Blessed Good Friday! Technically I took it off work as a vacation day. Usually I take off Holy Thursday, too, but a donor was coming through town and wanted to give me a large check for my org, so I made the sacrifice!
Still, a few things needed to get moved along today, so I planned to go in for a bit. Then I remembered my dog, Roxy, needed her allergy shot, so decided to kill two birds with one stone and combine the errands. Then I realized it is a gorgeous day outside, I decided to do all this by walking.
Roxy was game because she loves walks. So, I packed up water and a few treats and a toy for her to munch on while we were at the office, and off we went!
It's about 3 miles to my office, and we enjoyed the pretty weather. A couple people yelled hello as they drove past -both of them friends who texted me later to let me know who they were, because I had no idea who was calling out to us! We greeted everyone we passed, including a grim looking homeless man who burst into a big surprised smile when we wished him a good morning.
When you walk, you have a chance to really see things. You have nothing between you and the world.
Everyone fussed over Roxy at the office, which she loves, and once I was done we walked over to her vet's office, then Petsmart to get more treats for Roxy, and then home. We didn't linger too long at Petsmart because I was running late to get to Stations of the Cross at noon.
As I drove to my church on the other side of town, throwing down a protein bar for lunch, I said a quick prayer of thanks for my car. It's not at all glamorous but it gets me where I want to go. Having driven many a clunker in my time, reliable transportation is not something I take for granted.
But walking about Flagstaff made me even more grateful... just getting to church would be extremely difficult without a car. Our bus system is not easily accessible from my neighborhood, and instead of taking 15 minutes to get to church, it would take about an hour, not counting the time to hike up Holy Hill (one of the names given to the steep climb up to the top of the mesa where the church is located!)
The Stations were done in a way I had never seen before. Instead of a reflection on Jesus's actual experience, we prayed with photos of people afflicted by poverty, illness, homelessness and starvation -Christ in the poor. It was intensely moving, and not just because my toes went numb from kneeling. The deacon leading the prayer took a lot of time between Stations, to give us all a chance to really SEE the people in the photos. My stomach was growling and all I could think was, I am CHOOSING to not eat much on Good Friday, and that woman has nothing at all to feed her dying child.
I have no problems at all and suffer nothing.
As a humorous aside: As I walked out to my car the woman who had been praying next to me asked me, "How long has this fellowship been here?" "Yay!" I thought to myself. "A nonCatholic came to pray with us!" (Trust me, no Catholic would ever use the word "fellowship" to describe a parish!) I smiled and said, "This church was just built. Where do you usually go?" and we had a really nice conversation in the parking lot. Her name is Linda.
Good Friday is a quiet day anyway, and I have been given much food for thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment