Do you ever wonder about the verses that get left out of the readings? I do, and will sometimes look them up and read them anyway, just so they will feel included. I wonder about why they got left out. Was it that poor old David got it right for verses 1-3, 5-9, 11-17 but missed the boat with four and ten?
Sometimes you find a gem in the forgotten verses, like this one from yesterday:
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world, nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption. (Psalm 16;10)
I've been praying a lot lately for the grace to want to want God, and reflecting on whether my priorities are right. Am I living a life pleasing to God? How will I be judged at the end of it? I was worrying about being lukewarm, apathetic, and destined for unpleasantness. And not out of scrupulosity... it was a fair assessment of where I was at. Suffice it to say that forgotten verse 10 has given me substance to ponder and a dose of reassurance.
Yom Kippur
Yesterday ended the great Jewish feast of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is a day of forgiveness, of being made right with God, and has to do with vows which bind us and keep us from Him. One of the most moving pieces of music, religious or worldly, is the Kol Nidrei. Turns out this is actually a legal document... and never has the law sounded so beautiful.
*If you are unable to play the video but would like to, this came from Youtube and is titled:Kol Nidrey, Moscow Male Jewish Capella, Cantor J Malovany.
Heatwave to windchill
Our weather this week: Hot. Heatwave. Heatwave. Heatwave. Windchill. Nice. We went from it being 32 degrees, feeling like 42 with humidex, to being 14 and feeling like 11 with windchill. Today should be perfect, with it being 17, and feeling like 17. Leave it to numbers to mess even with the weather.
Hamster balls. Introverts, personal space, and the lady who may as well have sat in my lap.
Some time ago I wrote about being an introvert and how a friend had shared that being an introvert was like being in a hamster ball. Introverts need personal space - physical, mental, emotional room. You know you're in the presence of an introvert when you lean over the desk toward her and she pulls back. Maybe even takes a step away. An introvert will 'accidentally' click out of a chat room when someone barrages her with personal questions, like a nosey, intrusive fusillade.
(Have you noticed how much is being written about introverts and introversion lately? Every week there is a new something or other on Facebook about 'introverts aren't gonna take it anymore'. I think the reason is that the built-in buffer of the internet has provided us a safe environment to reveal ourselves, speak for ourselves, whereas the in-person nature of yore kept us more tightly tucked in to ourselves.)
Last Sunday at Mass, I sat in my pew. This was at a fairly large church. There are two rows of pews off the central aisle, and each row is divided by a small 'arm rest' half way along - a helpful demarcation of 'my space' and ''your space'.
You know where I'm going with this, don't you?
With three empty pews around me in every direction, a lady chose to sit in my row. But not just in my row. She sat right beside me. In fact, I had to pull my purse out from under her.
I moved.
Call the midwife, Christmas special.
Are you at loose ends while ever so patiently awaiting the next series of Downton Abbey? (Not, as some of our library patrons call it, Downtown Abbey. That would be a story of a different sort, yo.)
If you are, it's time to Call the midwife. This is a lovely series based on a real life story of nuns and nurses who serve some of London's poorest women as midwives. It takes place in the 1950s, and while that period isn't all that far behind us, the story feels like looking in on history.
I just watched the Christmas Special, included in the series two set. Charity, love, kindness, compassion, service... all acted out in entertainment. It was moving, beautiful, inspiring, edifying.
There is a scene between Sister Julienne and an old lady outside the clinic that jolts you wide awake, because you recognize you are seeing the Gospel portrayed right there on the screen.
You see, Hollywood? It is possible to entertain, to appeal to the masses, and still tell a good story. You can build people up rather than numb them with banality or corrode them with slime!
I hope the sun is shining where you are, dear Reader. I'm off hunting for inspiration at a local art and craft show.
A blessing on your head, mazel tov, mazel tov.
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