Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 3, 2022
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Pears, watermelons, books and Shakespeare
Margaret forgot that July began on Friday, and she got a box of “Imperfect” Food on our apartment doorstep in Austin. But we weren’t there! A friendly California person on the other end of the phone was very helpful. She wanted to refund the whole cost, but Margaret wouldn’t let her. She gave Margaret some refunds anyway, and then there we were. Foods, imperfect organic foods ready to eat, but who will eat them?
Well, who do you think?
Another Andi expedition to the Evolve Apartments, and she picked up the box. There was fruit and fish and more. There was a baby watermelon. Jasper gnashed his teeth, wanting the baby watermelon. There was a fancy green pear. Miles got the pear.
“That’s the best pear I’ve ever had in the whole wide world!”
Say peace to this household. Let your peace rest upon those who live there. Eat and drink what is offered to you, and say to them, “The kingdom of God is at hand for you!”
We talked to the Tomitas twice on Facetime yesterday, once in Clinton and once in Lincoln. We visited our Waynesville friends David and Cheryle Taylor for awhile, then cleared out several shelves of books in Mom’s library. The books are almost gone.
Sad but true. Mom sold books on ebay and half.com and Amazon. She filled an old chest freezer with books, because there were available shelves. Every drawer of every dresser not used for clothing was full of … books. Sorted alphabetically, sorted by topic, sorted by size. But now they are nearly all gone.
Hmmm. I feel sad, relieved, and inspired. Many of my books are gone now too. I hope someone somewhere will find some of them somewhat useful and inspiring and fun. I wish Mom could have had that feeling, but she wouldn’t let the books go, ever. Until now.
From now on, let no one make troubles for me, for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.
We had plans with our friends in Bloomington, but one of them tested positive for Covid. The covid test is ubiquitous, and easy to administer. Is that a good thing? Anyway, we parked outside their house and hollered at each other for twenty minutes. That was fun, actually.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters.
But they had tickets to see Much Ado About Nothing, and so did we. They stayed home, quarantined. We went to the play, saw my high school buddy Henson doing his genius acting thing, and laughed a lot. So did the sold out audience, which gave the cast a standing ovation on their opening night.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, and the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Next week we’ll see Henson as King Lear, in his eighth, no, ninth appearance in that particular play. He’s been around the block. No doubt he plays the mentor as much as he wants in the lives of the young actors surrounding him. He’s a teacher and encourager. He’s dedicated his life to acting, but not just acting… to the men and women who do the acting. This is integral to how the individual man he is, blends into the swirl of humanity that was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, from one end of God’s good green earth to the other.
When you see this, your heart shall rejoice and your bodies flourish like the grass. The Lord’s power shall be known to his servants. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy!
(Isaiah 66, Psalm 66, Galatians 6, Colossians 3, Luke 10)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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