All Creatures of Our God and King

maybe, just maybe... I was given this time to ponder a Franciscan, many birds, and a friend's death.

sometimes when you rise to sing a hymn at a memorial service, everything comes together...

and as our eyes are filled with the sunlight streaming through stained glass and tears, we sing praises.

It was one of John Touchberry's favorites.

Did you hear us? Were you perched on the bell tower?

thou shall not...

COVET THY NEIGHBOR'S WIFE'S CRAB CAKES.

OK, there I am being mostly innocent at the school's intramural soccer game on Tuesday when I begin chatting with a friend. Rain clouds are forming. Having just checked the radar I say with lots of wisdom, "the rain is far off, but things can pop up."

She says,"I hope it doesn't rain till 8pm when I get home from dinner." I query where she is going and ask what they make there worth eating. She loves the crab cakes. I say, "if you have leftovers bring me some."

Twenty minutes later it is a deluge outside and my classroom phone rings. "You promised it wouldn't rain till 8pm." She is ranting, but in a fun and friendly way. I can hear her office cohort, laughing in the background. These two friends are my stress relief when I finally get to my 7th period prep when I use the excuse to check my mail box as a reason to say hello. I am told I won't see a crab cake.

I try to remind her about saying things might pop up, but she is having too much fun harassing me to care about what I see as the truth. A minute later I am sending her an e-mail with a link to the local radar loop which in beautiful shades of greens, yellows and oranges shows a thunderstorm popping up in our county.

My day also starts with seeing these two for their office is where I sign in everyday. the next morning I arrive and I hear this... "I hope you packed a lunch." I tell her I had no faith in her from the beginning. She sighs and tells me the story that later my wife will find impossible to believe.

She tells me of getting up that morning to find the crab cake she had in her fridge missing. She calls her husband and asks him if he saw it. he says, "yes, I took it with me. I thought it was for me."

She says, "It was for Wayne"

He says, "Who is Wayne?"

This is when I know it is too late. Coveting crab cakes have gotten me in trouble.

I am blessed to have these good folk in my life, the two at work, not the husband who ate "my" crab cake.

time for a friend

I am behind in grading my students work, I scramble to be prepared for teaching, my garden at home has been neglected, and I am falling further behind in my readings for the graduate class I am taking. However, I have found time to pray for an extra hour each day (by getting up early) because I have started Ignatius's spiritual exercises in everyday life. Prayer is a fine time to discern what needs to be done.

Three weeks ago I heard some sad news. Two weeks ago I walked a labyrinth and that news came into my prayer. A friend at work has gotten some rotten medical news and is at home hoping for a miracle. As I sat in the middle of the labyrinth God says, "Tell me you don't have the time to go visit the man. The man who has greeted you with kindness for ten years." What could I say to that?

His wife is an avid gardener and requested help dividing day lilies and irises which are taking over portions of her yard. She pointed out that the day lilies were a favorite of his. I e-mail her telling her I wanted to get some so that I could bring them to work and create a garden with my horticulture students.

I was well into getting myself sweaty and dirty when he came outside with his feeding tube. We sat in the middle of an amazing garden. While I drank water, we chatted. We spoke about spiritual retreats, the school we work at, the garden, his diagnosis, and Psalms. I have heard he is praying psalms every night. I tell him psalm 139 is important to me, and it turns out that we share favorite psalms. He tells me how he watches the Christmas Carol each year because of a recitation of psalm 139.

An hour or so later I was headed to the school to unload a car filled to the brim with lilies and irises. I am physically and emotionally drained. The day is near over and all of the things which I have fallen behind are still on my to do list. I do believe I discerned correctly on how I spent this day.

Tonight my prayer takes me to the idea of God creating us out of nothing each moment. I sense this is how miracles can occur. In that instant of being recreated, maybe, just maybe healing can occur.