The World Is Passing Away

(or, Car Batteries, Orfeo, and Hot Chocolate)

Today, T and I went to St. Columbkille's again :) After a nice breakfast we drove to Mass (we drove this time because we were going to pick up our share of meat from a co-op).  Mass, as usual, was lovely and it seemed to me that the theme for today was that of the Second reading: the world in its present form is passing away.  We heard the reading of Jonah and his unlikely success in preaching repentance to Nineveh.  We heard how the lives of the fishermen from Galilee were changed forever by Jesus' call.  "Teach me your ways, O Lord" said the Psalmist, for He guides the humble to justice. 

But after Mass our car wouldn't start! Maybe it was just too cold for our poor little Toyota--a "real feel" of 5 degrees? So T ended up running to the meat pick-up place  (which, incidentally, was out of meat! They'll deliver it later this week, but it's still kinda lame...) while I waited for AAA. The tow-man was able to jump-start the engine, and I drove home, hurried down to the C-line and met T at the symphony so we could attend Haydn's Orfeo.  Maybe the world of our car is passing away, too? That would be fine with T, though--I don't think he wants a car much anymore :) 

Once warmly inside Symphony Hall, we sat down to enjoy the (comparatively) short opera, which was very good.  The soprano was very good and it was a nice relaxing performance.  It made me want to read more ancient mythology--I loved it when I was a kid and majored in Classics in undergrad. Fun guys, those ancients! 

And even here, there was the "passing away" of the world. Poor Orpheus--he lost the love of his life twice and then he was poisoned by the Bacchantes, who were then torn to bits by the furies. I'd say that's a passing away, right? Spouses do pass away. As Christians we believe [hope] we will see them again, but it can seem like the whole world has left with her. 

Since it was so cold afterwards, we decided to stop by Trident cafe and have a cup of hot chocolate before getting on the T. I got white hot chocolate and T got a Chocolatino--like a mocha but with chocolate milk and drip coffee instead of milk, chocolate syrup, and espresso. We sat and chatted for a bit, enjoyed the ambiance of the cafe and watched the people going by. 

And I realized that the world "in its present form" is always passing away in one way or another.  But for us, for now, we don't know what will be passing away and what will stay. We've only heard back from half of the law schools T applied to, so we really have no idea where we'll be in the fall. But that's all ok, isn't it? "I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction."  And the Lord will take care of us, even if the world should pass away :)