Episode 106 - Lord, what are we going to do today? with Deacon Art: Part One

Deacon Art says this prayer daily, "Lord, what are we going to do today?" It is such a simple prayer, but it changes everything. I am joined by Deacon Arthur Miller as we unpack this prayer and how allowing the Lord to guide us through each day can make all the difference. This episode is Part One.

Deacon Art is a Deacon at St Mary's church in Simsbury, Connecticut. He is an author, preacher, activist, and retired businessman. He also presents the daily video reflections on the USCCB daily readings website for Tuesdays. (That's where I found him). I am honored to have him join me on this episode of Catholic Money Talk. 

Transcript

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Welcome to Catholic money talk, where we talk about all things money and finance, and we try to do it through a lens of being Catholic, where our ultimate goal is to one day be in Heaven with the Lord. I am your host. Paul Scarfone, thank you for being here today. Paul. Welcome back to Catholic money talk today I'm joined by Deacon Arthur Miller, and we'll call him Deacon art. He said we could call him Deacon art. So I found Deacon art in my daily prayer I was I read the readings on the USCCB website, and there's a daily video meditation and has a rotation of people, and I found that on Tuesday mornings it was Deacon art, and a lot of what he said really resonated with me. And so I thought, let me email him and see if he'd be willing to come on my podcast. So thank you, Deacon art, welcome. Oh, it's my pleasure. Paul, thank you for having me so. One of the prayer, one of the things Deacon art spoke about on his meditation, He does this every time, and it probably took me three or four times till I really caught it. And that was his daily prayer of Lord, what are we going to do today? And so that was the one that mantra, that daily prayer, that really jumped out at me. And what I wanted to ask you, Deacon, art was, how has that prayer, that daily prayer, practically shaped the way you make decisions? And that could be decisions about your time, work, ministry, relationships, and even your resources. Well, what it does do for me, and it's like right at this moment, why don't we start with prayer? And that's what we're going to do right now. That's right. So thank you. I and I did ask him, I said, Deacon, I'm going to start with a prayer, and I'm the one forgetting to do that. So thank you. See, that's what that Lord, what are we going to do today? Fits right in. And so let us begin the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, heavenly and gracious God, you have asked us to be good stewards of your profound gift to us and all that we have, all that we see was, was existed, not only for you, but through you, which means all things that exist, all of your grand creation, is a part of our responsibility of stewardship. And within that, it is not only to steward our beautiful earth, but this be stewards of one another and how we interact with one another, and how we barter with one another, how we exist with one another, how we become community with one another, Lord, that obviously includes our means of financial stability, that we're supposed to be good stewards and so Lord help us this evening with with Brother Paul, to be able to learn, to grow and to recognize that it is your will that we must do at all times that way, every day, when we wake up, we want to know not, what can we do alone? But Lord, what can we do together? Amen, amen, amen, Son, Holy Spirit. So, how does it ask? How does do I deal with with money or that kind of thing? Well, well, how does that prayer practically shape the way you make decisions. And that could be about money, but it's usually very easy to kind of replace money with if it's our time or the relationships and stuff. So how does that prayer practically shape the way you make decisions? Well, Paul, you noted that I pray, Lord, what are we going to do today, and it's very important for me, and I think it's important for all of us to recognize God is always present, and that if in my prayer and in my daily leave living, I can include God in absolutely everything that I do in some mystical way, he will work things out so that they are. I'm more in line with his design. I'm in line with my assignment, in alignment with my assignment, simply because every moment of every day when I awaken and say, Lord, what are we going to do today? And then I haven't said it, but at the end of the day, I want to say to myself, Lord, I hope we did what you wanted done, and so it gives me the wisdom that I don't have the patience, that I don't have the kindness that I don't have whenever I include God with it, he allows me to love in the way that God wants me to love. It is this. Constant recognition that God is present. Often I pray with people and for people, and I asked them if Paul, if there's a circumstance, you know, sometimes we worry about our children, so I'll speak of one of mine, who does not necessarily go to church, and he lives a good life, a kind life and a gentle life, but how much more gentle and kinder could it be if he were to care for his his spirit as much as he cares for his flesh? And so when, when I pray for him. I I pray for him constantly about God being present in his life. And I have a daughter who is up for a new job, and she wanted me to pray with her. And what did I think in terms of her decision? And here's what I said. I said, Sweetheart, when you say, Lord, what are we going to do today? You're including him in the decision that you're making. So whatever happens in that decision, as long as you have asked God to help you, whatever decision you make will be the right one, because he said he's going to make crooked, crooked way straight. So even