Sunday Diary

November 11, 2018

Saw something of interest and something I had never seen before. As I was driving to church a pickup truck was in the opposite lane. The whole front bumper, along with the normal lights, was lit up like a smiling mouth with sparkling teeth. Pretty cool, I thought, but if it is normal on some trucks, this was a first for me!

Before mass, a video of all the military branches was played while the different retired soldiers stood up when they heard their military song. With the new sound system at the church the music came over the speakers loud and clear!  A lump formed in my throat at the beauty of the songs and the different men and women standing up. One woman stood up for the Coast Guard and another woman stood up for the Navy.

At mass I sat in the middle of empty seats. Two rows in front of me were empty, my row had no one in it other than me, and two rows behind me did not have anyone sitting in the pew. I recalled a saying my Mother always said: No ay un mal que por bien no venga. Which means that there isn't something bad that happens that good won't come of it. The good was that I could sing the hymns loudly and it felt good. Usually I keep my voice low because, in case I am off key, I don't want anyone to hear me. Yesterday I did not have to worry because I was able to sing to my heart's content!

When a reader tried to go up to the Ambo (lectern) she had problems going up the steps. She struggled and no matter how she tried it was a chore for her to make it up the steps. When she made it to the ambo we could hear that she was breathing heavily. I couldn't help but think that the woman was really dedicated to do the reading. Maybe, I thought, she should use the ramp instead of the steps. When she finished reading, a man from the congregation went up and helped her down the steps. My thought was that he was like the Good Samaritan.

During mass I could see that the snow continued to fall and hoped that the drive home would not be slippery. Wadsworth Blvd. was covered and I noticed a few cars slipping and sliding. I slid a couple of times but since I was only going about twenty-five miles an hour I was able to control the slide. Of course, I prayed all the way home until I entered my garage. I remembered something I had seen on face book:  If you only pray when you are in trouble, you are in trouble!

I was looking forward to meeting friends at four-thirty and having dinner with them. Spaghetti with a special sauce, salad, garlic bread and wine was on the menu.  Since it was my turn to bring dessert, I was going to surprise them with a pumpkin goodie. When we decided to cancel the dinner due to the weather, I was relieved. The dinner will now take place on Tuesday, God willing!

The rest of Sunday I shoveled my driveway and walks, read a mystery and watched two movies: The Magnificent Seven and The Intern.  Sunday turned out to be an okay day once I got out of the snowy weather.

"Do not let Sunday be taken from you.

If your soul has no Sunday

it becomes an orphan"

Albert Schweitzer