Saturday, January 21, 2012

Fractured Days

It's been forever since its been like this. The house is full of warmth and love though it is quiet and early in the morning. I'm watching the sun blaze through Fran's thousand shades of green. The Palm Tree with the oyster face, coconut bra and grass skirt smiles at me. Goddess sits on the Beloved Back Deck with her myriad of stuffed animals eating the treats that I've given her.

Jack Johnson sings softly in the background (sorry Stephanie Lotti but sometimes it's just right!).

This late January day is going to be 74 degrees full of warmth. The ocean breezes are light and tickle my face with salt. My bare feet dangle from the high top chair. Underwear lay unused in drawers. Life is good today.

I was talking to my friend Samuel Adams, who plays damn good live music on Tybee Island with Gordon Hill and Davy, yesterday. Sam's in the midst of his 100,000 Miles Check up. After years of working hard, making people happy, raising children, finding love and losing love ... the pipes burst in his body. So he's being treated by the body mechanics who call themselves doctors and is getting a major overhaul.

Sometime today, those of us who love him are going to gather so he can tell us what God has told him we're doing at Bar Church tomorrow. We have no idea. Only Sam knows what God wants. He tells us occasionally.

Anyway, Sam and I were talking yesterday and I suggested having him lowered in from the ceiling during the middle of the service. It's very Biblical.

"And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. And being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." (Read Mark 2:3-5.)

Now on Tybee, I seriously doubt you could assemble four men at the same time who could carry anything ... except beer.

Removing a roof is likely out of the question ... unless enough beer is involved.

It is true that Sam is laying in bed a lot these days though I don't think he's ready to move to a pallet. And he's not paralytic though he can't lift much anything right now, including his guitar.

When I suggested this Samuel burst out laughing and asked if he could borrow one of my loin clothes. Sarah immediately suggested Fig Leafs. Dedra immediately went on a search for rope.

"We're guaranteed no day but today," God told Samuel to say.

The lyrics from RENT immediately rang through my head. "There's only now, there's only here, give in to love or live in fear ... no other path ... no other way ... no day but today."

Today is our day to do with what we will. It is a gift directly from God. None of us asked for it but we all share it. What we do with it is up to us.

Then Rocky and Bullwinkle came to me. Well not them, but the Fractured Fairy Tells from that show. Traditional fairy tales were taken, fractured and re-told ... hilariously so. (You can You Tube them!)

Today is God's gift to us. Some of us have it pretty easy today. Others not so much. Either way, it's our day to fracture or to celebrate.

I've had a lot of fractured days.

Unless something unexpected drops on me from out of the sky, today's not going to be one of them.

No Day but today.