Holy Thursday & I got stopped by the Highway Patrol

Holy Thursday & I got stopped by the Highway Patrol
You might wonder how these two things have anything to do with one another; they don’t really.
It is Holy Thursday, the kickoff to a big four days in my Faith. Yes, yes, I am a practicing Catholic. Yes, yes, I also sneak a little Buddism in there as well...but I go to Mass and Holy week still means something to me as does Lent.
As an adult I’m no longer forced to "give up anything" or maintain the vigilance of attending each service as I once was. But there are key things that I remember and attribute to a life that is a work in progress….I consider myself a faithful person…not specifically religious as I don’t like that term. I am very much open minded to other’s beliefs….some religions really irritate me but that’s my personal opinion. I don’t understand why certain religions treat women like 3rd class citizens…and to me I can just see Jesus wherever he is "smacking himself in the forehead with a big Homer Simpson "doh!"

I think in my twenties to early mid-thirties I was proving myself and did really care what people thought.

A friend and I were discussing a general lack of respect in today’s early 20 something’s and I believe that is true. I might have been a hard-working, partying, aspiring to be the best whatever at 24, but I was respectful. When did these people stop being kind to the elderly, respectful to them? When did they find that instant gratification was the road to true happiness? Good luck with that.

I heard something today…it was a story of what Holy Thursday is…and if you don’t know it is a pretty cool story whether you are Christian or Jew or Buddhist or Hindu or whatever. Some big stuff happened on Holy Thursday…significant…the Last Supper, the first Holy Eucharist, the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Jesus finally realizing what was going to happen to him and what he had to do to make it so. "Holy shit, Dad, are you kidding me? I’m going to let them nail me to a cross and then forgive these bastards?"? The betrayal of Jesus by Judas….and the thing that kicked it all off…the washing of the feet. This used to be so cool on Holy Thursday services because the Priest would get on his knees and cleanses twelve pairs of feet. (yuck) But this is what I heard this morning…"When we know who we are we can stoop to wash the feet of others."

I think I spent so much energy in my past focusing on a goal or just plain floundering that I was a bit insecure and I was competitive and full of fight. Oh don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t get me really angry….but I’ve realized in the past few years that really when you find yourself, really find who you are and the comfort of being you…then you can do whatever you need to do to make yourself and others happy. In my case I decided to downsize my life a bit….quit spending time and effort on what I thought others thought was important…. Living the day….loving, really loving those family and friends…being kind. Kindness, consideration, random acts of kindness, and stooping to help those who really could use a hand, or their feet washed…whatever metaphor you want. The people I respect the most now are no longer the ones with the most money and most power and most blah blah blah. I respect the hardworking, honest, kind, wonderfully giving people. Do some of them intersect with the most money most power people? Sometimes. Did I stop caring what the young, handsome, studlies think of me when I don’t have on makeup and don’t have on 4 inch stilettos and just want to wander thru Lowe’s or work out at the gym? YES I DID. I also quit worrying about what other women thought of me and how I should be just like them….oy, I so don’t care. Baby doll, get the hell over yourself.

No, I’m not a churchy preachy person. I am opinionated….and it baffles me when I do a nice thing for someone to have them doubt my motive. Remembering a birthday, knowing that someone is ill and offering to help, knowing that someone is having financial struggles and paying their electricity bill….these things are just how I can do things. I don’t want anything…well maybe a Thank you just to be respectful…but I don’t expect it. Yes, I still say ’Yes, sir, yes ma’am’. I still hold open doors for children and elderly and people carrying something. I still smile and talk to people. I still have a considerable amount of skepticism.

And tomorrow night is my favorite event…the Stations of the Cross…and if you’re not Catholic you’re not doing them probably….but it’s the meaning behind then….if a Jewish 30 year old can go thru that 2000 years ago…step by step…to do something kind to help you…then perhaps that is a big fat message to the rest of us. And that is a whole other conversation. Even if you’re not religious, even if you think the whole God/Jesus thing is bunk, think that the basic premise of "being kind to others, being self-sacrificing" might just make this a better world.

Oh, right, and I got stopped by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol this morning for speeding. Yes, I was speeding and he should have written me a ticket. Luckily he didn’t have the radar on. But as he walked up to my SUV I already had the window down, my license and insurance out and smiled. He was polite and so was I. "I stopped you because you were going kind of fast". "I was? I wasn’t paying attention…just running late." He takes my stuff, looks into the back of my car…realizes how boring I am with the following in the back: 40 lbs of Iams dog food, my new Panini maker from Williams Sonoma, a golf umbrella, a case of diet Pepsi, a huge box of Frosted Flakes, 40 lb bag of potting soil. Yep. He comes back with a written ticket and tells me to sign it and I asked, "How much is it?" He then smiled and said, "it’s a warning only, just slow down."
You see being polite, being respectful, and also having a clean record did work to my advantage. Karma, baby, Karma. (Yes, Melissa you are RIGHT)
I hope everyone has a great weekend whether you have any religious holidays or not.