Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Approaching the bowels of the giant
That’s a little visceral, a little visual, but.
It’s easy enough to shout Help to one medical professional, who after rescuing you for the moment asks you to make an appointment to a doctor or test-giver he refers you to. It’s easy enough to get opinions from even just a few doctors about which med to take, which could extend my life just a little longer. I am grateful for a nearby hospital ER, with nurses that care for me and allay my fears.
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, our God!
But soon the days are just packed. Retirement quickly fills with too many trips to the “giant.” It cuts a large swath across our time.
Today the “giant beckoned us to cardiac rehab for me and two Open MRI’s for Margaret. I used MyChart to ask my Austin primary care doc for a referral to an endocrinologist. Our pharmacy filled a prescription which turns out to be very expensive, which I won’t fill right away, but I need to call the pharmacy and tell them so, and then talk to my doctors about a possible alternative.
I’m glad we have two young grandkids that also ask for our time.
Better one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere.
I am grateful for our medical surroundings. I am grateful for the deeply sunk foundations of the endless buildings that our doctors fill.
Or am I? Not everyday.
Today I just want to be out in the country walking barefoot in the grass, feeling dirt under my feet rather than layer after layer of concrete.
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
Wicked? Hardly. But sifting through my self-centered desires I’m looking for a place like Narnia or Elim Acres, our family farm, or heaven.
My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
News flash: King Charles III of England and the United Kingdom and Commonwealth has cancer. He’ll be heading into the bowels of the giant. He was crowned in September of 2022. He’s 75 years old. What will happen next?
Can it indeed be that God dwells on earth? Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest in which to put her young.
So I think of the earth as a place made by our Father, for the birds and the bees and the appleseed. The Lord is good to us, and he comes to earth to dwell with us in the place he has made. When I walk outside, and the sky is full of stars. When I sit inside and revel at the way I feel connected with all the people and countries of the world. When I step outside again and feel a fresh breeze on my face, cool and quiet.
But you nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.
We take turns messing things up, but we also try to put them back together again. This is how we spend our days, too much of this fiddling, and not enough walking barefoot in the grass. Flying kites. Remembering where we came from.
(1 Kings 8, Psalm 84, Psalm 119, Mark 7)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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