I believe in being honest with God because, really, if you’re not honest with Him, who can you be honest with?
And on Monday or Tuesday I honestly said, “God, how about some snail mail?”
And God and Juli-YEAH and the United States Postal Service delivered. Snail mail from Juli-YEAH AW YISS.
So, to provide the commentary to what’s about to go down: in Jewish tradition/ Christianity there’s this great story of three Jewish young men who are told to worship an idol and they’re like, “Nope,” so instead they’re thrown into a fiery furnace.
Be me.
Be in high school.
Be in a predominately-Protestant homeschool group.
Be studying the book of Daniel for Literature class (homeschool culture is a special place!)
Come to the end of this story, and realize, suddenly, that everyone is reading way different words than the ones you have. Wait, what?
Yes, Catholics have a few extra bonuses in the book of Daniel.
Who knew?
Well, not high school me.
Anyway, in the Catholic version, the guys start singing a canticle praising God and God saves them and they sing some more things and, in the end, they’re saved and everyones’ hearts open to God.
In the Protestant version, in the end, God saves them and everyones’ hearts turn to God, btw. They just don’t have the song.
The important thing here is: the song. The canticle is still prayed every morning by all of the priests and most of our religious even the coolest lay people around the world.
It’s prayed spoken, but the words have a poetic rhythm, and we’re both familiar with the pattern.
I had to laugh when she sent me these words (we’re both doing our Polish-best to survive the winter):
Gray skies praise the Lord
Slushy streets, praise the Lord
Stinging cold air, praise the Lord.
And I decided to add my own.
Slicing winter winds, bless the Lord
Frozen solid nose hairs, bless the Lord
Salt-stained concrete, bless the Lord
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Stinging, watering eyes, bless the Lord
Tingling frostbit fingers, bless the Lord
Wool socks for daysssss, bless the Lord
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Windchill temps vs. actual temps, bless the Lord
The surprised coughs from entering the cold, bless the Lord
Double-and-triple layered pants, bless the Lord
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Toasty electric blanket, bless the Lord
The blast of cold when you step outside, bless the Lord
Ice scrapers and car brushes, bless the Lord
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Slush gathering in the gutters, bless the Lord
Icicles grouped around the exhaust pipes, bless the Lord
My missing peach mitten, bless the Lord
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
🙂
What would you add??