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Sunday, March 27, 2005
What's A Good Easter?
Having been wished a blessed Easter, a happy Easter, a nice Easter, a good Easter, etc.,I ask you, what form would such a day take? It took what happened today, except for one thing.
First Lydia and Benny called during breakfast coffee time to tell about Benny's vast haul of presents from the Easter Bunny. Benny asked what the bunny had brought me and when I told him that the bunny only brings treats and presents for little children, he grieved on my behalf.
Then I dressed and took Pork Chop for a nice long walk aound the neighborhood before the other natives woke up. I enjoyed such a profusion of spring flowers on trees/bushes/shrubs, in flower beds, and volunteering in grass not recently cut. Coming home a new way, I passed a garden comprising about half a city block. A gentleman worked in his huge space, crawling along grabbing up weeds kind of like a grazing cow. While weeding, he talked on his cell phone...multi-tasking. Quite a few vegetables already up flourished along with spring flowers, a wonderful, inspiring garden.
Now I drank another cup of coffee while reading the paper and found a heartwarming article. Some little church over in Portsmouth has been feeding the poor for the last 20 years. Each Monday/Wednesday/Friday congregants gather to work their butts off collecting, packaging, and distributing food in their church warehouse. Over the last year, they have helped to feed 50,000 families. Sadly...and amazingly, only a few people do all of that good work. The ones in the picture looked old and tired. This noble project began long ago when the pastor noticed elderly neighbors of the church sorting through garbage in alleys... hungry, looking for something to eat. The project has grown until now most of the groceries, bakeries, and restaurants in Hampton Roads save leftovers for these kind souls to give to the needy. Naturally I felt guilty and wondered if I shouldn't volunteer to help. All that bagging, boxing, carrying, delivering, three days/week, year after year...my word! What a Herculean task. There are good people in this world. It's not all bad. I'm thankful to know about those folks, even if they make me feel like tomorrow I'd better get on the phone and ask if they could use my help, such as it is. You know, I have to stop reading the paper. I already got talked into volunteering at school and at the community mediation center. This volunteering runs counter to the idea of retirement.
Later Lydia and the kids and I went to church. As the usher handed me an order of service, he said, "Lots of luck." The church was filled to bursting. Another usher, however, finally found three seats for us at the very front.
Choir, soloist, brass, pipe organ and kettle drum performed an all-Handel service, music to raise the dead. The teacher for last summer's Space Camp at Community Music School turned out to be the soprano soloist. The change in her style astonished us. After service, she smiled and told Benny that today was an example of her adult voice. The brief message could be summarized as, "Don't keep the Gospel in the bank. Spread it around where it will do some good." A little girl threw up and ran down the aisle toward the front exits behind the pulpit. She spewed vomit as she went. Then during a choral offering, 6 ushers with wet towels cleaned up the mess...all of which provided comic relief to the seriousness of the service...thus preserving the cosmic balance...yin and yang in a Protestant church. Steeple bells clanged wildly overhead as we came out on the heels of a glorious organ voluntary.
Then we went to a fast food joint because I actually slept in this morning instead of getting up to make 'green eggs and ham' as planned. The eggs would have been easy, but that ham was in the freezer and I forgot to take it out last night...and then slept in this A.M. So we went to Taco Bell...and it was good...particularly the part about not having to cook.
Now here I sit with my fat little, warm little chuhuahua sleeping on my lap, thinking that it's about time for my nap, too.
That Bible verse, "God has given us all things necessary to life and to Godliness," certainly applies to me. I have so much more than I need, such an easy life. Oh, boy. I hope I can fight off this attack of conscience. I sure don't want to go over to Portsmouth to feed the poor. While Kensington, where I live, is a ghetto, surrounded by nice, respectable neighborhoods, the whole city of Portsmouth is poor, crime-ridden, drug infested. I don't even remember how to get across the bridge. Rats. I wish I hadn't read that article.
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