Mentally Dentally

I keep reading things about how we need to reach out to people without having a stereo-type in between. Here is a sweet example. At a Mass at the local Catholic Hospital, an attendant brings in a 94 year old woman with a walker. She sits in the first row of seats so I don’t see her face from the 2nd row. She is bent over with very short white hair. She also has an ugly black patch over one eye.
This week, she was sitting right in front of me. I noticed with amusement that at the end of the straps trying back the patch there were 2 little pieces of black lace!  I thought, isn’t it wonderful that whoever made the patches realized that a woman wearing one might like something a little fancy to overset the look of the patch. At the hand shake of peace part of the Mass, I walked around and looked her the uncovered eye and said hello. She suddenly beamed with joy and grabbed my hand and kissed my little finger and said “God bless you.”

I was moved by some spiritual reading to make a general confession of gossip throughout my life. Now, usually, with my swift mind, I can figure out an excuse for any gossip on the basis that I have a “pastoral reason” to share the story, but I felt moved to admit that this is often just an excuse and the real reason is to enjoy the attention that comes with witty, often ridiculing, anecdotes.
If the shoe fits!

My grand-son-in-law who I live with likes to tease me a bit about my excessive anxiety about senior moments. Here is the latest tease:  I was in a tizzy forgetting about Day Light Savings Time and thinking I was an hour too late for leaving for Mass, etc. Sean motioned me to stop talking because he wanted to make a call. Then I heard him saying into the phone “Is this the Convalescent Home?  We have this old woman who has lost her mind, can we bring her right away?” All with a straight face!

Another story about wonderful Arkansas.  I had to go to the dentist to have 2 of my remaining bottom teeth pulled because they were so loose. On the top I have dentures.  Anyhow, this is the first time any dentist ever actually apologized as he plunged in the novacaine needly. “I am sorry for the pain I am causing you.” I was stunned!

A “have you ever noticed” story.  Whenever you hear a homily about helping the poor, there is a tacit assumption that none of us are ourselves poor!  Interesting. Of course, we understand that in mostly middle class parishes, most of us are not really poor in the sense of destitution, only maybe poorer than some others, but still??????  Shouldn’t we exult in being ourselves poor since Jesus said we are blessed?
Now, of course, most people take “poor in spirit” to mean not literally poor in worldly goods, but detached, however, some spiritual writers, besides me, teach that being poor in spirit can’t mean having so many things we can’t even find what we need in our closets!