if he wanted you to go to the to the right and you went to the left because you prayed with him, want him to be with you, he will go with you. Even go down the wrong path to pull you back to the right one. And so when we include God in everything we do, God will guide us, even if we step in the wrong direction. You know, it's funny, you're saying that, because I feel the same way growing up, my dad, he just passed away this past January. Oh, I'm Thank you. He I know he's in glory because he had the end of his life was his purgatory. And for sure, and the grace of the sacraments of the church, he was able to get them right before he went. So praise, praise the Lord, amen. But one of the greatest things he ever taught me was you pray before everything. And I remember as a kid, I'd be sitting at the dining room. That's exactly what Lord what are we going to do today? Means, yeah, so say it. Go ahead. I'm sorry I could do a no, that's fine. I remember as a kid, you know, I'm thinking like high school student, I'm sitting in the dining room doing my homework. My dad would walk by Look at me, say, Did you pray before you started? You know, me being a teenager, I probably had a little bit of an eye roll, like, it's just homework, you know, but, but I see it with myself and even with my kids. In fact, this is funny. Several years ago, we bought a trampoline for our children, and my brother was in town, and I thought, while he's in town, I'm going to ask him to help me put the trampoline together, and I pull out the box of the trampoline. I just said, we're going to say a prayer before we start. And he said, Yes, I do too everything, because dad taught us to Yes and that's one I and I truly believe that that the Lord does work all things to the good yes. Because if we're 28 Yes, work for good, or those who love God and are called to his purpose, that's what Lord what are we going to do today? Means Yeah. And, you know, just being constantly with God, and even if you mess up and you pick the wrong thing, whether it's the job or you bought the wrong house, all things 25% 80% says all things work for good. For those who love God, they're called to his purpose. So the whole idea is not to convince God. What are we going to do today? It's to convince us. That's right. Because there's so many times where I sit there and I'll say, God, here's the plan for today? Yes, absolutely. And you know, it's one of the things that I'm sure you've heard. You know, got laughs at those kinds of things, but I think we're supposed to do it. Say, Lord, this is my plan. What's yours? You see, we just don't stick with our with one said, Lord, you know, my brothers and I have a little saying. Say, Lord, this is what I'm going to do. Now, if this isn't what you don't want to do, please don't put a job on me. Just tap me on my shoulder, and I'll turn That's true, yeah, because, because. And I think that's, you know, I think that that's a great way to kind of reconcile this, because, you know, for myself, as a as a father of six kids, married. I have service obligations myself. I have work obligations, helping care for my mom, right? There's so many things, and so it's very easy to wake up and feel like I already have a pretty full list of everything I need to do today. Yeah, and so so this prayer. Just invites the Lord into all of that. Yes, and the plan that you have, you know, Esther 414, the book of Esther says it's, it's Esther has become one of the, the queen of of the king of, where, of Syria, I think, and this the king wants to kill all of the Jews secretly. Esther's a Jew, right? And her cousin, her uncle, Mordecai, comes to her because she doesn't know if she should tell the king, because she might die, or should she tell the king and he will spare all of the Jews so she's standing there, should she sacrifice herself? And her cousin or uncle Mordecai says, who knows? This may be the the reason for which you were born. And and take those moments with with if we're caring for one of our parents, or that may helping one of the children to make a decision. It might be the moment that which for which you were born. So why don't we include God in it? You know? Yeah, include God into that reason right at that moment. And we don't know what that moment might be. It might seem to be something very small, but in the grand thing, the grand scheme of things, it's a part of God's plan to be able to include God in that moment. That's beautiful. Yeah. And so I think break up like when we wake up with this whole idea about, Lord, what are we gonna do today. It's both exhilarating, exciting, frightening, all of those things, but it's also incredibly satisfying, and it's and it's basically surrendering all of our self, yeah, to what he wants. Yeah. So that is our time. It's our money, which is, you know, stewardship, like you mentioned in our prayer and and so I want to just take a second, let's if we could, there's some obstacles or challenges that might get put in the way of us being able to, you know, there's one thing about saying words as a prayer, and it's another thing about praying it with our entire being, right? And so I guess, what could, what would some challenges be for someone to to really let go and say, All right, Lord, what are we going to do today? Like you're in charge, right? Kind of given the Lord free reign, because that's what that prayer means. Well, it's everyday life. One of my brothers mentioned to me, when he had really decided God was going to be his savior, that he was going to dedicate himself to God, he said, the prayer, Lord, whatever you want me to do, I'll do right now. Just tell me that moment a TV evangelist said, Send me $1,000 my brother looked up and said, anybody else? Yeah. So I mean it. What gets in the way of everything we do is us. I mean you and I are the