomprehensible…

How is it likely that I, a complete degenerate, could be redeemed and form into the man I have become…husband…father…etc. Riddle me this…how is it reasonable…for a man who lived 2000 years ago become so loved by his friends and followers, that they would be willing to die horrible deaths simply to spread his message. That, is not likely. What if I asked you to sell a product, and the consequence for getting caught selling that product was immediate upside down crucifixion. If you are like me, monster.com would be my first stop after that conversation. I’d be out of there!

That my friends, is why I am in awe of God. See, he could choose to stop all of this, he could stop time, fix our brokenness and all the problems, and take us all to heaven….but instead, He loves us sooo much that He..God…The King…chooses to let us have free will so that we can fully love Him if we desire.

Well friends…I desire! Do you?

I hope that today you are in awe of Him. If you aren’t sure, take the leap. Pray for Faith. Faith is a gift of God the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The gift of faith will convict a person more than anything else we have ever encountered. I pray that we all have increased faith today. I pray we are more in awe of Him everyday. And I pray you are filled with His peace and joy.

If you still aren’t sure what to do next. Pray some more. He will guide you when the time is right.

God bless you and all those you meet. I pray you infect them with love, as He infects you.