As I wrote yesterday, I had a meeting today. We have the same meeting every 3rd Tuesday. Not similar meetings--the same meeting. Oh, some content may change, but not enough to make it interesting. My boss, Todd, has been involved (on behalf of U-Haul) in a court case with the State of California that has been dragging on for over 2 years now. We think it's close to a settlement, but he gets "summoned" to depositions and hearings quite often with just 12 hours notice. The appearances are frequently canceled just as suddenly. I don't know how he keeps his cool about it--I'd be tearing my hair out if I had any left!
Anyway, he was supposed to be at a hearing today and I was going to lead the meeting. I went down to Fresno yesterday to prepare for it. The General Managers were excited because when I lead the meetings, they are usually over by noon, and they can get back to work serving customers. Todd's hearing was canceled at 4pm yesterday, so he ended up leading the meeting instead.
Todd and I discuss every month how he can run a meeting like I do and be done by noon, and we plan on it. But it never happens with him. He gets confused and off-track and will continually check his e-mail and answer it during the meeting while we all sit around and look at one another, and, like today, the meeting won't end until 5 pm.
I could have gone to Mass at 6:45 this morning then go to the meeting, but since Todd had promised to end the meeting earlier this month, I thought, "OK,I will just go tonight in Stockton". Well, it didn't happen. Fortunately, there is a 5:30 in Fresno, at St. Anthony Claret. Unfortunately, it's a Spanish Mass. But variety is the spice of life, and I can understand Spanish somewhat as long as it is spoken slowly enough. Since it was obvious that Spanish was the 2nd language of the priest tonight, it was understandable for me. And no matter what language is spoken at Mass, it is the same all over the world, anyway. I just prefer to understand the homilies rather than guess at the message.
What I like about St. Anthony's is the crucifix behind the altar. The Corpus is life-sized and painted realistically and brings home to me the suffering Christ went through for me (for all of us).
Tonight I noticed something in the way the Corpus is painted that occupied my thoughts for the next 3 hours until I got home; the crucifix shows Christ with skinned knees, obviously representing the falls he took while carrying the cross to Calvary.
But is that the obvious conclusion? For some reason, it made me think of His childhood. All children skin their knees often when learning to walk, and although Jesus is God, He still experienced all of the frailties of His human nature, so skinned knees probably occured.
Then I thought "What other injuries or feelings might He have experienced while 'advancing in age and wisdom and favor before God and man'"? (Lk 2:52)
Even before He was found in the Temple. While He was learning to walk, did He skin His knees? Did He cry and ask for "Mommy" or "Daddy" (meaning St. Joseph)? When learning the trade of a carpenter was there a time when the hammer slipped and smashed a finger? And if these things did happen, were they, in effect, a part of the redemptive sufferings He suffered for our sakes?
What about the anxiety He must have felt as a teenager in anticipation of His "coming out" at the wedding feast in Cana? He MUST have been anxious to spread His Father's Word, but in humility He waited until the appointed time. Was this anxiety part of our redemption as well?
Too much heavy thinking for one day. I think I'll go to bed, since it's after midnight now and I want to go to Mass at 6:30, then work in Modesto all day tomorrow.
I'll write some more tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a picture of Our Lady of Good Remedy:
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