He revives my soul

I believe in evil. I believe that evil has a face and hands and pulls a
lot of strings. I have too much experience of strange circumstances
around holy moments to believe anything else.  So, though I'm not sure
why yet, I am certain that yesterday afternoon was almost lost to the
Tempter.

It was an afternoon full of frustration both personally and
professionally. It started at about 2pm when I headed to the chapel to
setup the video presentation for TKT's Lenten program "The Gospel
According to Buzz Lightyear."  I turned the projector on, the lights
flashed as usual, and then it shut down. I tried it again, and the same
thing happened. Uh Oh.

I decide to give it a break and sit down to work on the slideshow when a
parishioner comes through the door, visibly upset, saying, "I'm about
to ruin your afternoon."  Seems the group of Spring Breakers who have
come to volunteer with our local outreach organization didn't clean the
kitchen very well after breakfast. (I would find out later that several
folks had been through the kitchen that morning and early afternoon but
decided not to say anything about it).

Dutifully, I head to the kitchen, which, quite honestly, isn't that
messy. Some crumbs on the counter, scrambled egg residue on the cooktop,
some dishes in the sink and a rag on the floor. 15 teenagers can do a
lot more damage than that, and I'm just not sure where to direct my
frustration. Part of me just wants to wipe down the counter myself and
forget about it, but no, they did leave a mess and should probably clean
it up before our parish dinner. So I call, and they agree to send
someone back. In the meantime, the fourth group of folk through the
kitchen that day do the dishes and pick up the rag, so their return trip
was kind of in vain, but still, lesson learned.

The man from tech support tells me the bulb is blown on our projector,
but he'd be happy to sell me a new one for $299 plus tax, shipping, and
that oh so slippery "handling" term. I decline, but now I'm really
getting wound up. TKT agrees to pray for the projector and suggests as
fix. I try one of my own first and after the longest 2 minute warm up in
history, the projector comes alive. Seems the power cord was not fully
plugged in.

Back in my office, finally, I'm working on a sermon for Sunday when an
email from the Treasurer of my Property Owners Association pops up.
Seems one guy, who has always been disgruntled, decided to certify that
feeling by certified mail. He'd like to sue us (I'm on the board for 2
more months), though I'm not sure how or why. Still, not a happy
feeling. Lots of anger welling up inside me.  The Tempter is doing his
best.

In the midst of the valley of the shadow of death, however, the Lord
revives my soul. Thank you Psalm 23. And it happens is such mundane
ways. Last night, it was in the form of 6 noisy children busily coloring
Nemo during the Lenten program. Sure, they can be distracting, but boy
do they need to be right there, in the midst of us, coloring and
giggling and moving around.

Perfect bliss in a world gone mad. The Lord indeed revives my soul, thanks be to God!

Originally posted at Draughting Theology.