Just more evidence that small blessings are waiting everywhere:
- The other morning I was kneeling in prayer and I picked up a holy card my mom had given me. It had Padre Pio’s face on it, and so I prayed to Padre Pio for help. Later (was it the same day, or the day after?), I rode the bus downtown. I was debating in my mind whether to stop for Mass or go straight to work. I felt nudged to go to Mass—I could tell I would regret it if I didn’t—so I pulled the cord and left the bus and walked the couple of blocks to the church. Turns out it was the feast day of St. Padre Pio!
- I recently felt a strong desire for making a fresh start. I thought: I want to start over, but I wish there were a proper occasion to give me momentum and mark my turning point more “officially.” (Otherwise, I suspected my resolve might collapse because the whole thing would feel a bit untidy and random.) I eventually realized that Rosh Hashanah—the Jewish New Year, a time of new beginnings—commenced that very evening. How fitting!
A couple of small verses I dug up from old journal entries:
In the hollow of your hand
My memory sleeps.
It waits for you to choose.
Will you shake me loose?
Or will you close your fingers
And keep me from falling through?
—
Finding our place
In the knock-knock-jungle
Of possible lives
Is a task only entrusted
To those who have
A courageous heart
A firm resolve and
An unwavering ability
To laugh.