Thursday’s Thirst

This coming Sunday’s Gospel Reading (for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost) has some very difficult lines in it.  The one that currently has my attention is found in the first two verses of the reading.  “Now great crowds accompanied (Jesus), and he turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.’” (Luke 14.25-26)  How in the world are we to pair these lines with the Fourth Commandment (honor your parents), the Fifth Commandment (honor life), and the Sixth Commandment (honor marriage)?

We arrived at 8:15 a.m. for the 8:30 a.m. appointment, signed in, and sat down.  Right around 8:30 a.m. they called Monica back.  When they invited me to join her a half hour later, she was gowned in hospital attire with an needle in her arm.  For the next hour or so she lay comfortably on the gurney as at least four different staff members passed through.  At 10:15 a.m. she was wheeled away and I was dismissed back to the waiting room.

It was a rough weekend for my right shoulder … even though – or because – we were at the cottage for the entire time.  First off, we forgot to pack the chairs we use to sit on the dock.  So, instead of sitting on the dock facing northwest some of the time, I stood in the water leaning on the dock with my right shoulder facing the southwest the entire weekend.  Net result:  a sunburned right shoulder.  Added to this was the fact that I had a “weekend project” up at the cottage – painting the inside of a new little pantry cut into a corner wall.  The space was cramped … the angles awkward … and the project required three coats of paint.  As right-handed as I am, my right shoulder took the bulk of the abuse.

Somewhere between five and ten years ago my cardiologist recommended, as a simple precaution, that I start carrying nitro in my pocket.  He wrote me the prescription, I picked it up at our pharmacy, and then started carrying that little dark brown glass bottle in my pocket.  Sometime after that as I was transferring the pills from one location to another, I dropped the tiny glass bottle on a tile floor … and it cracked wide open!  That’s the story of my first pillbox and its contents.

Or is it “Problems, Problems, and More Problems!”?  At first glance, one might think that the problems side of the proposition wins out, 3-2.  However, I would suggest, since the promises come from our Creator, Redeemer, and Comforter – the One True God – they easily trump the problems, if we will only let them.

You know the expression – “Time flies when you’re having fun!” As much as I agree with this statement, there are times and ways I would like to edit it. Like, “Time flies when the Tigers are winning (like this week!)”. And, my favorite, “Time flies when eyes are open to seeing the blessings of the Lord Jesus.” Of course, from my perspective, all three statements are talking about having fun.

The more I talk to people, the more chaos I see in our world today.  For some people the chaos is in their family … either their own homes or the homes of immediate family members.  Many feel like they don’t know where to turn, or, for some unanswered reason, just can’t see the light.  For others the chaos is in our government … or the world … or their neighborhoods.  Emotions here often include anger, fear, or that simple feeling of being helpless and/or hopeless.  The chaos can also appear in our bodies, our minds, or who-knows-where else!  Like Martha in last Sunday’s Gospel reading, we try (want, wish) to control things (people) that are not ours to control.

Yesterday morning provided the most interesting start for the day.  I just wish I could remember the names of all the interesting people with whom I had the privilege of interacting.  Unfortunately about a half dozen people for whom I am praying today will simply be “you know their name, Lord Jesus” on my list.

As I lay in bed while Tuesday turned into Wednesday, my mind rambled in many different directions.  At one point I thought through an entire Thursday’s Thirst – but it’s long forgotten now.  Stories, faces, fantasies all thrown together, yet without rhyme or reason.  Whether I was awake or asleep I am not sure, but I do remember saying to myself, “These things do not have any connection or pattern!”

This past Friday Monica and I began our annual two-week hiatus at the cottage.  Sunday afternoon our two granddaughters joined us.  Then, Tuesday night, the middle generation came on board.  I think it’s tomorrow that two more will arrive.  Thus it is without apologies that I tell you that I am in full “Vaca Mode”.