It rained this morning but I washed the laundry anyway. Monday brings necessity back into focus after the weekend. Midmorning, the kids and I pulled on our raincoats and headed off to the library. (Yes, they are still home with me and we’re stilling waiting for school spaces. One of these days…)
It was fairly quiet there today and, after an initial trawl for unread novels, we soon settled down with math workbooks. Blue is working on his 4 times tables and was amazed to find “secret patterns” hidden in the numbers. Beangirl ploughed through her 11s and 12s and headed right back to the bookshelves.
We came home laden with books as usual. The rain had stopped, and Plum fell asleep somewhere along the way, which meant that I could have lunch on the garden bench outside with my two big kids. And then hang up the laundry.
Now, it is sunny and the children are settled, so I can grab a moment or two in my study and set down a few words. Blue has inspired some forward thinking. On the walk home, he spent some time reminding me that his birthday is coming up. Sure it is. In November. We’ve got a long way to go yet, fella. And we’re trying to live one day at a time around here, remember? Or, as Bean enchantingly puts it, to live presently. But when he mentioned looking forward to November, I remembered that Michaelmas is coming up at the end of this month. Next week in fact. So we’ve got dragon bread to plan.
I thought that I should also get ready for storytelling, too, so I took a look at the upcoming lectionary reading, keeping my eyes open for angels. Revelation 12 brings out Michael himself, and the powerful vision of the woman crowned with stars and the serpent’s defeat. But it was Genesis 28 that caught my eye. Good old Jacob and his vision of climbing angels. Of course, it starts with an unpleasant episode of a rock for a pillow. That was certainly last week around here. Rock-hard frustration and not a lot of rest. (Thanks for all the notes of encouragement and sympathy.) But when Jacob drifts off to sleep, he sees angels. Better than that – he sees angels close at hand, both coming and going. He sees that where he is isn’t the uncomfortable end of the road, off and banished in the wilderness; it is the gate of Heaven. A place where the gap between heaven and earth is thin, and God is close at hand. Like everywhere else. If only we can rest and remember.
Now that will be a good story to sit with in this season, won’t it?
