michal's musings

“People on the streets have their names.” This is a powerful statement. This is the best way to start serving and not only serving but living with others.  Yes, some of us live in homes, some in apartments, some on streets, some under bridges and some in closed institutions: hospitals, prisons, etc. However, we all live on this same planet and we all share this same land, air, sky, sun and moon. We all share this same human experience together.   The beginning of any service is to realize that we all are this same and that the service starts with an attitude of communion.  

I am very happy that when I was in Miami the Brothers of St. John of God helped the immigrants from Cuba.  In 1985 my dad left Communist Poland and came to the U.S. This was the best decision he was able to make at that time.  It did change the lives of my own family and I believe it did change for better. Now, looking at the Cuban immigrants I was able to see my dad in them.  I was able to imagine the lives of their children growing here as Cuban Americans. I was able to see my own life in them.  I am an immigrant too.  I am proud of that and I am proud of the United States of America. Also, I am very happy that President Obama decided to start a diplomatic relationship with Cuba.  I believe it will help to create a better Cuba but also it will help to be a better America.  America that is trying to help and not control the lives of other people in OTHER countries. In addition, I hope that it will help to heal some emotional and spiritual wounds of so many Cuban America

Few weeks ago I spent some time in Miami. I had a great time there.  No, I did not go to the beach or any tourist/commercial place.  I spent some  time with the Brothers of St. John of God and people they serve.  The people they serve are very interesting.  Some of them are homeless, addicted to drugs and alcohol.  Some of them have mental or physical problems. Some of them are immigrants. The powerful lesson for me was that I learned as much from the Brothers as I learned from the people they serve. I do not want to use the expression that the Brothers: “take care of the people.” It is more than that.  It is not “take care of them” in the same way as parents take care of their children.  The Brothers walk with the people they serve.  They are part of their lives.  They care about them and at the same time they know and they treat them with a great dignity and freedom.  The people can come and go as they want.  They can be part of the programs or not. Nobody is ministered to against

I became a citizen of the United States in 2008.  This was a great time for me.  For the first time I felt being totally united with my American people.  However, I never felt like I was looked down by my teachers or classmates or neighbors before I became a seminarian and a priest.  When I was in the seminary I was considered an international seminarian.  They called me a Polish seminarian.  When I became a priest the people - priests in the church started to call me an international priest or a Polish priest.    Yes, I am Polish.  But also, I am an American.  When I became a priest I was already an American.  I had an American passport and I was proud of that.  So, I have to stop people to call me a Polish priest or a Polish boy.  I am a Polish – American priest and a boy.  And I am proud of that. May America be blessed.  I am so happy I live in the United States of America and I can contribute to this beautiful country.  Happy 4 th of July. 

Iftar dinner at the White House  No, I was not invited to the White House to celebrate the Iftar dinner. However, I did celebrate it with my Muslim and Christian friends an Iftar dinner with the UIC Muslim Students Association. I was able to break a fast with them and pray together with them.  It was a very godly experience.  So, why do I post pictures of the White House Ifat dinner? I think that the Iftar dinner becomes part of our American culture.  We need to break the perception of the world that the Americans are not sympathetic to the Muslims and Islam. Many of us respect Islam and our Muslim Americans and non-Americans. We just do not support any form of religious aggression: Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, etc. Let me share a few quotes from the President’s speech during his Iftar dinner.   "Our Iftar is also a reminder of the freedoms that bind us together as Americans, including the freedom of religion -- that inviolable right to practi

People need to be creative in the times of difficulty.  Why? It is sometimes the only one way how we and others can service.    Sir Nicholas Winton (Born :  May 19, 1909 (age 106) and Died : July 1, 2015)  was a man who was able to think beyond the social, political, economic limitations.   That helped him to save 669 Jewish children from the Holocaust.   This clip is an explanation of how Sir Nicholas did that and what kind of impact his thinking and acting had on people’s lives. Also, it is interesting, that he did not stop helping.  He focused his life on protecting others who could not do this for themselves.  He is one of the Tzadikim   Nistarim – the hidden righteous ones.   

Richard Rohr wrote: The contemplative, non-dualistic mind withholds from labeling things or categorizing them too quickly (i.e., judging), so it can come to see them in themselves, apart from the words or concepts that become their substitutes. Humans tend to think that because they agree or disagree with the   idea  of a thing, they have realistically encountered the thing itself. Not at all true, says the contemplative. It is necessary to encounter the thing in itself. "Presence" is my word for this encounter, a different way of knowing and touching the moment. It is a much more vulnerable position, and leaves us without a full sense of control, which is why many will not go there. [1] To be “present” means that I sit and take time to look at observed object (my life, experience, people, etc.) from all kinds of different perspectives. It is a non-judgmental way of looking at the object that becomes a phenomenon for us.  I believe in the power of words.  If we me

Richard Rohr wrote: Alternative consciousness is largely letting go of my mind's need to solve problems, to fix people, to fix myself, to rearrange the moment because it is not to my liking. When that mind goes, another, non-dualistic mind is already there waiting. We realize it is actually our natural way of seeing. It's the way we thought as children before we started judging and analyzing and distinguishing things one from another. As Helen Luke says, "The coming to consciousness is not a discovery of some new thing; it is a long and painful return to that which has always been.” [1] Here, Rohr is challenging my desire to control and to look for what I don’t have and not to let go the control and enjoy what I have.  Very often I find myself dreaming about a different life than the one I have.  However, do I know the life I have right now?  I just finished working on my spiritual autobiography.  It was a very powerful experience. Why? I learned so much abo