Three Weeks From Now

Boxes and packing. Zippered bags and stacking. I wonder how it will fit in the car. Three weeks from now we will be en route to Sarasota, Florida. Every year I try to pack things a little neater and a little tighter. I'd like to think I do, but sometimes I wonder if it's simply a way to keep my attention deficit brain from losing interest entirely. Never, in four seasons, have I packed the same way twice. My soul feeds on variety, which must be why, despite the apparent inconvenience, I love the baseball life.

It is a life that provides a constant supply of excitement for a wanderlust spirit like mine. Unfortunately, excitement and uncertainty are a package deal, but that cannot be helped. God is on His throne and is infinitely able to arrange the details of housing, beds, clothes, food, and the job to pay for it. Since He has it under control, I am free to rearrange my packing every year and have fun doing it.

The Castle
from S. Lura Perrault to her Hero

After a long, hard day at work,
a man to his castle retires;
To a place not built by mortar and stones,
but the dreams his heart inspires.

A welcoming squeeze & a kiss from his wife
and giggling glee from his babe,
Are by far the richest dividend
ever he has been paid.

The dragons, the monsters, the battles and wars
fade away with the day.
The knight is locked within his fort
and is ready now to play.

To wrestle and roll and play chase round the chairs
is now his sole task, you see;
A job he holds most true and dear,
in his heart so bold, so free.

No matter the toil or work of the day,
at night he is the king;
Locked tight in the castle of their hearts,
A hero he’ll always be.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

Today is Wednesday, January 6th- The official day on the Christian calendar set aside to celebrate the coming of the Magi to worship the Christ Child as well as commemorate His coming into the world to save sinners and give them eternal life. Epiphany is the final day of the 12 days of Christmas, which are days of celebration and remembrance including the Feasts of St. Stephen, St. John the Evangelist, and the Holy Innocents, the children slaughtered by King Harod in his blood thirsty search for the infant Jesus.

Of course the most familiar 12 days of Christmas are the ones we sing about ad nauseum during the Christmas season. The days refer to those between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi. Some speculate that the gifts referred to in the song are symbolic and were ways for Catholic children to learn their faith during a time of persecution, though there is no proof to support this idea.

No one knows exactly when or where the song originated, though it is believed to come from France. The first printed version of the song is from an English children's book from 1780 called Mirth without Mischief. The song most likely started as a "memory-and-forfeits" game in which the leader would sing a verse and everyone would repeat it. The leader would then add another verse, and so on, and so on, until someone made a mistake. The infractor's punishment was to give a kiss or a piece of candy to everyone else.

Have a happy 12th day of Christmas today and a blessed Epiphany. May He whose arrival and salvation we celebrate today fill your heart with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.

Once in a Blue Moon

There is a full moon setting in the west this New Year's morning. It is the second full moon in a month and the second one this week. Wednesday night was also graced by a full moon. Two full moons in a month are known as a "blue moon," though mistakenly so. A blue moon is actually the 4th full or harvest moon in a season (winter, spring, summer, fall). There are normally three. This happens about seven times every nineteen years. For a blue moon to fall on New Year's Eve is uncommon. It happens only three or four times a century. So as you begin 2010, remember that it started with a blue moon.

Have a blessed, safe, and happy New Year's Day!!