Tuesday, July 1, 2008

From the lowcarb front:
No workout today. I am going to try and get a walk in later tonight.
I am the same as last Tuesday. I will update this section later.

On the home front:
Yesterday I went to Sam's club to stock up on the necessities of life - Mrs. Freshley's Creme Filled Chocolate Cupcakes for Harold's lunch. (The fact that the word is creme and not cream ought to be a clue as to how wholesome these things are.) With gas prices being what they are, I try to organzize all of my errands and make that trip every other week. Sam's Club was my last stop. After loading the car and heading out, I got out on the freeway. (Anyone who knows me knows that this is huge because I do not like to drive on the freeway.) I made myself do it because facing a fear is the only way to get past it. Anyway, as I turned onto our road, I reached for my purse to check my cell phone. No purse! I pulled onto the dirt lot at the start of our road and checked the back seat and the trunk. No purse. There was nothing to do but turn around and go back.

All the way there I thought about what was in that purse - credit cards, cell phone, cash, keys to the school, keys to the church, etc. I tried to tell myself that people are, for the most part, honest. But there are some who aren't. I prayed a little prayer all the way back to Sam's Club. I got to the spot where I had left my cart. No purse. As I entered the store, there was a lady and a young man who nodded before I even had the words out. The young man, an employee of the store, had noticed the purse and brought it in. Since my cart was where I had left it, he wasn't out rounding up carts. He just happened to see the purse and did the right thing. From now on I keep my car keys in my purse and not in my pocket. Sheesh, getting old is tough! And I think next time I go to Sam's Club I will take along some of our fudge for that wonderful young man.

Made lemongrass soap last night. I love that fragrance, but I spilled a little of the fragrance oil and today lemongrass is a bit overpowering.

Word of the Day:
Matthew 8:23-27
And when Jesus got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"

Reflections from the Cornfield:
I have often wrestled with this passage because it has always seemed to me that fear would be a normal human reaction to a situation such as the one in which the disciples find themselves. I think perhaps it is the way the disciples approached Jesus in this instance; not with confidence and faith, but with fear. Fear is the biggest challenge we face as Christians. Throughout the scriptures there is the admonition "Do not be afraid" "fear not". In most instances, when there is a divine revelation the messenger begins by telling the recipient to fear not. Fear is what we need to overcome. It is what keeps us from being all that we are meant to be.

In the Mass we recite the "Lord's Prayer." After the words "but deliver us from evil" there is an embolism spoken by the priest. "Deliver us, Lord, from every evil and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety." In our diocese, this embolism was suspended for a number of years, the reasoning being that it was considered redundant. I don't know about that, I am a lay person so I wouldn't presume to question people who have much more scriptural education than I. However, a visiting priest told me that it was important because there is something that is explicit in the embolism which is implicit in the prayer. And that is anxiety. And what is anxiety except the by-product of fear?

Jesus knew that fear would be the greatest stumbling block the disciples would face. It was fear that caused Peter to take his eyes off Jesus when Jesus called him to walk out on the sea. It was fear that drove the disciples from the garden the night Jesus was arrested. It was fear that caused Peter to deny him. It is fear that fuels the fires of racism, and the winds of war.

In an earlier passage, Jesus tells us, "do not fear those who can kill the body, but not the soul. Rather, fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna." I suspect that in the original there are two different words used for "fear." There is the fear that is incapacitating, causing us to run and then there is fear of God which I take to mean a respect and awe for God's all encompassing power. Faith suffers when fear gains a foothold.

"Be not afraid." Easier said than done. My prayer for the day? "Oh, Lord, increase my faith."


God bless the troops!