Presence

Jesus Would Wear a Mask

January 23, 2021

 

Yesterday, I saw a woman in the grocery store. She was not wearing a mask. None of her four adorable children were wearing masks. Her husband was not wearing a mask.

She was wearing a cute t-shirt that said, “Happiness is a mood. Joy is a fruit.”

Thanks to my Conservative Baptist upbringing and 15 years of weekly Sunday school lessons, I recognized the Biblical reference there.  Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit that Paul talks about in Galatians (Galatians 5:22-23).  Those fruits are all pretty nifty. I even have them memorized,  also thanks to my 15 years of Sunday school.

In case you are wondering or need a little reminder because you did not have 15 years of Baptist Sunday school: the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

I was a little confuddled that this lovely woman and her beautiful family were out in the world, that she was sporting a shirt that had a Christian vibe (although you might not have caught the reference without at least a few years of Sunday school), and that none of them were wearing masks. Continue Reading…

Presence

Gloriosky Zero! Inauguration Day at Last

January 20, 2021

Today is inauguration day. “Gloriosky, Zero!” my Mom would have said.

My Mom was a lifelong Democrat who proudly sported a “Placer County Democrat” sticker on the back of her car and who didn’t care what the politically conservative members of her church thought when they saw her drive into the parking lot. In fact, I think she kind of thrived on the attention.  “Gloriosky Zero” was one of her favorite phrases. She said it all the time. Here is a gift from Mr. Google, something I never knew until I thought to look it up just now. “Gloriosky” was the catchphrase of Little Annie Rooney, the main character of a comic strip that launched in 1927 and ran until 1966. Little Annie had a dog named Zero. Evidently, Little Annie said, “Gloriosky, Zero!” a lot. There you have it.

All these years I thought my Mom invented that crazy phrase.

Nope. She was just repeating something from a comic that she probably enjoyed as a little girl, and which she was able to read for years and years, even up until the time I was born.

This inauguration day feels very sweet. Because it’s been a long four years, friends. Continue Reading…