School is starting up again!

Monday, August 14, 2023

Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr

(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)

School is starting up again!

Glorify the Lord and praise your God, for he has strengthened the bars of your gates and he has blessed the children within you.

All our grandkids are starting school in the next two weeks. And several of our friends in Illinois are starting their college classes as well. Margaret and I, on the other hand, are resting comfortably on our laurels.

Miles and Jasper (age 6 and 4) head out tomorrow. For Jasper it will be his very first year. His Pre-K classroom is next door to Andi’s art room, and Miles is across the atrium in a separate hallway. Same school though. I hope they fell asleep at their normal 8 pm last night, but I’ll bet they didn’t. They share a bunk bed, and I imagine they are talking up a storm. Jasper has questions, and Miles has answers. They are great friends.

As are Jack and Aly, spending loads of time together this last week and this week. Both start classes next Monday, Aly into sixth grade, Jack into high school. Everybody is growing, maturing, learning to pray and study, write, read and draw … Jack’s on the golf team, Aly is a proficient basketball player. She and her mom practiced awhile most of their summer evenings.

Jesus said to Simon, Go to the sea and drop in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up and open its mouth. There you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Give that to the tax collectors for me and for you.

For the third summer Jack spent significant hours mowing lawns, and he gradually is becoming a magnate in his own right. That’s an exaggeration, I suppose, although I’m not sure. He is very careful with the money he earns.

About the only thing going wrong in their life is the record of their favorite baseball St. Louis Cardinals this year. Which is painful for them, but not so much for me as I watch the Cubs win a whole bunch of games since the All-Star break. I do feel a little bad for those I love, them who wear the red shirts and hats and have for years.

He has granted peace in your borders; with the best of wheat he fills you. Praise the Lord!

I feel so happy just thinking of those kids and their families. Our friend Clarence Heller wrote a poem, apropos of another event, but so appropriate today:

 Easy

Today I am fully peaceful

gentle

life is flowing easy and so am I

no hurries

no worries

not really sure why

perhaps because yesterday’s anxious

situation has resolved

(probably)

yet the peace feels more than absence

more than what always underlies

deep within, deep below,

today feels like consolation and love

and gratitude colors all

 

on a day like today

it is only easy to feel grateful

(Deuteronomy 10, Psalm 147, 2 Thessalonians 2, Matthew 17)

(posted at www.davesandel.net)

#