Saturday, July 3, 2021                       (today’s lectionary)
Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
Swimming in fifteen inches of water
You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God.
I so wanted Margaret to be with us. Our friends Mike and Diane invited Miles and Jasper to their neighborhood pool yesterday afternoon. I was their chaperone, while Aki and Andi visited Margaret and later had a sushi date.
The scathing sun stayed behind dark clouds most of the time, but predicted thunderstorms did not materialize. Miles and Jasper spent some time in the lap pool, but they fell in love with the kiddie pool, which was only 15 inches deep. “No one sinks in this pool!” Miles exulted.
Diane bought us all popsicles. Mike left early to pick Savage pizza from Conan’s. We played in the playground for awhile, and then headed to their house nearby, surrounded by wet towels. The pizza was fantastic, and Diane’s pile of toys fascinated both the kids. Jasper loved the wooden knife and hunk of cheese. He cut it and served it with oranges, and smiled his dazzling smile. How could I not be hungry again, even after my savage pizza?
Through Christ Jesus the whole structure is held together.
These are simple joys Margaret wants to experience again. It won’t be long, one week or maybe two. It’s so good to have friends. We go to the same church. They attend a virtual Precepts Bible study, and Margaret is getting started again in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). Diane was Miles’ “nanny” during the first years of his life. Mike loves to read dusty Texan history books, just like I do. He gave me two about the Texas Rangers, one published in 1899. They are going on a medical mission trip for a couple of weeks, and then we’ll get together and tell stories.
In Christ Jesus you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Back at the hospital the nurse allowed three visitors instead of two, so Andi and Aki visited together with Margaret for a couple of hours after I had left. Margaret and I had breakfast in the atrium again, sat peacefully with coffee and omelets and a smoothie, breathing in the warm Austin air. She actually found the medical, ugly black wheelchair more comfortable than the fancy gray recliner or even more fancy blue couch. She sat in it for a few hours after we got back to the room before her nurse insisted she get back into bed.
Steadfast is God’s kindness toward us.
We felt surrounded by family today. Everywhere we turned, there they were. I wore a wet Cubs cap in the pool because there is almost no hair on the top of my head. No sunburn for me. But under the hat I thought I could feel a big bouquet of flowers growing, orchids probably, that I wanted to share with everyone we saw today. I could tip my hat, and they might say, “My, what lovely flowers you have,” and I could say, “Well, the better to love our family with, and there you are, our family. Won’t you have an orchid?”
It would be nice to have something growing on my head. And it is much MORE than nice to be part of family that starts with blood and then swiftly moves out to the mighty river which flows through you and flows through me.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked, stood in the midst of his disciples and said, “Peace be with you.”
(Ephesians 2, Psalm 117, John 20)
#
