Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Be Not Afraid


What are you afraid of? We all have fears. For instance, I can’t sing. I’m terrible. I’ve never sang in my life. So naturally, you’d think I would avoid singing. Well, not so. I do sing once a year. I do it for the teachers at Holy Infant. I even did it once at the Father/Daughter 7th grade dinner. It started back in 2009 when I was on School Board. I wrote lyrics to a famous song for Sr. Rosario and the teachers. It seems that bad singing and silly lyrics are well liked. So there I stand with a stupid grin on my face every year bellowing out new lyrics. The joy is at my expense. What do I care? The walls of pride are down. I can get through the fear by knowing it brings joy to others.

So what are you afraid of?

Has pride keep you from being the man God wants you to be?  My greatest fear is failing God – failing as a husband, father and servant. To my brothers at PX90 – thanks for keeping my pride in check and making me aware of what my true responsibilities are. To all of you men, I owe a debt of gratitude. Thank you for challenging me to be the best man I can be…..and helping me to confront my fears.

 Teacher In Service Song 2011

Titled:                                     Work The Fish Fry

Sing to the tune of “American Pie”

A long, long time ago…..
Jesus sent us a group from Ireland
led by someone named Rosario.
And one of Sr.’s greatest features
Is her ability to hire high quality teachers
Who educate our children with a smile….

But this X generation makes me nervous
What do they really know about faith, academics ….and service
They all want to be like Donald Trump
When they should emulate……Forrest Gump.

And what they fail to appreciate the most
Are teachers like Church, McQuaide and Jost
To all of you I love to boast……
So it’s time…..we turned…..the tide.

So

Whhhyyy, whhhhyyy don’t we make them work the Fish Fry.
We could even have a big one on the 4th of July….(wave flags)
I’m sure they’ll complain and breath a real heavy sigh
But we’ll say “before you get upset …..and start to cry” (pause)
Fetch me another piece of pecan pieeeee……

Ohhhhhh let’s see if they know how to cook
This generation lost in Facebook
At the Fish Fry….there’s no time to texxxxxttttt….
So come on – let’s sing praises to our God
As we take away their stinking IPod
And hand them a push broom insteeeadddd…..

Oh I know they’ll leave the kitchen dirty and greasy
So we’ll make them renovate the computer lab for Mr. Meesy
And if they threaten us with litigation flaaappp…..
We’ll INTRODUCE THE LAW FIRM OF STANGER, BANNES AND DUNLAAAAPPPP……

And we’ll make the Fry last all through the night
Because long service hours are such a beautiful sight
And our principal with laugh with sweeeeet delight
The day…..the students worked…..the Fish Fry!

2 comments:

Jim Dunne said...

I've heard Sean sing and his fears are justified...just kidding my friend.

Very creative, and great message Sean. You are setting a great example for us all...

Michael VanVooren said...

I love it!

Earlier this week I needed to head back to the office for a late night deployment, I changed the lyrics to a Def Leopard tune as I drove… to words relating to what we were about to do the next three hours... that provided a nice smile to me.

Similar parodies arise often, bringing smiles.

Your lyrics are spot-on, for their intent and motivation.

And your motivation. One of this week's Dynamic Catholic emails encourages us to laugh daily.

We can do this many ways, one of which is through the humility of making others laugh.

Thanks for the motivation, Sean!

VanVooren