There are some graces I need God, only for today.
I chatted with the Kroger meat department man a little yesterday.
Ok, really he ranted and I listened. We have a history after all… This is a man who has repeatedly week after week for months had to run to the back and look in his new shipment for pork spare rib tips for me because a) I’m obsessed with them; b) I never seem to come in store at the right time on Saturdays for them to be already on the shelf.
But that was pre-pandemic.
There was no way I was asking him for anything yesterday. I just stopped and said “hey” and listened to him unexpectedly rant for a bit. After all, he has earned a rant.
When his rant was done, I admitted it sucked and wished him well… but clearly that was such an insufficient statement for what he was going to continue to face. After all, someone was waiting nearby already to presumably ask him for yet another item he was out of.
But maybe, just maybe, that moment of ranting made him feel better…
Only for today…
There are a lot of things I need to do for myself and others right now. And it helps to think about them one day at a time… Pope John XXIII understood this “only for today” phenomenon well. He prayed everyday for the graces to be better just one day at a time.
The following are excerpts from his Daily Decalogue that seemed to be the best reminders for me (and maybe you as well) today…
“Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.
Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for 12 hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.”
What can you do only for today?
