January 18, 2022 thought for today, A wise man hears one word and understands two. Jewish Proverb

Until late yesterday afternoon I wasn’t so sure I was going to be able to get out of my driveway today to get to food pantry at church, let alone to the session meeting at church that night. I ended up calling around to find someone who would shovel the snow on the driveway. I found one. One of my neighbors did his own driveway and two of the other neighbors but mine didn’t seem to be on his list. I opted out of the meeting last night due to back problem, snow, cold and dark. But I did make it to food pantry today. 

Yesterday’s photo a day title was “in the sky”. Yesterday was heavily overcast with about four inches of snow on our streets, roofs, trees. It was a world of white. This was the best shot I could get of “in the sky”. 

We had more people come to the pantry than I expected due to this weather. They came two or three at a time with quiet time in between. 

It got a tiny bit above freezing, enough to melt what was left on the driveways after the heavier snow was shoveled away yesterday. And tomorrow we are supposed to be able to enjoy something in the 40s for one day at least. 

I got a chance to start work on both the bulletin and the newsletter. Now it’s time to wait for the rest of the information to get to me so I can finish them. The minister told me he may not be able to get it to me before Friday. I explained that I liked to print early Thursday morning so that I can get it in mail so the lay reader and others can get it before the service on Sunday. This minister is one that preaches for us once a month so he had over a month to prepare, but I guess we’re all busy. 

The word today is ordinary. Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary. Blaise Pascal. My powers are ordinary. Only my application brings me success. Isaac Newton. I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. Isaac Newton. The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest, Thomas More. Every person above the ordinary has a certain mission that they are called to fulfill, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It is the mark of a great man that he puts to flight all ordinary calculations. He is at once sublime and touching, childlike and of the race of giants. Honore de Balzac. The greater intellect one has, the more originality one finds in men. Ordinary persons find no difference between men. Blaise Pascal.  Every person above the ordinary has a certain mission that they are called to fulfill. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Every man, in his own opinion, forms an exception to the ordinary rules of morality. William Hazlitt.  Every occupation has its own honor before God. Ordinary work is a divine vocation or calling. In our daily work no matter how important or mundane we serve God by serving the neighbor and we also participate in God's on-going providence for the human race, Martin Luther. The whole world is a series of miracles, but we're so used to them we call  them ordinary things, Hans Christian Andersen. 

Today’s photo challenge is “serenity”. The only thing I could think of was quiet and solitude. So this photo from my archives seemed to fit the bill. 

It isn’t always just the therapy or specialized animals who bond with us in a service. There are the animals of nature that sometimes need our attention since we are the stewards of the earth and all lives that inhabit it. This article is about some young manatees whose lives are in danger and have been brought to the Columbus Zoo for nursing and healing. Side note: note that the Columbus Zoo was chosen and accepted to receive these animals and to give the care they are known for using for years. They will be cared for until they gain enough weight to be returned to their natural home in Florida when it is safe for their return. They are all females and were orphaned then rescued as calves in 2020 and 2021. They were at the ZooTampa until they became so crowded that they needed help. They were flown here in custom built “state of the art containers” and were accompanied by a Columbus Zoo employee.  Florida manatees are dying in high numbers. During the year of 2021 (to December 31) there were 1,101 manatee deaths in Florida, double for the five-year average. The problem is mostly man made along with some weather threats causing a starvation issue. The seagrass that the manatees eat and cold weather along with the boat strikes are majors issues as well as the ingestion of fishing gear by accident. 

I am going to pull something from the freezer for dinner....it’s a good thing I freeze left overs. 

Joy

this has many of the qualities of art, lines, textures......