God..Calling St. Michael

Originally Posted June 16, 2021

I was reflecting back on one of my first trips to New York City… the “Big Apple”. We were living in Kansas City (Overland Park, KS.) and I was going for a job interview at my employer… at  42^nd St. at 2^ndAvenue. I was pretty excited. I had planned to get up early, go to 6am mass and head for the airport. Well, I overslept and had to race to the airport to make my flight. Oh boy.. great impression if I was late for my interview…..”hey, I overslept…..uuuhhh, you can rely on me… I can do the job….”

Well I made the flight and got a cab from LaGuardia airport. I met the nicest cab driver…” Hey, where you from…. Wooah, Kansas City…hey let me do you a favor… I’ll give you my special rate…bla,bla,bla.” After I paid double for my cab ride from my new friend, I arrived at the Pfizer headquarters, interviewed, got the promotion and took the train from Grand Central to a friend’s home in Connecticut. To be honest, my head was spinning…. I wasn’t really sure I was on the right train but finally made it. The next day, I was back on the train to the “Big Apple” and home to KC. A couple of months later, we moved to Easton, PA and my new job.

After that trip I was in and out of NYC frequently, taking busses, trains, cars. No matter how familiar I was with the city, I always felt a bit like a stranger…never fully comfortable. Maybe it was the memory of that first cab driver. 

So, is there a point to this BLOG ? I’m not fully sure, but I do know that God has always been watching out for me and directing my path. That trip back in 1973 was the means for getting us from the Midwest to the East Coast….. where we eventually met the People of Hope and moved to New Jersey…. had 10 kids…and served the Lord full time….

Sometimes I think of God as the “Mega Traffic Controller”… he has his eye on each of us, directing and protecting us as we seek to do his will. He’s got a big silver microphone like you saw back in the 40’s, giving orders to the angels… “Michael keep an eye on Dave… he’s in New York and is lost.. make sure he gets on the right train”. Or more recently as we were on our “Road Trip” in our little CRV zipping in and out between the 18 wheelers ( 42 wheelers in Michigan by the way)… “Michael keep those trucks out of their way, they’re on the way to 8am mass in Freemont, Ohio”…. “Rodger Boss, I see them…boy that “Bird” reminds me of Mario Andretti, she’s really zipping along…”

Well it’s time to close as I’m working in my workshop on some Nativity stables… I have a lot of work to do.  Wait, what’s that I hear in the distance … is that the Lord at his microphone, “ St. Michael, Dave’s headed to his workshop … quick … contact St. Joseph and ask him to head over to Dave’s shop at 6 Mary St…. remind him to keep his eyes on those power tools….” 

Well, I doubt the “traffic controller” analogy will ever make it to Bishop Barron’s podcasts, but you have to admit, it captures a bit of God’s concern for every step of our life……the Lord is watching over each one of us… and that is very good news.  “Roger that…out”.