Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”

To my mind, two situations are equally mesmerizing: watching the ocean waves rolling on to the beach, the glint of the late afternoon sun on waves, on the other hand, watching the parade of human beings in a large city. Some say that the drive of evolution is towards ever-increasing diversity. Sitting in a coffee shop on Montgomery Street weekdays between 7 and 9 a.m., one easily believes it (apart from those North Face jackets).

Bankers, street people, businessmen, service people, truck drivers, students and tourists pass by varied in size, gait, color, dress. The short and the tall, the Mediterranean, the African, the Nordic, the Asian; hurried or sauntering, paunchy or petite, blonde and brunette, bald and bushy, bearded (that’s in, especially for men) or smooth, gray and going, curly or shaved; bedraggled and bejeweled; smiling or somber, worried or confident, resolute or tentative, tottering elders or two year olds.

Serious or silly, grim or glad, in flip-flops or stilettos, stylish or just-out-of-bed, stiff or casual, drab or dandy, eager or dragging, hobbling or hearty, wired or gawking, striding or stumbling; helmet or baseball cap, rotund or pencil thin, deposited and kissed on the cheek by the driver, tourists with children, couples walking hand-in-hand, tots clinging to mom or dad.

And all of this is only exterior, external, only what one can see!  Think of the variety within: worries, hopes, desires, ambitions, anxieties, love and hate, joy and sorrow, disappointment, satisfaction or anguish, anger or gratitude, etc.!

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!”

Reply to Fr. Don at: DTalafous@csbsju.edu

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