The Empty Bench

This painting now has a whole new meaning for me. The brownish thing in the middle of the foreground is my cell phone and the white marks going out from it are the sound of the rings. I am heading for the bench to take the call and talk to whomever is calling me. (Or is it to whoever is calling me? Which takes precedence, the "to" or the "is?" Which is it, the object of the preposition or the subject of the verb? I am way rusty when it comes to grammatical rules. Come on, now, help me out!)

Anyway, I digress. The phone is working great. I can call from inside my home without the blasted antenna, no problem. I have a foldover, so the earphone is near my ear at the same time as the mouthpiece is near my mouth. Fabulous. Now I have to figure out the attributes of this new technical marvel. I think I only want a plain phone, but I have a feeling I will be lured as by Homer's sirens into many new and enticing features. Stay tuned for the adventures of a cell phone novice. Should I use text messaging for a mere pittance per month? How about taking and sending pictures? Or downloading music? Or?????????????? For now, I am determined to do the simple things. We'll see how it goes.

My circle is serving lunch at the funeral service of an old time friend tomorrow. She was struck down by cancer. I can remember when I thought the lunch thing after a funeral was barbaric. I no longer hold that opinion. It is a comfortable setting for old friends to get together and remember the life of the deceased. A time for crying, a time for laughing.. a spin-off of the old wake. A nice way to comfort one another at the absence of a friend in this world, and a send-off into the next.

Karen l left a message that her brother Gary has just discovered he has cancer. She asks for our prayers. Will do. Such young people. Another young woman called home and asked for prayer on our prayer chain for a friend... a young woman who was planning to marry in September, found she had cancer of the adrenal glands, and is in hospice care. Oofta.

I hope they will soon find a way to prevent cancer altogether. There are a few bright signs on the horizon, but how far in the future is the horizon? That's the question. When one achieves my ancient age, the thought that I will die fairly soon from something is not shocking. I try to keep track of my health as best I can, take all the medicines prescribed for me, exercise, eat right, etc. But the fact is, my earthly life cycle will inevitably come to a close, and fairly soon. Every one else's will also do the same thing sooner or later. 100%.

As someone said, "I don't fear death, but I do fear dieing." The passage can be painful or sudden, we don't know. I feel very fortunate that I have faith so that I have the strength to face the future knowing I am not alone. The Good Shepherd is with me.

A different subject: Ok, you guys who have my cell phone number - call me. That little item is on and in my pocket just waiting for your call. Take care.