I came home from Ojai today to find that I had an unexpected package in the mail. I saw the return address was a hearing clinic in Austin so I immediately knew that this was from my cousin-in-law, Elaine, the wife of my first cousin, Lee. Hmmm, I thought, is Elaine sending me something else for my hearing aids? You see, Elaine is an audiologist and is the person who provided me with the devices that have made my life significantly better.
However, when I opened the package, I saw a little blue bag and a note from Elaine that read: “We had these at our church bookstore and I thought of you. I hope this fits some digit. Thumb, pointer finger, toe. Love, Elaine.” I knew immediately what it was since she and I had had a long exchange about a blog piece I’d written on a meditative prayer that is part of my daily life – and hers – as it turns out. The prayer is “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner.” When I opened up the bag, I saw a silver ring with those words written across it and I immediately smiled. Elaine had told me she wore a ring like this with the words written in Greek – she is Greek Orthodox – and now with her gift, we both had one. This made me very happy indeed and I instantly placed this ring on my pointer finger to remind me of that meditation (and Elaine).
After my blog post, Elaine had also sent me a link to a piece that discussed meditative prayer. It was excellent and is based on the following: do not resent, do not resist, keep inner stillness. Actually, here is the link for anyone who is interested. It was one of the best guides I’ve read in years regarding this. (It is long, but worth it.)
Anyway, I am delighted that my first cousin-in-law and I are both wearing these silver rings. We are two women working on the same goals: to develop an inner sense of peace. I like that, and, of course, I love her.
Thank you, Elaine!
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