Whimsy on the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

I got up an hour after my alarm clock sounded and still managed to get to church ten minutes early. I chose a seat under St. Patrick's watchful eye. The sermon was on Job and Matthew; it stabbed my heart, matching what I read last night about work in Life Together.

I enjoy the sacred calendar's humor with the long haul of ordinary time. It meets me where I am emotionally: blah land. Oh, how I long for special time, but we're sanctified through the ordinary. Here are verses 2 and 3 from "O Christ, the Healer":

"From every ailment flesh endures
Our bodies clamor to be freed;
Yet in our hearts we would confess
That wholeness is our deepest need.

"How strong, O Lord, are our desires,
How weak our knowledge of ourselves
Release in us those healing truths
Unconscious pride resists or shelves."

This song was a reminder of Truth in the midst of the self-absorption that we term "post modernity" to relinquish our responsibility for our thought patterns. I love how we justify evil thought patterns, lifestyles and habits through one abstract phrase. I loved when a theologian referred to post modernity as a mood (I'd say a bad mood); how right he was.


On my way home, I turned left instead of my normal right and ended up at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. It was a fabulous sidetrack. I went ahead and joined the Garden; it's tax deductable and would provide a good Saturday and Sunday afternoon activity. Plus, if I bring friends, they get half off admission (let me know if you'd like to go with me). They're spotlighting orchids, which I love, and were having a bridal showcase, which meant a lot of free food-- good free food. Well, technically speaking it wasn't free, but close enough. I had no idea about the bridal showcase, but it was was festive to have all the musicians and caterers etc. At first, I was trying to be noble and not sample any of the food, but the vendors assumed I was a bride (and it's hard to control other people's assumptions).

So, I sampled and had a lot of fun witnessing the infamous bridezillas in action. My theory that weddings/marriage is an industry that provides a lot of income for these vendors and divorce lawyers was substantiated by all the hoopla. You'd never guess that a wedding was about a marriage from all the crap. That said, it was lovely and delicious crap. The guy who made me shrimp and grits was from Rochester, New York.

This was my favorite orchid. Notice how it has some water in its cup. How gorgeous and fabulous is that?

Then I ended up taking Virg to Charlotte and out for chilidogs, fries and a fountain coke tonight. I still have so much work to do, but the papers will get graded. Whereas, Virg is 86 and won't always be up for a ride on a lovely spring afternoon. There's a time when the theology one reads should metabolize into action, eh? Today's flowers and people were a reminder of how extraordinary our ordinary is. We're surrounded by the goodness of God.