what’s a little mud among friends

I took this picture in the chapel, where I promised to bring several intentions this morning. It was dark and I lit the first candle.

I left the house in a giant rainstorm, and for the first hour here in the chapel, I could see the driving rain through the big picture window behind the altar. At  mid-morning the gray sky and some ominous black clouds dimmed the light inside, and muted the green of the trees outside.

As I was praying the sorrowful mysteries, I kept looking over the tree tops to see if the rain would stop so I could catch a glimpse of a rainbow. The rain continued to fall, and I found myself fingering the silver beads to a musical beat from the rain dripping off the eaves.

It was hypnotic and oddly comforting, like a heartbeat providing a steady soundtrack for my prayers. The rain eventually slowed down to a gentle shower, like it had spent itself in a passionate outburst. Having calmed down and recovered, it was getting down to the business of reviving all the parched trees and grass.

I couldn’t wait to go outside later and see how lush and refreshed everything would be. It’s like the earth is renewed and we’re given a new playground to begin again.

Yes, Margaret, I played in the mud, too.

St. Teresa and lint in my pocket

I usually carry a rosary in my pocket, especially when I’m at work. It’s not a good luck charm, don’t think that. I just happen to be devoted to this beautiful prayer, and sometimes I’ll start a rosary and get interrupted and will return to it later.

It means I have rosaries scattered all over the place. In my car. In my briefcase. In random pockets. Hanging on my computer screen. On the bulletin board in the kitchen. On a plaque my sister gave me. In my purse (um, I don’t use a purse very often). Several on my desk. Too much? You get the picture.

The rosary pictured is my go-to rosary…it’s short and the beads are spaced just right. It also survives a run through the washing machine quite well, lol. Who knew I was a connoisseur of rosaries? Makes me laugh a little, but it’s true. It fits my hand just right so it’s usually in the console of my car and accompanies me to work.

It also makes for mad dashes to the laundry basket when I forget to put it back in the console at the end of the day. That happened to me yesterday. I went to reach for the rosary in the afternoon and came up with lint. I had once again misplaced the rosary. Luckily, I had my handy dandy Steelers rosary hanging from the rearview (odd, you might ask? it doesn’t get much use, but daily smiles when I see it).

Anyway, the missing rosary led me on a wild goose chase through dirty clothes, stacks of papers, and finally, a little basket full of flash drives, holy cards, and paper clips. Oh, and a medal of St. Teresa of Avila that I have had for a couple of years and kept taking out and tossing back into the little basket. I think she finally had enough of me claiming her as my patron saint and not giving her any attention.

Sorry about that, dear Terry. I hope you like where I moved you.

 

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