Landmarks

We woke this morning to learn that the refrigerator that we bought a year ago year had stopped working.  It is under warranty, and the warranty company, who seems to take pride in their "24/7 service", has been responsive.  But today is Saturday and the repair company is off for the weekend.   Fortunately, we have a second refrigerator in the garage.  It is much older and probably not particularly energy efficient, but we have had to completely rely on it more than once.  I will say that to lose your refrigerator just as a pandemic takes hold can be disconcerting.  However, we got most of our food shifted with the exception of a nice homemade chicken stock that I just completed yesterday. There were also some pot stickers in the freezer that were still cold but almost thawed.  After boiling the stock for several minutes, as a "just in case"  measure, I  added soy sauce, fish sauce, some lemon grass, and some vinegar (Unfortunately, we had no ginger.) to the stock and then added the pot stickers.  Quite a tasty breakfast, especially when paired with the thawing "potato puffs" that also needed to be roasted immediately.    

   

In times of confusion, I find comfort, as I have since I was in seminary, in a small book entitled Always We Begin Again,The Benedictine Way of Living by John McQuiston II.  It is based on the author's understanding of The Rule of St. Benedict. I have always appreciated McQuiston's straight forwardness, and I find strength in the knowledge that St. Benedict created his monastic rule in a tumultuous time.  Rome fell in A.D. 410, just forty years before St. Benedict's birth. Esther de Waal describes the time as "a world without landmarks" (Seeking God, the Way of St. Benedict, 2001, page 15).  I share the following with you today in case you, too, need a dose of practical reinforcement in our own tumultuous times.  I would suggest keeping ginger root on hand.  You just never know, and it does make a wonderful tea.  

The First Rule   

Attend to these instructions, 

Listen with the heart and the mind; 

They are provided in a spirit of goodwill. 

These words are addressed to anyone 

who is willing to renounce the delusion 

that the meaning of life can be learned;

whoever is ready 

to take up the greater weapon of fidelity 

to a way of living that transcends understanding. 

  

The first rule is simply this:  

 live this life 

and do whatever is done, 

in a spirit of Thanksgiving. 

Abandon attempts to achieve security, 

they are futile.  

  

Give up the search for wealth, 

it is demeaning, 

quit the search for salvation, 

it is selfish, 

   

and come to comfortable rest  

in the certainty that those who 

participate in this life 

with an attitude of Thanksgiving 

will receive its full promise.

      

Photograph was taken in San Leandro today, March 28, as  I paused in front of a house that I have walked by for over two decades.  I have never once seen anyone go in or come out of it.  It appears to be moderately well kept, and this is the rare weed that has shown up in the yard that knows no fence. There are still mysteries.