ones getting in the way of absolutely everything God wants to do because we listen to different voices. We listen to the voice of the world. We listen to the voice of ourselves. We choose to sometimes look through the lens of life. Listen to the lens of the world. Listen to this look at the world through secular lens, or we can choose to look at the world through a spiritual lens. My choice is to see is to look at the world through a spiritual lens. I You may have heard me talk about it on the reflections I do on Tuesday on the usccp website, that when I see someone who is homeless, I choose to see them as Christ, because I'm never going to walk by Christ. I will never walk by Jesus. I will never leave Jesus sitting on the sidewalk, and I didn't say hello, and because I told the story once, and I'll make it short, that there was a man begging people for money, my first decision was not to give him anything, because my thought was, he's going To, you know, smoke it, you know, shoot it, you know, snort it, drink it, I don't know, but I'm not giving him anything. And it came to me, it didn't matter what he did, it mattered what I did. So I went to him and I gave him some money, and I asked if I could pray for him right there. And at the time, it was my hometown of Chicago, and it was. In Chicago is quite busy, but I prayed with him aloud right there. And when I was done praying for him, I felt pretty good about myself having done what I thought was right, listening to what God thought God wanted me to do today, and on my way back to the car, what hit me was this. Why didn't I ask the man to pray for me? It was Jesus, you see, I put myself over him and thought that he needed me to pray for him. Because, see, I didn't see Jesus. But when I say, Lord, what are we going to do? It begins to open my eyes. So I see things much more clearly through a through a lens of spirit, than I do a lens of the secular world. And so when I can see everything is spirit, everything with a purpose, even if it's it's a mess, I can always find the message in the mess, even when my sister died and I was doing CPR, she died right in front of me. She took her last breath. It's about two years ago, and I was upset with God until I realized it was her time, and God's gift to me was to be with my little sister. Had I not been there, I would have it would have broken my heart even more. But the fact that I had the profound joy and completion of being with my sister when she passed from this life to the next was an honor and a privilege and a joy to be there and so and when I look at it through that lens, I see the beauty of it, or I could look it through at the the secular lens. Well, why didn't God wake up like Lazarus, like he did for Martha and Mary. But my choice is to see what I believe is the truth, the gift of being there. And so when my my prayer, the mantra about, Lord, what are we going to do today? Which is I say, more than just in the morning is about living every moment. Yeah, the story about your sister, thank you for sharing that. You know, it does give perspective. My so my dad, he was three years in a hospital. He had severe dementia, and the Lord has blessed me that I am very flexible with my time. I have a lot of flexibility. I'm self employed, so I'm able to, you know, create time, and I would go visit him regularly. And there was moments I'm one of seven kids, so there was moments where part of me would wonder, complain a little bit, maybe judge slightly, to say, you know, are my other are my siblings? What are they doing? Are they going to visit? They going to visit. But when I think of it like it was a gift, the time that I had. And even in his last week, my wife completely freed me up that I could be with him several days, several days, and bring my kids to all say goodbye, and all my siblings came and said goodbye. And it was I look back more as and you know, in the midst of it, three years, it's like taking forever, you know, it's, why does it have to be this way? And look back now, it was a blink of an eye. It went by so quickly. And I thank the Lord. Yeah, it was gift. You know, it's one of the beauties of it, Paul, is that you're ready to let him go, yeah. And that's what see. It was his last gift to you, your daddy's last gift to you, my baby boy, you got to let me go, yeah. And maybe your brothers and sisters didn't need that, but you did, and so God gave you allowed his your daddy to stay there so you could let him go. And it doesn't mean we don't cry tears, but they're joyful tears. What did Paul say? We don't weep because we don't have hope. We weep because we love. What a gift your daddy gave you. Amen, you know, looking at everyday life through the spiritual lens, it reminds me of a quote I heard. I forget if I read it or heard it, but it was this person talking about his daily routine, and he says, Every morning. I read the newspaper and the Bible so I know what both sides are doing. And it's it's great because, like, that's where we get fed, right? Reading the Scripture every day, yes, and going to the sacraments, yeah. Oh, anyway, I like that. Yeah. Well, you know, I'm older. I'm 80 years old. So you know, the news that we get is, I've heard it enough. I can't help but get away, but, but here, what's going on in the world? I mean, it's not that I'm not, you know, abundantly aware, as you may have seen, I am an activist very much so I believe very sincerely in the new encyclical that Pope Leo put out, delexy tay about love and complete and profound and total love about what I refer to as real pro life. Love, yeah, and it's, it's, it's not. Our church has leaned more on being anti abortion than it has been, in my opinion, truly pro life in all aspects of life, yeah, and that's where I'm an activist in every aspect of life. In fact, I'll share with