Memorial Remembrances

Memorial weekend is about remembering those who have died in service to our country.  It is a day of parades, flags, patriotism.

In churches,  it is the tradition for Memorial Sunday to read the names of the members and friends of the church who have passed away during the past year.  That was the case today in the church I attend.  One of those whose name was read was William S. Whiting.  There is not enough room in this blog to list all his service to the church, and also to the community.  He was widely known, loved, and respected.

When I opened the hymnal to the second hymn of the day, I was stunned by what I saw.  The song, 'Eternal Father, Strong to Save' was written in 1860 by William Whiting!  My mind raced trying to figure out if that was intentionally chosen for the day, which seemed unlikely, given that the new associate pastor is in charge for today and the senior pastor is out of town.  I checked with the church secretary after the service, and no one had done that knowingly. And she had not noticed it.

My conclusion is that Mr. William Whiting, who is no longer with us in person,  found a unique way to be present today in spirit, on this Memorial Sunday, not only through the reading of his name, but through the writing our our hymn.  I can only describe that coincidence as a true moment of serendipity!

Restless Days

Don't get me wrong--I do relish my retirement!  It amazes me to be able to relax and feel contentment, without any sense of guilt, or need to accomplish.  There is a lot to be said for serenity, and enjoying the beauty and simplicity of life.

 But I will confess that from time to time I do have days of restlessness.  I don't like the restlessness,  but it does come occasionally, unbidden, an unwelcome, unwanted visitor!  If I had to analyze it,  I'd say it is mostly a feeling of wanting to have somewhere specific to go, something to do, some reason to get dressed up, and go out into the world.

This morning, in a happenstance conversation with an acquaintance in the grocery store,  I learned that a congregational church not far away, is being served by an Interim, who is not going to be there any longer.   My urge for a few moments was to call them, and see if they are looking for another Interim!  If I suddenly were to find myself in such a position, I'm sure that I would soon be longing  for my complete freedom to come and go as I wished, rather than being tied down.   I hope the day will come when I can experience feelings of restlessness, without the next thought being about serving a church.  That just seems to be my default position, that thing to which my mind first grasps, when I am restless and looking for something to do.

 Begone, restlessness!  Stop pacing at my door!
Take your agitation and leave it in someone else's mind.
You're not welcome any more.

Stuff

  Today I attempted to reduce the amount of stuff that is no longer of value.  There are assorted papers in closets, and in boxes downstairs.  A great deal of it is no longer relevant or necessary or current.  I did manage to make a decent pile of papers in the recycle bin.  Of course if they are financial papers, the social security number needs to be removed, so that makes the work tedious.

Since I am no longer actively in the ministry,  I feel like I should begin to whittle down the books and papers that are not likely to be used again.  There is quite a bit of stuff to eventually get rid of.  I suppose I'm not entirely ready to part with all of that just yet.

We also have a pile of things that need to go to the Salvation Army.  I managed to fill up a box with books (non-religious ones).  Also, I produced a decent pile of shoes that are not likely to be worn again.  As sad as it made me,  I had to add to the pile my yellow dressy low heeled shoes that I love.  I kept trying to add these inserts or those inserts, but no matter what I added to the inside of the shoe,   the shoes simply would not stay on my feet.  For some reason, they are a Wide, and I no longer can wear a Wide,  or perhaps never really did.

At any rate,  I made a small dent in getting rid of an assortment of things that are no longer needed or wanted.

I do believe that our piles of stuff are smaller than most people's,  but it still seems like a lot of unnecessary accumulation.

Or course, there is still a corner in the basement of youngest offspring's possessions.   She has a house now, and should take it to her basement.  But I doubt that will be happening any time soon.

As people get older,  one does wonder what will become of all their possessions.  These days, it seems to be the trend that one's children do not want many of their parents' things.  And I do understand that.   I will keep working on the piles of stuff over time, parting with this or that, as I feel able.

 Even though I will never use them, and will probably never even read them again,  I have a box of academic papers that I wrote during my seminary years.  So much effort and energy goes into that, it's hard to just put it in recycle.   But one thing is for sure--- someday, someone will have to!

In the meantime,  I am going to make as many of the decisions as I can about what to discard and what to keep.

Flower Beds

What I wish my Flower Bed looked like!

I recently asked Gerry to just leave the flower beds to me.  We have different goals and ideas about flower beds.  His idea is always mulch.   It needs mulch, mulch, and more mulch.   My idea is that it needs not to have mulch so it has some soil, and room to breathe without being smothered to death by harsh wood chips.

Since I have now assumed the responsibility, I am going to truly try hard to make weeding a daily activity.  That is what it takes.  In order to remotely have beds that do not turn into weed lots requires a lot of attention.  It does hurt my old aching body, I notice, to bend over and pull, but I'm going to give it my best shot!

Yesterday, Priscilla gave me some dahlias bulbs to plant.  I've never ever grown a dahlia before.  That's because I heard that you have to dig the bulbs up and bring them inside for the winter.  That has always been beyond the pale of my gardening desires.  But the bulbs are now planted, so I will hope to see lovely flowers, and to see if they will survive sleeping in the ground for the winter.

I wanted to plant some annuals this year, but actually there is no room in my flower beds to do that, so instead, I am going to make a vow to weed.  There is yet the vegetable garden to plant;  haven't even thought much about that yet.

I can just hear Gerry's remark a few weeks from now.

 'It needs some mulch!'