I wasn’t feeling so great on Friday morning, August 9th. In fact, I was feeling so poorly that I slept through my first 2 alarms. (I wear a Fitbit and I typically get up before 5am). So at 5:50am, when I rolled over and opened my eyes, I was shocked to realize it was almost 6am! I didn’t get up at 4:45am to walk the dogs. I don’t even remember that alarm going off, but obviously it did and I simply turned it off. I do remember the 5:30am alarm going off, I remember turning it off and I remember thinking that it was my 5am alarm. Then 20 minutes later, reality set it.
I rolled myself out of bed, completely groggy and disoriented, and headed for the kitchen. Surely a cup of coffee will bring some clarity. When I finally had control of all of my facilities, I realized there was no way I was making it to the 7am mass at Holy Rosary or even the 7:15am mass at the Monastery. So I decided to have a leisurely morning and attend the 8am mass at Holy Family, my home parish.
The cause of my ailment had nothing to do with imbibing too much the evening before, although it might sound like that was the case. In reality, it was the hot wings. In celebrating my husband’s 5oth birthday, we over indulged in hot wings, Drover’s hot wings to be precise.
Anybody who is from the local tristate area knows that Drover’s Inn has the best hot wings. So to celebrate 50 years of life, we ate like we were 21; suicidal hot wings, hurt me hot wings, brew city bottle caps (fried jalapeno slices – for those who don’t know) and seasoned fries with cheese and Cajun seasoning. And yes, we washed those down with a couple of beers. Our son was the smart one and our designated driver; he ordered honey BBQ wings, fried ravioli, and waffle fries with cheese and bacon. While we all over indulged, he kept the heat at bay. And we followed dinner up with birthday cake, a Nancy Cake, as we call it. My friend Nancy makes the best cakes.
So needless to say, in the morning, I was not feeling great. The gluttony of the night before was definitely affecting my Friday morning ability to function. But I managed to get out of bed, have coffee, shower, and get ready for the day. The weather was beautiful, so I decided to ride my motorcycle to mass. I left around 7am. And let’s just say the ride was serendipitous.
First of all, as I mentioned, the weather was perfect. It was such a beautiful morning; there was a slight crispness to the air, the sun had just come up and the sky was a beautiful shade of blue with hues of light purple and pink. It was a fairly quiet and uncongested morning commute. But secondly, the real beauty of the ride was that I did not hit one single red light on the approximate 8 mile ride from my home to my parish. Not a single one! I know this sounds silly, or maybe it doesn’t, but it was something that I noticed and something for which I was grateful. It made for such a nice ride.
As I pulled into the parking lot, I was only the second person at the church. Within moments of parking my bike, a friend who attends the daily mass arrived and we talked for a few moments. It was nice to catch up, because while we see each other often, we don’t always talk.
I got into church, sat down and began morning prayer. I typically follow-up morning prayer by reading the reflections from “The Word Among Us” booklet and the “Living Faith” daily Catholic devotions. If time allows, I read the daily prayer, daily reflection and saint of the day on the Laudate app on my phone. I arrived so early today, that I had an opportunity to spend some serious time in prayer.
The reflection from Laudate really spoke to me, and called to mind a friend for whom I offered a special prayer and actually shared the reflection with her. That’s not something a would normally do, but I felt like I needed to. I am trying to break away from those things that I would normally do or not do and push myself out of my comfort zone a little…remembering, that when God wants us to grow, he makes us uncomfortable.
The reflection talked about being on the verge of something and I thought, “wow, how timely is this”. We are approaching a new school year; my son is beginning college and my husband will get a whole new class of students (he’s a teacher), and I am now working for the Catholic school system. It stems from Moses being on the verge of ushering his people into the promised land. But Moses stops the people “on the verge” of crossing into the land of milk and honey. Why? To remind them of all the Lord had done for them. To remind them to be grateful and to remain faithful to God’s promises for them.
We are all on the verge of new experiences, each and every one of us. And while all of this is wonderful and exciting and hopefully we are approaching these “new experiences” with great anticipation, let’s not forget that God has a hand in all of this. God is in this with us – always. Let’s make sure we are making time for God in our daily lives. Whether it’s a short prayer, daily mass, time reading scriptures, reading reflections, keeping a prayer journal, or simply thanking God daily for the little things – like green lights all the way to mass – make sure to keep God with you “on the verge”. Have a Blessed Sunday. Please pray for me and I will continue to pray for you.
Tattoos, Motorcycles, Beer, Bourbon and Faith 