Today was a very long day! Lesson learned. We probably tried to squeeze in too much. But it was all just so…good!!!
I use a prayer app that has audio of all seven daily offices. My day begins nearly every day with Vigils, also known as the Office of Readings. This app has such beautiful music!
Today I was greeted with the hymn “Most Ancient of All Mysteries” by Frederick William Faber. This verse in particular spoke to my heart:
How wonderful creation is,
The work which You did bless!
What then must You be like dear God,
eternal Loveliness!
The Lord speaks to me so often by His creation. Most often, as I’m sure has been observed by now, I focus on details. But out here on the road, you just can’t miss the big picture. How will the Father teach me over the next several weeks via His creation?
One of the most special lessons of the day, although one of the more challenging, came during morning Mass. We visited the Church of St. Joseph the Apostle in Joplin, MO. Just as Mass was about to begin, a young father with two toddlers rushed in. To me he just looked frazzled. The children were adorable. And happy. But to say they were disruptive would be an understatement. My first response was irritation. But the sweet priest just went right on without batting an eyelash. And I sensed the Lord whispering to my heart, “Let the little children come to Me. How else will they learn of Me? You don’t know this family’s whole story.”
I will admit that I struggled internally between knowing what Jesus was asking of me and just simply being irritated. But during the passing of the peace one of the children, a cute little guy with blonde curls and wide eyes, turned around and offered me his hand and a smile. And I melted. I simply melted.
Oklahoma was a tremendous surprise. I didn’t expect it to be so hilly. Or colorful. Or to have so many trees. It was quite a windy day, even for Oklahoma. And where the grass was tall, it rippled in the most amazing neon green waves. We passed fields of wildflowers in every color, mostly red. One field seemed to have been deliberately planted in something with vibrant yellow blossoms.
The animals seemed to enjoy it, too. Lots of cattle, mostly Angus, in open pasture. (No feedlots that we could see.) And horses. One horse in particular was rolling and rolling in some tall grass while his buddies looked on. They seemed to be laughing with him, just enjoying the sunshine and the green. This lovely pastoral scene reminded me that life is a good gift from our generous Father. I think when we play and laugh and enjoy what He provides, it delights His heart.
“Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it
Let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.”
— Psalm 96:11-13
It was just that sort of day.
The people we meet always make a huge impression on me. So many are so kind, even in their suffering. The gentleman who helped us at the Oklahoma Welcome Center was the great-great-grandson of a Cherokee woman who walked from Georgia on the Trail of Tears. We were buying postcards for our grandkids, and he was so happy telling us about his own grandchildren. Linda, the hostess at the Blue Whale of Catoosa (Look it up! It’s a hoot! One of the “attractions” on the old Route 66…), is a breast cancer survivor.
April, the winemaker at a winery we visited, is caring for her father in the end stages of colon cancer. She was so glad she’d been able to repurpose an old Catholic church when the parish built a new one. She waved us off with a free wine glass.
There were others who may have difficult things in their lives about which we will never know. Don’t we all? Victoria welcomed us to church, even though it wasn’t her parish, and invited us to her own church in Springfield, MO. Henry, the altar server, made a point of greeting us after Mass and inviting us to return. And Bill, in Weatherford, OK, walked across the parking lot to shake our hands and welcome us to his town while we were visiting the wind turbine blade display. Even the manager of Dyer’s Bar-B-Que, whose name I sadly didn’t catch (It was late and we were pretty much closing down the place!), blessed us with a free jar of barbecue sauce.
Isn’t God good to bless us with the people He puts in our paths? Even those we find challenging can provide glimpses of His grace if we are open to noticing.
The last place we stopped before reaching our destination was a giant cross in Groom, TX. I honestly thought it would be just a piece of roadside kitsch. But I was so wrong! It’s a lovely, quiet spot just off Interstate 40 in the Texas panhandle. The cross itself is 19 stories high and can be seen from 20 miles away. It is surrounded by life-sized sculptures of the Stations of the Cross. I would love to have spent more time there. But we were there at the end of the day and needed to get on down the road.
So now we are in Amarillo, TX. It’s flat. Lots of sky. And smells like a barnyard. (Little wonder, what with all the cattle!) It was late when we rolled in. And I was exhausted. So perhaps I will notice more tomorrow.
Sleep is also God’s gift. And I need to appreciate this gift as well!