you. We, we've helped several women who are going to have children, going to have abortion, not to have them, and we are taking care of the kids to make sure they're not. They don't stay with us. Well, there's been three. One does because one of our children's adopted, but the other two, we just make certain that the mothers got prenatal and postnatal care, that the children will will at least through 18, through high school, will be cared for. See, that's pro life is is far beyond Yeah, just in portion, it is far beyond that. How do you care for everyone, every single human being? Yeah, every single human being is a gift to this earth. Yeah, you know. Thank you. Thank you for that, and thank you for sharing that. The it's, it's, it's every human being. It's funny. Just use the example, my dad again, when he got put into the facility where he was, it wasn't a very nice one. We couldn't my parents couldn't afford much and and he was very rambunctious, and so many places wouldn't take him, and the place he ended up going was not very pretty. It was not great. The first time went to visit him, it smelled it, you know, it was a locked wing of this hospital, and there's some scary looking people in there, and I was not comfortable, and I didn't want to go there. And then one day I got there, and I was looking at one of the I used to call them inmates, one of the patients there, and and it just hit me, long time ago, that was someone's little baby boy, yeah. And that changed everything. I started talking to them, smiling, you know, help, helping them move their chair a little bit if I was trying to get through and it changed from, like, fearful or scared to just compassion. Yes, you know that that empathy hit you, and boy, all of a sudden, you're, you know, that's God just did a miracle for you, through you, through your dad, because your head, your dad, never been there. You never would have been able to see that. 100% right, 100% right. And even the morning that he passed, I was home, and I was actually doing literature the hours, and it was talking about longing for the temple, like that was the Oh yeah, the verse, and my mom calls me and says, your your dad, your dad died. And I that was just like I my prayer was, Lord, where's he going? Where's he going? And, you know, my mom calls me and tells me that, and I go to the hospital, and there's a line of people coming in, because my mom was there every day. She fed him lunch and dinner and put him to bed every day. And all of the people that worked there kept coming in saying, you know, giving me a hug, giving my mom a hug, and just saying, Thank you for being such a good family, you know. And I said to my mom, I said, that's why we were here. Yes, that's why we were exactly we wanted to be at a nicer, prettier place, but that's why we were. Here. So when you put on those spiritual lens, and you get to see that and what a remarkable way to live, what a remarkable way of living, as far as your dad is concerned, you know, in the the briefer, in the Liturgy of the Hours, I think it was today, in James, first James, second chapter where Christ says, or James writes, mercy, over over comes justice. And what it's what it means is that God's justice is always play second fiddle to God's mercy. Thank God, you know, because we don't want I, I often I don't rely on God's justice. I rely on His mercy. And it's, it's always mercy and justice. Yes, yes. And if you look at the end of of Psalm 85 it says the last verse, verse 14. I think it says, Let's see justice shall march before him and peace shall follow his steps. So it's justice and peace and mercy. Mercy and faithfulness have met, justice and peace have embraced that's those are the lines of Psalm 85 if you ever read want to read something that's really beautiful. It's Psalm 85 verses nine through 14. Taking notes here. It's, in fact, I read it twice a day, every day, 85 nine to 14. Got it? Yeah, it is absolutely beautiful. Paul, well, and he always does start with mercy. I'm thinking of the woman caught in the act of adultery. If he started with justice, they would have been throwing rocks, yes, but he's he started with mercy, yes, and then and but then he did also bring in justice, saying SIN NO MORE Yes, and thinking of of of mercy. When he was in the Garden of Gethsemane and in Paul, rather Peter, pulled on his sword and cut off the man's ear, God's last act before he spoke to the thief on the cross was to heal the man's ear. Yeah, mercy, not justice, and that guy who got his ear healed. I mean, as a kid, to this day, I want to know his story. I want to know the trajectory of his life when you know what just happened. See, he there's another whole line of folks you know. What about the guy you know? Remember, after Judas had betrayed him and Christ died, the the apostles realized they needed a 12th person, so we got Matthias, right? What happened to the other guy? Yeah, and seems right. Who didn't get the straw polder, but he got a different straw for a different objective, because they go into the same heaven. That's right, yes. So it is. It's, we don't know which draw we're picking, but whatever jaw, whatever straw it is, it's the highway to heaven. It is, yeah, and so, you know that's, that's the idea of looking at things through a spiritual lens, the idea of, Lord, what are we going to do today. It's in everything, absolutely everything. So this concludes the first half of my conversation with Deakin art. Please join me next week, I will post the second half of this conversation as a new episode. Hopefully this has been helpful. Thank you for joining us. God bless Thank you for listening to Catholic money talk. I hope you join us again next time, please click Subscribe on your podcast app to get notified of new episodes. God bless you and have a great day. You.