Thankful

I have recently found myself counting my blessings over and over again: hope of improving health; children and children-in-law and grandchildren and extended family who are doing well and love me; a rich life of service and contemplation; and possibly the world's best husband.  I do not deserve these things any more than the woman in Nigeria whose children were taken by terrorists, or the lady in Honduras watching her children die of hunger and untreated disease, and ignorance.  And yet, here I am, with blessings overflowing.

I am just thankful.

I will bless the Lord at all times;
    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
    let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
    and let us exalt his name together!
I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
    and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
    and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
    for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
~Psalm 34:1-10

Happy birthday, Ben!

My eldest son, Benjamin, "son of my right hand", turns 30 today.  How did those years fly by?  And what joy and delight he has brought to our lives!  Happy birthday, son!  May God continue to bless and amaze you with His love and His grace and His gifts!

Ben has always had a way with words.  I have been leafing through some of his old poetry lately, and thought I would share one in honor of his day. This was a reflection on one of Ben's early favorite composers, and is one of my favorites

Dmitriy

The caged bird sings sweetly still.

The conquered man can keep his will

to freedom.  The poorly forced music

sounds: constrained, strongest magic;

a cry of sadly longing dissonance

that echoes in time—sorrow’s resonance.

The sickening spiral of twisted wills

forcing men to turn their skills

to proportional, institutional norms,

to numbing, pressing, leaden forms

and unloved leaders crushing art.

The shackled mind has still a heart;

the body enslaved can be at peace,

for the power of beauty brings release.

Five for Friday

Today, after more than an hour on the phone and on hold with billing offices and  people in multiple states and of varying degrees of competence, all working for my local medical center, I offer 5 things that irritate me about medical billing procedures, in no particular order.  Let's just say it is not starting my weekend off  happily...

1.  Having to ask for an itemized bill. If you are going to charge me $460 for something, isn't it possible to tell me what that charge is for, and for whom?

2. Having to ask for a bill at all. I know I had an infusion on 1-31-14.  Shouldn't they be able to find and send me that bill easily? Shouldn't they do it without me having to ask for it?  Or, if it was included in my non-itemized $460 bill, shouldn't they know that?

3. Getting a reimbursement for something the medical center swore up and down in December that they hadn't received in October, so I repaid it in December, and now they have reimbursed me for it in April.  Essentially, I loaned them money for several months.  Shouldn't they pay me interest on that?!

4. I know I am responsible for losing my temper.  It is not the fault of the people I am talking to.  But honestly, incompetence to the tune of multiple tens of thousands of dollars really does get my dander up. Other businesses manage to keep their billing organized most of the time.  Is that asking too much?

5.  If I use a local medical center, why do I have to mail my checks to Cincinnati, and talk to people in Houston?  They not only don't know me, they don't know the billing procedures at the hospital they are working for.  That is just not right.

Phew!  Thanks for letting me get that off my chest, Gentle Reader.  Now I am going to have leftovers for dinner, and watch a violent movie (maybe Catching Fire?). Then maybe I can calm down and be more philosophical about things.

Wednesday without words

There is something about apple blossoms.  It's not just their simple beauty, their blush. They provide cover and fullness after months of barrenness. They promise fruit and sweetness. And by moonlight they whisper of reflected light.  I love my backyard full of them.

In honor of National Poetry Month, I went hunting for a poem about apple blossoms, and here is what I found.  And it is lovely. I hope you enjoy it, too, Gentle Reader.

Apple Blossoms

by Susan Kelly-DeWitt

One evening in winter

when nothing has been enough,

when the days are too short,

the nights too long,

and cheerless, the secret

and docile buds of the apple

blossoms begin their quick

ascent to light. Night

after interminable night

the sugars pucker and swell

into green slips, green

silks. And just as you find

yourself at the end

of winter's long, cold

rope, the blossoms open

like pink thimbles 

and that black dollop

of shine called

bumblebee stumbles in.

Reflecting on Good Friday

Wednesday without words