Good day, so far (it's still afternoon)
Yesterday I walked about 1200 steps, no, to be strictly honest I accumulated 1200 steps on my step counter.
So I'm back on the road at Yosemite, walking between sequoias again along the top of the valley.
Most of the tomatoes I left on a sunny windowsill ripened, and there were various bits and pieces of vegetables in the bottom of the fridge, so I got chopping;
It might not be even close to a proper 'nasi goreng' but made a very good Sunday lunch.
I was reading the list of ingredients on the back of the packet - for a processed ready meal food, it's not too bad. Not to salty either, maybe a bit sweeter than I like.
It's the 18th Sunday after Trinity today. This is the collect for the week in my old prayer book;
LORD, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
I was pondering this prayer; for many people the words 'follow thee the only God' could be anything from irrelevant to offensive, depending on what they believe. Should I therefore even post this?
But yes; there is something to take from this prayer, for everyone, whoever, however, even if you need to skip over some of the words.
We all struggle with temptations, however we frame them. Money, power, addiction, untruth, injustice - no, not just as things that happen 'out there' but things that we have to deal with inside ourselves. And surely it is a good thing to want to have pure hearts and minds? I'm not talking about the trivial stuff, the odd bit of vocabulary that gets used under stress. It's those dodgy moments when we do or say something that, on reflection, would have been better not done or said. Or the reverse - missed the opportunity ('through weakness, negligence, or our own deliberate fault') to do or say good.
Well, I hope we all manage to 'withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil' this week.
I've been reflecting on that too- we really do have temptations and they are very much within ourselves as much as external. Definitely felt I could have been more loving this week in some encounters I had with people and you are right, it is no bad thing to want to have a pure mind and heart. I feel yuck when I am not being kind. It makes you spiky and gnarled within!
ReplyDeleteYour Nasi goreng looks very tasty!
I NEVER skin tomatoes- ha, cannot be bothered!!!
I skinned the tomatoes this time as I didn't want to puree the veg gloop. Spiky and gnarled is a good description!
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