Tuesday, February 2, 2021                (today’s lectionary)
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
Tilting toward the sun
And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. “Yes, he is coming!” says the Lord of hosts.
On the day before Candelmas we sat, along with Jesus, crooked and tilting at the Bee Cave Sculpture Park. A nice table had been set for us, with four chairs and a space for our picnic, and we set out our three kinds of chips and Cheetos, cranberry juice and sweet beef jerky from Bucc-ee’s, green grapes and an apple. We had a plastic knife to cut the grapes for Jasper, and 5 ounce tumblers for us all. Jasper is learning to drink from an open cup.
Miles climbed up on his chair and slid straight to the back, then turned himself around. The cups slid too, and he caught them as they fell, yellow, red, green and blue. We were getting the lay of the land and so they still were empty. Then the chips and jerky started to move. I threw out my arm and caught them on the edge of the table, and we looked at each other. Go ask Alice, maybe she can join us in this tipping wonderland. If we just let ourselves slide, where will we all end up today?
Jesus won’t let us fall away.
Lift up, O gates, your lintels, reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in!
Next to us a beautiful statue of the Cat and the Fiddle played silently along in the morning breeze. His sweet, straining strings roused the cow, further down the meadow, and we got ready for its jump up, up, away and over the moon, while the little dog laughed to see such fun! Behind us a big van stopped in front of the police station, and we realized the Lake Travis fire station was there too. A man was coming to fix the big green and white ladder truck which the firemen got from forest firefighters a few years ago. There are no forests in Texas Hill Country, only woods and brush. Miles wondered how woods are different from forests.
Raphael took our picture in front of their other red fire truck, and Margaret asked him about his scariest experience firefighting. Once a ceiling fell down on the place they had just stepped back from. But that didn’t scare him like making rescues on the highway, with traffic coming fast and everyone watching the firemen instead of the road. On the way to the park we prayed for the people in an accident we couldn’t see, after a fire car with red, blue, and white lights flashing flew past us.
When Mary and Joseph brought in the child Jesus, Simeon spoke to them. Simeon was devout and awaiting the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit came upon him and he prayed, “Now Lord, let your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, prepared in the sight of all people, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel.”
We walked awhile on the not-so-yellow, not-really-brick road through the park, past the Aztec altar decorated with a sailboat where we all took a momentary break, past the tu-lips lady with no ears and the man of a thousand rusty bones, and the barefoot boy who was loving his dog from his nose to his toes. But after talking to Raphael, everything else seemed less exciting, and we chose not to return to the phototropic table, blessed by Alice and tilted toward the sun. We settled into our car seats and headed home.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.
(Malachi 3, Psalm 24, Hebrews 2, Luke 2)
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