The other day my son texted me after one of his late-afternoon college classes:
Power went out at home. How do I reconnect Netflix on the TV?
I responded:
Wrapping up at work now. Will fix it when I get home. 20 minutes.
Traffic was light and I got home quickly. My wife was running errands and wasn’t home yet but my son’s car was in its normal spot. As I walked into the house, however, things seemed anything but normal.
The shades were still drawn and the house was dark. School papers were scattered all over the kitchen. A cup, rolling slightly on its side, was empty on the counter; its contents dripping onto the tile floor in a syncopated rhythm to the ticking of the kitchen clock. The appliances in the kitchen mindlessly flashed their repetitive message: 12:42... 12:42... 12:42.
Tick... drip-blink. Tick-blink... drip. Blink-tick... drip.
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:3-9)
Yom Chamishi, 24 Kislev, 5784
Thursday, December 07, 2023