One of my fellow teachers suffered a fall inside the house and hit her head.  The aftermath can be difficult, not that I’d call one of God’s acts cruel.  We have to learn how to make the most of it, and that’s not always difficult.  All adversity ends up doing good.  That’s one of my sayings.

Take the time I was written out of the physics program because of color-blindness.  The world opened up a career as an English teacher and author, and eventually I loved it.  Notice the word “eventually.”  It takes time with us.

Today was the Feast of the Epiphany, when, officially, Christ came to us gentiles through the three wise men.  In some parts of Europe they celebrate Christmas today.

Here in the West, no more door wreaths after today, and the Christmas trees come down.  But now is the time to live that Christmas message.

A simple life style, note: a stable, not a princely suite, and shepherds, not Herod’s court.  It’s something to think about.  He taught a lot by example; you can take it or leave it.

Four fraudulent charges on my credit card, and the fourth was a legitimate charge, but I, in the haze of old age, didn’t recognize it.  When I did, I tried to get back to the credit card company to correct it, but was already too late; all I got was to be put on hold.  I waited about fifteen minutes to try another phone number.  I had no way of knowing how long that hold would be.

Along came a lady operator, who grasped my predicament immediately, and though she couldn’t shorten the wait, at least she had some idea of how long it would take, and offered to wait with me.  I was grasping at straws, so I said yes. 

She kept her word, and before long I had settled the dispute and the charity was not disparaged.  She must have been showered by graces from heaven, besides my thanks, for her kind deed.

Did you ever think of something in a pinch, when you thought all was lost?  Well, that’s the Holy Spirit, taking care of you when you weren’t thinking.  This past New Year’s Eve, my son was visiting, and my wife had plenty of gifts, Christmas gifts for the granddaughter, since we hadn’t seen them.  But I, forgetful as ever, had nothing to give.

Then it came to me.  Of course, on New Year’s Eve, I had several bottles of fine wine stored for a few years, and so I gave my daughter-in-law her favorite white wine, and my son, a fine bottle of Chardonnay.  That was the Holy Spirit urging me to use a never-to-be-confused spirit for Christmas.  My granddaughter was so flooded with my wife’s gifts she didn’t even notice Grandpa.

What do you do when you’ve told the bank that four of the charges on your credit card are fraudulent, but the one you forgot isn’t?  And it happens to be one of your favorite charities?

You go through the afternoon on hold, waiting to be reconnected so you can straighten out the error.  Of course, you don’t know when the hold will end.  Then a kind female agent comes along and offers to accompany you in the wait for the valid connection, and while that doesn’t shorten the wait, at least you know she knows when the wait is over.

There’s something to be said about some female (distaff) agents—at least they have empathy.