Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - October 2, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”
It was one of those days: I had to get away. My destination was a coffee shop, Antelope, outside the mall in the nearby town. My intention was to sit there, have coffee, and ponder, write and maybe ‘muse’. No matter how loud the surroundings, a change in ambience stimulates me. Since I no longer drive, I needed to find a ride among colleagues or confreres. Jim turned up. Though he was able to drive me in, another engagement would prevent him from bringing me back. I decided to gamble on running into an alumnus or neighbor who would get me back to campus.
Settling at a table with paper, pen, and iPhone did indeed lift my spirits and generate some thinking. I zipped off a good number of responses to email, more than I would have done in my office. For a break from the sedentary work, I walked for an hour in the mall. Still, no sight of a potential ride back home. And my phone’s power was dangerously low. The baristas could not help with a charging cord. I would need to use my RH app to call Uber for a ride. I sat down at my table, dangerously close to recovering the funk that drove me here in the first place. Just then a young lady coming to a nearby table greeted me with a very pleasant “Hello, good afternoon”. I seized the opening to return her greeting and vent a bit about my situation. She responded: “No problem; I have my charging cord, we’ll plug it in, and you’ll be okay.”
That issue solved, I called Uber and within a few minutes Saif, a Somali immigrant, arrived with a Ford Focus. I sat in the front seat and introduced myself. He gave me his name and asked what kind of music I’d like on the radio. Fearing what a young man in his 20s would choose if I didn’t seize the moment, I guided him to 90.1 the classical music station. And so, I rode back home to the music of Haydn and a bit of conversation with Saif whose English was limited. He commented as we entered my home campus that he drove this way at least once a day. He said: “The beautiful green all around always makes me feel happy.”
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
