The Accountant and the Actuary are among the most important guests to invite to a Derby Day gathering, I’ve decided.
Their timely engagement in “post-race” odds and numbers adds a constructive energy to the event – freeing up other guests for conviviality. As the Accountant and Actuary get to work … the rest of us simply immerse ourselves in the lingering joy of a last-to-first finish.
Yes, a horse named Golden Tempo outkicked the favored Renegade down the stretch yesterday … and a roomful of “one-day-a-year” thoroughbred enthusiasts quickly moved on from the Main Event. We returned to socializing, which (truth be told) was the true heart of the matter at the annual gathering hosted by our dear friends.
We were nowhere near Churchill Downs of course. But I couldn’t help noticing a church-like spirit in the place. Or more precisely, an Easter spirit … a spirit of joy-made-new in this little corner of creation where friends and family gathered to celebrate.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus tells his closest associates in the gospel passage we hear proclaimed this week. And indeed, I perceived no “troubled hearts” at the Derby Day party yesterday. At least for a precious moment in time, all of us managed to focus on joy, not troubles. (Except perhaps for the Accountant and Actuary … although they seemed, curiously, to enjoy wrestling with the numbers – a task that I would have found soul-crushing and migraine-producing.)
And isn’t that just the Way with Easter spirit?
“In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places,” Jesus teaches. Places aplenty, for both Numbers Guys and Wordsmiths … and every sort of talent in between. This season, Easter season, is when we are particularly invited to notice – and celebrate! – all the many ways in which God is making our world new. As the Psalmist says,
“…of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.”
This is not really a long-shot in the end. It’s a promise – that we who believe, we who learn to follow the Way, will see great things … beyond our imagining.
Indeed, we will do great things when we stay connected to the Cornerstone … and “let [ourselves] be built into a spiritual house.”
Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.
IHS
With Us Still 