Good Thursday morning, good citizens of Christmastide.
It's the ninth day of Christmas when every true love gives their true love, nine ladies dancing. Someone has actually figured out that if you hired nine women to dance for your true love, it would cost $8,308.12 (+10%).
"Nine Ladies Dancing" is symbolic of the Nine Gifts of the Holy Spirit - or, as described in some places, "Nine life principles -(Love, Joy, Peace, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control, and Patience.)
The Calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts is empty for TEC but the Roman Church celebrates the Feasts of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, both fourth-century bishops.
It is also traditional in some cultures to make a 9-day novena to Our Lady beginning on Christmas Day, so if you did that, your novena would be ending today.
And, the countdown begins. There are 4 days to the ratification of the election by the Electoral College, and 18 days before the inauguration.
We've already had two violent acts that have taken lives and destroyed property: the truck incident in NOLA, which injured 26 and killed 10, and now a TESLA cybertruck explosion in front of Trump Tower in Los Vegas, which left 1 dead and several injured. Both are being investigated as domestic terrorist attacks.
Violence begets violence. Project 2025 is a political platform with violence baked into every line. There is already a war between the racist MAGA and the elitist DOGE over the H1B visas. The MAGA folks are hoarse but still screaming "Mass Deportation" and the DOGE folks, immigrants themselves like Musk (Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati, OH), argue that H1B visas help bring "smart" people to this country who work for lower wages and are grateful for the opportunity.
But, they aren't racist, they argue. Or, elitist. They're businessmen. Entrepreneurs who understand more about The Spirit of America than most people who were born here.
I don't think you need special glasses to see where this is going.
I've been meditating on the Nine Gifts of the Spirit this morning. I've also been thinking about the 18 days before the Inauguration. If I'm going to make it through the challenging days ahead, I think I need to get myself into a 9-day cycle of a Spiritual Novena that has a daily focus on one of those gifts.
If I lose sight of the gifts of life that are available to me, I am sure to lose my deep sense of gratitude. And, if I lose that, it's just a short drop down to sarcasm and cynicism during which a strange kind of darkness will begin to drape itself around my shoulders like an old, worn-out sweater. Hope will be harder to find. I've traveled that road before, which always leads to a bumpy ride down to the pit where despair awaits my arrival.
When that happens, I am certain to lose the essence of my relationship with God and the people of God. And, you know, if I've lost that, I might as well just pack it in.
If this is beginning to sound like that sappy old song, "Count your blessings, name them one by one," well, maybe that's not such a bad thing, eh?
No, counting one's blessings isn't going to dismantle MAGA or DOGE but it will change MY attitude about "Life in These (Barely) United States." And, if I can do that, and inspire others to do the same, violence has a far less chance of taking hold.
A wise person once said that, in this life, all you really need is love. And, a tiara. And, maybe a cupcake. But, most definitely a piece of dark chocolate.
It's all about attitude, which is always about choice. It has ever been thus. The greatest gift is choice, which is why so many people want to take it away or control it or explain why you can't have it.
For me, it starts with choosing gratitude. For me, that means being committed to living a sacramental, Eucharistic life - a life of sacrificing my tendencies toward arrogance and sense of entitlement for the humility of gratitude.
I am so grateful for this cup of coffee. I am so grateful that I live in a cozy, warm house, driving two dependable cars that we can afford, without debt, sharing it all with someone I love, who, for some wild and crazy nonsensical reason knows me well and loves me still.
And, two dogs who love nothing more than to cuddle and snuggle, when they aren't doing zoomies, and are so grateful to be loved - even though they are fed the same thing at almost the same time every single day of their lives - that they return that love unconditionally.
And, family and friends, some of whom drive me right 'round the bend as well as inspire me to be a better person - sometimes for not the best of reasons - and because some of them are so generous it takes my breath away.
And, I am so grateful for my ability to still find joy in the smallest things: White lights around the roof of our home in the darkness. The way a new home is coming together for friends who are homeowners for the very first time.
A slice of homemade apple pie lovingly made by a dear friend which helped celebrate the first day of the New Year. The new mint tea which my beloved found which we enjoy together almost every afternoon.
A huge bag of Ghirardelli chocolate which was a gift from friends I hadn't seen in six years, and from which I take one piece and enjoy as dessert every night. A Christmas present of two small homemade refrigerator magnets bearing the art of a dear cousin.
I'm feeling better about 2025 already. Cancer? Radiation? Chemotherapy? Okay, no, I'm not exactly ready but I can face them with the strength I'm going to need because I am filled with gratitude which allows me to know joy. And, with joy comes a commitment to justice Justice and Joy are inseparable companions in the enterprise of being human in community.
I hope you are inspired to do the same. Oh, 2025 is not going to be easy. But it can be better. One day at a time. One Beatitude at a time. One Gratitude at a time. One joy at a time.
Together.
I hope something good happens to you today.
Bom dia.
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