Convergences

Mural art in Chinatown, San Francisco

This morning I scheduled a grooming appointment for sweet Caspian, who no longer smells of coconut. He needs to, it's the year of the dog.

This morning I built a chair to go around our kitchen table; one of six we bought from a big box store that requires its customers to do all the work, including assembling the product.

This morning a kind mentor waits for her husband to endure five hours of brain surgery which will set the stage for a surgical implant that will reduce the ravaging tremors brought on by Parkinson's disease.

This morning is an odd convergence of Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day; the slick marketing of a martyred saint into an economic orgy of card-swapping and flower-power and chocolates, paired with the six-week long observance of Christ's impending death and resurrection, marked by fasting and reflection. Yesterday was Fat Tuesday, another slick marketing of orgies from who knows where, to sate the bodily cravings with engorgement in preparation for the long fast. More chocolates, please. More flowers, too. Throw the beads in the air and where they land, I don't care.

This morning also marks the great migration home of a billion Chinese to their family of origin, like a swarm of bees in search of their queen. This year, the year of the dog, marks many shifts in this great swath of humanity which craves security and craves protection from a big brother more than happy to oblige. More chocolates, please. More flowers, too.

This day I will receive the imposition of the ashes as a prayer for my friend and for humility in the light of a resurrected Messiah. I will also indulge in the steak my sweet husband will cook for his family tonight, his message of love with a fist full of chocolates and flowers. More please.

And come Saturday, we will celebrate this year of the dog with friends from far away, friends who could not migrate home. This year of red, blue moons and other odd convergences are one more way to participate in the mysteries of God's goodness in the middle of a strange, messed up world.