Meditations
Boy Was My Face Red: Handling Embarrassment
October 13, 2023
By Fr. Garry Richmeier, C.PP.S.
One of the puzzle pieces of life that we experience much more often than we’d like is embarrassment. It’s unavoidable, and usually crops up when we least expect it. Here are strategies to minimize embarrassment.
Spirituality or Psychology?
August 29, 2023
By Fr. Garry Richmeier, C.PP.S.
Whether a person comes to me for spiritual direction or counseling, I will be helping them deal with their perception of their world, possibly adjusting it to be more accurate and helpful, which, I hope, will result in behavior that makes life better for them and those around them.
Fight Reality or Go with the Flow
August 16, 2023
By Fr. Garry Richmeier, C.PP.S.
Reality does not hand us a perfect place to be, although we would like that. And when we find ourselves in a spot where numbers of things are not going the way we’d like, we can find ourselves fighting reality. Watch the Video.
What to do with Anger
June 27, 2023
Fr. Garry Richmeier
“That makes me angry!” That statement implies that something has control over my emotions and I am like a puppet without any choice in the matter. But that’s not true. We are free to react to things any way we want. How do we do that?
Vices vs. Virtues
June 8, 2023
By Fr. Garry Richmeier, C.PP.S.
As human beings, we can’t get away from the fact that we are a mixed bag of vices and virtues, and we have to figure out what to do with both.
We know we should cultivate silence in our lives. Why don’t we?
May 23, 2023
Scripture, science and experience tell us that we all should cultivate silence in our lives. If we know this, why do we resist it? If you want “to learn to better wait in silence,” a silent, directed retreat might be what you’re looking for.
I Think, Therefore I Feel
May 16, 2023
By Fr. Garry Richmeier, C.PP.S
Emotions, not being rational, can be difficult to control when an event triggers one. But there is a step between the event and the emotion that we can control; the preceding thought. Managing our thoughts can help avoid negative emotions and the hurtful actions that sometimes follow.
Avoiding Mud Puddles or How to Move Beyond Mere Survival
May 2, 2023
By Fr. Garry Richmeier, C.PP.S.
When young, we learn coping strategies to safeguard our emotional, psychological and social survival, but not all strategies may be healthy. A person dying of thirst, for example, will drink from a mudpuddle to survive. How does one avoid drinking from mud puddles?
How Do I Know: Am I Doing God’s Will?
April 19, 2023
By Fr. Garry Richmeier, CPPS.
A common idea is that God has a detailed life plan for each of us, and our job is to figure that out. This can lead to anxiety, and even fear, of guessing wrongly, not pleasing God, and suffering the negative consequences. How do we know if we are doing God’s will?
Changing unhelpful habits
April 5, 2023
By Fr. Garry Richmeier, CPPS
People tend to think of habits as behavior, but we also have thinking habits. We get used to certain thoughts or ways of thinking, and we repeat them automatically. They may or may not be true or accurate, but we continue to repeat them, which can cause problems.