An odd beginning

Today was my first visit to do a service at Trinity, Milton.

(They record the service and video it on Tuesday or Wednesday to show on line on Sunday.)

I was up earlier than I like--7:30--so I was already feeling sluggish. Nothing like what was to come!

I got lost and had to call the church and have someone come meet me to lead me there, so I was over 40 minutes late!

Then, when I was getting my vestments out of the car, I couldn't find the Prayer Book with my sermon note--less than a page, but so I didn't leave anything out.

I have an older Prayer Book, so I had to use that.

But the 6 folks there couldn't have been nicer. They kept telling me not to worry about getting lost--"folks get lost out here all the time...."

It was the first time since pandemic that they received communion--wafers in a box so I hadn't touched them and wine in little plastic glasses.

The church is lovely and the music is wondrous.

It started out like a disaster but ended up a really good day.

(Only thing was: it felt like Sunday all day to me....)

 

Oh,Glorious Day

 Last week--Wednesday, I think--I was getting ready for bed, taking off too many layers and socks and knee bands, and did something I never do: put my glasses on the bed while I took off the third of three shirts.

Of course, I sat on my glasses and broke them clean in two at the place that goes over your nose--the bridge, I think it's called.

Next day I go to My Eye Doc to get new frames.

Not only didn't they have them, my frames had been discontinued!

The woman helping me used Super Glue and heated plastic to give them a repair that would last a few days. She promised to call other Eye Doc locations and try to locate my frames.

(Did you know that out of the hundred of frames they had, my lens wouldn't fit any of them--that doesn't make sense unless you're making money selling frames!)

So today I went back to order new glasses.

Then their was a problem since my prescription is several years old. I go every year but my eyes haven't changed enough to merit 'new' lenses. A good thing, Right?

No, they were going to make me have my eyes examined and then wait two weeks for my new glasses to come.

I was so broken-hearted that I thought I would cry.

"I just need to see," I said, too loudly, knowing the repair wouldn't last 2 weeks.

So the woman went in back to a huge container of 'discontinued glasses' and lo and behold found a pair of my frames!

I could have kissed her!

I'm wearing them now and loving it! 

I can see!!!

What a glorious day, no matter what else occurs....

Today

Today I was with Ann, helping her lead the forgiveness workshop on zoom with 13 people in Ireland.

I was on from 12:30 to 3:30--a long time on zoom, but we had a 15 minute break and the people are wonderful, so fun and informative to be with.

I always learn something new when I'm with Irish folks. One thing that struck me today is how the Irish think 'modesty' is a high virtue.

One day in my Grandma Jones' house, my older cousin, Bradley Perkins was bragging about how good looking he was.

"Don't build yourself up, Brad," my grandmother said, "it just gives you further to fall."

She was a Sadler and her family was from somewhere in Ireland.

Modesty is also a trick--it makes people tell you you're better than you think you are.

That's the payoff for 'modesty'.

All 'virtues', in seems to me, have a trick in them.

 

My day

I got up at 7:15, much earlier than usual, because Bern and I had to go to Yale Medical School's West Campus for our first vaccine shots.

West Campus is in West Haven and it is huge! We drove for over 5 minutes until we got to the building we needed to find.

The building is huge as well, and terribly well organized and staffed.

Bern's shot was at 9 and mine at 9:30, but I could have gone in with her, I think. They were giving over a thousand shots today but it was so orderly and well-done they could have done more. I had no wait at all, but lots of walking down hallways. I went in at 9:15 and was out by 9:30 since you have to sit for 15 minutes after the vaccine.

Then, at 1:30, I had two shots at Waterbury Hospital--pretty smooth there as well.

Somewhere in there I bought wine, since I was out....

Then at 3 I had a zoom call about a workshop I'm helping in leading virtually for half-hour or so. All the participants are in Ireland and the co-leader is in California.

Just before that, I fed Brigit her dinner--spiced up with cod loin left from last night. She is a fish dog!

Played Hearts on line for a while and now I'm writing this.

It's on 5:41 p.m. and dinner is over an hour away, but I feel like I've been up for two days....

Ah, well, another busy Covid day.

 

I fear tomorrow

 Tomorrow is the day Q-anon and other ultra right wing conspiracy groups believe the former President will be sworn in for his second term.

It is all utter nonsense, but that doesn't stop them from believing it.

The House canceled it's meeting tomorrow.

Federal forces are on stand-by.

The FBI believes there might be an event at the Capital.

All this is making me sick.

When will 'truth' and 'reality' raise their heads again in our nation?

I'm worried.

I'll be on alert.

I'll fear the worst and hope for the best.

How did we get here?

Oh, I know--four years of lies and craziness.

That's how we got here.

Forgiveness

I'm helping lead a 3 session workshop on Forgiveness for the Mastery Foundation. All the participants are in Ireland, so the virtual sessions begin at 12:30 for me and 5:30 in Ireland. Two handouts for Saturday's session might be helpful for you.

 

Forgiving Oneself What makes it difficult to forgive ourselves is our resistance to being forgiven. Those things we want to forgive ourselves for are often things we relate to as unforgiveable, not necessarily because they are so big, but rather because they occur for us as some violation of who we are or some shortfall in who we want to be in life. The moment we are willing to be forgiven, a healing begins. We will have begun the process of authentically forgiving ourselves. Since the first difficulty is being willing to be forgiven, we rephrase the questions to start there: 1. Are you willing to be forgiven? If yes, then, are you willing to forgive yourself? Can you have compassion for yourself and your own suffering; transcending any feelings you are experiencing of disappointment, diminishment, shame, guilt, or humiliation? 2. Are you willing to be forgiven totally? If yes, then, are you willing to forgive yourself totally? Not for everything you have ever done, but for everything associated with the specific incident? 3. Are you willing to be forgiven absolutely? If yes, then, are you willing to forgive yourself absolutely? Can you take a stand for your own power and dignity? 4. Are you willing to be forgiven unconditionally? If yes, then, are you willing to forgive yourself unconditionally? Can you forgive yourself even if you fall short the same way in the future?

❑ Over the next two weeks, identify an opportunity to forgive yourself for something. Then take yourself through the four steps of forgiving, using the Forgiving Oneself handout. You will not be asked to share with anyone else what it is you forgive yourself for. On the Zoom conference, however, we will ask what the results were for you and what questions you have about applying the process to forgive oneself. ❑ Keep a daily forgiveness journal that covers each of three general areas: • What came up on today that was an opportunity for me to forgive myself or others? Did I forgive? What did I learn from that? • Did I support someone else in forgiving today? What happened? What did I learn from that? • Where did I notice that forgiveness is missing? ❑ Practice Centering or a period of intentional silence each day for 10 to 20 minutes. In addition, please write down any questions you have about the forgiveness process or anything you notice that might be useful in our development of this program.

 

Texas and Mississippi

 Texas and Mississippi ended their mask mandate and, in many ways went back to pre-Covid practices--restaurants, bars, fitness centers and the like.

One more reason I don't ever want to live in Texas or Mississippi!

How crazy can you be?

The vaccines are coming out (Bern and I get ours Friday) and it is so important to keep up safety mandates until we reach some form of herd immunity.

Keep an eye on cases in those two states over the next few weeks.

I'd bet my last dollar than they go up and up....