Meditation on Salvation

 

Today the weather was very beautiful. Travalon and I went back to see the optician, who wasn't busy but was a little crusty at first like last time, and then she softened and was friendly. I should have new glasses in a week and a half. Then we walked around the neighborhood, looking for my lost rosary. I was so sad about my rosary, and had a lot of bitter self-recrimination over it, but at Adoration I felt more peaceful, and suddenly I realized I should be offering up this suffering for souls in Purgatory, maybe even specifically for the people who died in the plane crash on All Saints' Day. Could I retroactively offer up my suffering for the past week? I am no expert in the economy of salvation, but I'll say that this evening after leading Night Prayer I changed the sheets on our bed and then started to walk around to music, and suddenly I felt unbelievable joy. I can't prove this, but I feel like my suffering released the young copilot from Purgatory. Only a week? Well, she was only twenty, how much could she have sinned? Though I had absolutely no connection to her in life, I did feel a little bonded since she was from a Brazilian family, and I'm studying Portuguese and doing three kinds of Brazilian music. There was another time I felt like I released a young woman from Purgatory with my prayers. Is any of this real? All I can say is salvation is stranger and yet somehow far more wonderful than we can imagine. I feel like I'm having these odd experiences because of my imprudent demand to achieve enlightenment in one lifetime, along with remembering my past life and never having children. My advice to you: do not put limits on God like that. I feel like this is somehow bound up with music and with art created for joy and not money, like train graffiti. I feel like there's a connection with Sunday at band practice, when we were about to work on "In Dulci Jubilo," and I said how I loved that song because the words really go into how God became man. The hostess, who is Jewish, looked at me in wonder - I'm not trying to convert anyone, but I feel like she understood what I was saying, and we had a mutual encounter with the Divine in that moment. Maybe I will never find my little rosary again, and I can only hope that it's with someone who appreciates it and not thrown in the trash or something, but maybe it really did work a miracle.

Speaking of train graffiti, here is the exciting conclusion of the video Travalon made in late October:

These next two photos, which are from one train car, are my favorites. The colors are amazing!

One more screenshot of the kid with the blocks:

Travalon has a lot more videos of real trains, plus all the videos he took at the model train show, so watch for forthcoming movies and/or screenshots.

Famous Hat

Rosary Posters

 

Today I worked on campus and walked with Hardingfele. I made a "Lost Rosary" poster and printed out three copies, two to hang up near the Adoration Chapel and one to hang in my bedroom, so I can always remember my poor, little, lost rosary. Travalon said he thought there was no point in hanging one at the gas station I stopped at Tuesday night on my way home. I'd probably just get weirdos calling: "I have your rosary. Come meet me alone at this sketchy location." Everyone said they thought it fell out of my pocket in the car, but we never thought to check Travalon's car, so that is one last attempt we can make. Our shared governance meeting at the end of the day actually ended quickly so people could go hear a talk by one of the candidates for Chancellor, but I'm mad that the interim Chancellor isn't one of the candidates, so forget that. Instead I went to my old church and hung the posters. 

This month has really been a roller coaster for my emotions, and it's not even in double digits yet. It started with that horrific plane crash, then the ecstasy of the election results, then the devastation of losing my favorite rosary, and sometimes it changes within an hour, like when I sat alone at a big table for forty-five minutes and then everyone arrived and it was a real party. Every time I think I've made peace with losing my rosary, I think, "But it has to be SOMEWHERE! Why didn't I put it somewhere safer? Why didn't I pray with it?" Making the posters did help me feel better. It probably won't help anything, but it was something to do, and they turned out really well, I thought. I did get a new rosary in the mail today. It's a Christmas rosary, and they sent a free bracelet with it.

Here are more screenshots from the train video Travalon took, I think, in Slinger.

There is still another minute left on this video, so it will have to wait for another day. A minute might not sound like much, but on a train like this it could be tons of cars, and who knows how many have graffiti on them? This post is already long enough.

Famous Hat