The Unexpected

"O, O, how He loves me", was what I was thinking about after having been so richly entertained at a Coffee House, sponsored by the Church of St. Michael , in Southbridge, last night. The young artist, Shawn, father of four, and band were "spectacular." I wish they could have played all night, but, I'm sure they were spent and, had a long trip back to the Boston area. They are expected to have their first CD soon, as they are in the process of its production.

The Church of St. Michael, is leading the way in providing community education, outreach and Christian entertainment, and services, and the Community Meal. Other October events include: our yard, food and bake sale, and the up-coming turkey party and spaghetti feed. We have two services a day, Vespers on Saturday and Liturgy on Sunday.

Once again, we found ourselves in a "harvest atmosphere" of pumpkins, corn stalks, and the like, being served, "free of charge," pizza and refreshments. The wind was superfluous in its effort to bring in a harvest frost on a very cold evening, but failed to leave the frosty stash behind. The coffee was a hit as usual. All this, followed our Saturday Vesperal Prayer Service, at five o'clock.

Every night, I have a routine, beginning with checking my face book page and e-mails to see what is going on with my family and friends. We sure missed Vic and Linda, and we're happy to see that they had arrived at their destination, a wedding, in Pennsylvania. It looks like they were having a good time, and after all their hard work, chairing the yard-sale wonderfully, they deserved it.

Next, it was time to remove make-up and wash, take vitamins and get ready for the appropriate night wear, which I usually place on the bed. So, there I was in the bathroom, without a stitch on and boom! I didn't know what it was, all I knew was, I was in the dark, as well as everyone else in the neighborhood. When God made starlight, it was good, that is, if you were not inside. If you can picture it, I felt my way to the bedroom from the bathroom, down the blackened hallway, and made it to the bed, in one piece. That is why I have a rule about not leaving anything on the floor in the way, in order not to trip over anything. That would have been cute, falling down in that condition, not able to get up, or even see where a phone was.

John had to come upstairs in the dark, a real challenge at best. At least, he had his clothes on, and was watching television. What was the explosion all about that left me (us) in the dark? Remembering the sixties, and the blackout, we could have easily panicked. Keeping a sound mind, while thoughts raced through like --where is my nightgown, is extremely important at a time like that. It was said that there were many pregnancies in the last outage, boredom was blamed for one of the reasons. I also thought about people stuck on trains, escalators, and moving stairs and well as elevators, having lived the city life. How frightening that had to be. My first thought then, was how extensive is this? We looked down the street, once I adorned my nightwear, which was where I thought it would be, slipping it on. We opened the front door and saw street lights down below, as we sit on a hill. Then, I thought about candles for light, but couldn't remember where the matches were. Thoughts of 9-11 caused me to remember my cell phone, and within a moment, there was light.

These events cause you to learn about emergencies and preparedness, if nothing else. Looking outside at my neighbors house, who initially, I thought had lights, did not. There were interestingly enough, lights outdoors which are illuminated by the help daily of the sun. What a great idea to have if you need to vacate your home suddenly and unexpectedly, as they light up your stairwell and part of your property.

Help arrived in a second, a flash. We didn't know who made the call. The electric company provided their largest truck, at least that's what it looked like to me. What entertainment, as we both peered out of the door, and how all our neighbors, (except for one that came down the street carring a flashlight), slept through that, I'll never know. Lights, encircled the street from the onset of the police cars arrival. Apparently, no foul play, but the serviceman had his hands full, determining the cause. Decked in a white hard hat and flashlight, he examined the telephone poll, which was directly across the street from our residence.

With all the excitement, I couldn't remember if I had placed the eye drops in my eyes or not, as I usually did before bedtime. I brushed my teeth in the dark, and was thankful that I had already taken my pills, was out of the shower, and could see what I was in fact, taking.

What did I learn from this experience? We are never alone when Jesus is with us. He is the only light that we need. We may stumble in the darkness if we do not ready ourselves for the unexpected.

You cannot put eye drops in your eyes in the dark. Life is full of challenges. I must have fallen asleep the instant I went to bed. Pitch black is the best way to find rest, when you have a sense of being "secure". The only thing better, would have been to hear the sound of the rain, which we had recently experienced. Two-and a half hours later, the furnace was working like crazy trying to catch up, but I was completely oblivious to it. Maybe, when I take a shower from now on, I should light up one of those nice scented candles, just in case....

There is some wisdom to be gained here called preparedness.