Daily 5 - Day 50

50 Days. How crazy is that? At what point do I stop numbering these posts, and just start dating them? I kind of like the numbers, though. They remind me that I've hit milestones of time. That I'm making little steps towards positive changes within myself. They help me feel like something is being achieved in showing up here each day. 50 days seems like a pretty good milestone.

In any case, here's today's daily 5:

1. Two sets of great deals while at the mall tonight. One at the Body Shop on products I wasn't out of, but use constantly. And one at my favorite clothing store, where, for about $90 of products, I only spent $45, since they gave me a $20 discount just for trying on a coat (that I loved but didn't buy), and since I had a gift card left over from my birthday to cover another portion of the bill. Plus, the two tops, cute sweater, and scarf that I bought will likely all become wardrobe staples for me.
2. Freshly laundered sheets, pajamas, and towels. I do love that clean, fresh smell.
3. Having a night off from cooking dinner and eating the great food that L. cooked for us
   
4. A quiet free evening with no commitments, and just time spent shopping with L.
5. That today was slightly (if only slightly) smoother at work than the previous two days this week.
   

3 From Henri

Three thoughts from Henri Nouwen surrounding baptism and eucharist.

Baptism, the Way to Community

Baptism is more than a way to spiritual freedom. It also is the way to community. Baptising a person, whether child or adult, is receiving that person into the community of faith. Those who are reborn from above through baptism, and are called to live the life of sons and daughters of God, belong together as members of one spiritual family, the living body of Christ. When we baptise people, we welcome them into this family of God and offer them guidance, support, and formation, as they grow to the full maturity of the Christ-like life.

Baptism, a Call to Commitment

Baptism as a way to the freedom of the children of God and as a way to a life in community calls for a personal commitment. There is nothing magical or automatic about this sacrament. Having water poured over us while someone says, "I baptise you in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit," has lasting significance when we are willing to claim and reclaim in all possible ways the spiritual truth of who we are as baptised people.

In this sense baptism is a call to parents of baptised children and to the baptised themselves to choose constantly for the light in the midst of a dark world and for life in the midst of a death-harbouring society.

Eucharist, the Sacrament of Communion

Baptism opens the door to the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the sacrament through which Jesus enters into an intimate, permanent communion with us. It is the sacrament of the table. It is the sacrament of food and drink. It is the sacrament of daily nurture. While baptism is a once-in-a-lifetime event, the Eucharist can be a monthly, weekly, or even daily occurrence. Jesus gave us the Eucharist as a constant memory of his life and death. Not a memory that simply makes us think of him but a memory that makes us members of his body. That is why Jesus on the evening before he died took bread saying, "This is my Body," and took the cup saying, "This is my Blood." By eating the Body and drinking the Blood of Christ, we become one with him.

Surgery, Dreams, Atmosphere...

I'm still deeply pondering the things I talked about here.

Someone I've seen a few times in rather significant dreams is having surgery this morning to remove a cancerous mass, so that they can take next steps in treatment. The mass is the size of an apple, under their sternum. I don't know them well, only that they've appeared in some incredibly deep and memorable dreams. Their family has been through much, and a cancer diagnosis was almost unbelievable. So this morning I find myself praying as they wait through the surgery, and wait for results.

Today's saint of the day is St. Jerome. I sighed just a little as memories hit as I read Jerome's biography. He reminds me of some others I know or have known, people I love and pray for. The temper, the sometimes vitriolic writings, and the immense commitment to truth. Truth be told, as I write that, I recognize some of those tendencies in my own heart as well. And so I am praying for some of those others, and for those tendencies within me to be curbed by a heart that truly seeks to live in surrender and obedience to Jesus.

I'm thinking a lot about atmosphere, too. Some of you will know that I have become remarkably sensitive to the spiritual atmopshere in people and places over the last few years. All week this week I've been unable to get warm. I've worn extra layers, sat with magic bags around my neck, sipped tea, and been freezing. But mostly only at the office. A quick hot shower when I got home could usually shake the mess. This morning I was in an incredibly prayerful space as I drove to work, praying for the person having surgery, and for those whom St. Jerome had called to mind. Maybe because I was in an even more sensitive space than usual, I felt the shift. I went from being warm and comfortable, to cold, as I stepped into the building.

It shouldn't surprise me. I've known all week that something was up here again. There have been more than the usual numbers of flaring tempers, incompetence, and spikes in the nearly constant levels of tension. But this morning it was incredibly noticeable.

So, I'm praying prayers of shielding and asking for peace, and I'm hoping for a day that is a bit crazy than the last two have been.

And in between all of these things, I'm still pondering Sunday's trip. A day spent in the Southern part of the province, walking and praying and seeing and experiencing. A day that I don't have a lot of words for yet.