November Musings

After mass today, I made two different visits to the mothers of friends. It warmed my heart to visit them. I see people who struggle with health issues and are doing their best to get through their day. They need extra care and are supported by loving caregivers whose natural response of compassion is incredible. Bottled up emotions are allowed to come to the surface when prayer is offered. I'm honored and humbled to see such care and patience.

Before and after some of my masses, I spend time a little time with those who are older. I begin to wonder what their lives are like at home and what their prayer might be like. I'm beginning to see the shock that some of them go through with the loss of a spouse or loved ones. Some have to prepare meals for one and do not have many people around for conversation for much of the day. We just cannot know what someone is going through unless we ask. People are begging to be heard and seen and known. I find that I spend more reflective prayer time for them. And I also realize my parents are aging.

This is a comment I overheard by three women in their 70's a few weeks ago:

"Oh, no! The holidays are coming. I used to look forward to them. I hope they pass quickly."

Another woman said, "I really like Halloween more and more each year. We get to dress up and the best thing is 'no family is involved.' I get to hang out with friends.

I found those comments to be curious.

I also found Boston driving to be curious.

Today, I saw a middle-age woman with three children in a car driving very slowly on a Boston main artery. I wanted her to pull over immediately. It looked as if her front axle was broken and I feared for her safety. Both tires were angled outward.

Earlier in the week as I drove down the central artery, I saw a car suddenly pull over and then I saw a whole wheel rolling down the side of the road. When I returned from my meeting, I saw the man still sitting on the side of the road, but his tire had been returned.

The third site was during rush hour. Traffic was nearly at a standstill on the northbound side, and was moving slowly on the southbound side. Apparently someone wanted to bypass the northbound stall because they drove down the exit ramp on the wrong side of the road. I wonder what happened. All I know is that it was dangerous for everyone.