Easter, Passover and PEACE…

Sixteen years ago this week, I was blessed to be given the gift of a trip to Rome, Italy by my sister Diana. Now, I have to admit, I knew why I was going. It was quite simply to be a buffer between her and my mother who was also going. I wasn’t about to say no to a free trip so I went. There were five of us all together, my sister Diana, her husband, Mario, her son little Mario, my mom, and myself.

Top pic-Roman Forum (Mario took pic)/Bottom pic-Me and Mom at Coliseum

It was a trip I will never forget. Being in Rome during Easter Week was amazing and the things we got to see…Vatican City, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, the Roman Coliseum, The Roman Forum, Circus Maximus, Trevi Fountain…the list goes on and on. Mind you, most of our tour was on foot. That’s right, we walked just about everywhere from the little hotel room we stayed at. OMG. My mother, god bless her was 69 at the time and a hell of a trooper. My sister and her husband you see ran on friggin energizer batteries and didn’t stop much. I remember one day in particular I believe we were trying to get to the Vatican and my mother and I were both exhausted. She because of her age and me because I was still recovering from arthroscopic surgery on my knee. It was all forgotten when we came upon Vatican City. I remember thinking wow, I’m really here.

By the way, it’s huge. A huge walled compound in the heart of the city. Amazing really when you think of the irony. The Roman Empire crucified him and now his Church resides in the heart of their city. Now I know there are folks who will say. “That’s not how it is. That’s not true. He didn’t really exist, blah, blah, blah.” The truth is, does it matter? The belief in him exists. I saw that for myself on the day I was baptized and took my first holy communion. I saw it when I went to Rome and I see it every day. Whether the belief is in Jesus, Yehovah, Mohammed, or anyone else the fact is that we as a people, humanity itself, needs to believe. I choose to believe in my own way. Do I always go to church? No. Do I try to commune with my God daily, yes. Today Pope Francis has in his own way renewed my own faith in myself. (My personal message to him-Muchisimas Gracias Señor por todo lo que haces para la comunidad humana,no solo los que creen, tambien a los que le falta la fe. Has renovado mi fe en la Iglesia)

This week a large portion of the world’s populace is celebrating Passover, others are celebrating Easter. Some folks are just celebrating the fact that they are able to feed their children for another day. They praise, they thank and they worship, whomever and whatever they choose. Belief, it’s what gets us through the day, whether you believe it or not. I never in a million years would have imagined being able to go to Rome and yet I was there, for almost ten days. Just like for years I wondered if I would ever finish writing a book much less publish it, but I did.

So, what is this silly little blog all about today? Faith. Belief in yourself. I firmly believe in ideas like, ‘ask and ye shall receive’ ‘the lord helps those who help themselves’ ‘do or do not, there is no try’ (That’s right, I used Yoda and the ‘Force’ in there) Look around. Have you ever wanted to accomplish something but didn’t know how to go about it? Find someone who can help. They are out there, we are out there. Pick a brain, pick two, but accomplish what you set out to do and have faith. If you do that, well heck, I think Peace just comes.