Memento Mori 🙏🏻

(for someone who needs to hear this again)

When I was growing up, my grandparents grew their own vegetables, in something that was too big to be called a garden. Almost a truck patch. And it had a little bit of everything.

Whenever I asked my grandfather about some new thing I’d found in a seed catalog, and whether we could grow some of it this year, his answer was always the same. “If you plant it, it will grow.”

At the time, I thought it was kind of a boast. About how he could grow just about anything in his well-tended patch. I’ve come to understand that it’s actually a universal truth.

Whatever you plant, it will grow.

If you plant something in your life that you wall off from everything else. Something you demand to have. Something that you say “mine” about. Something you keep everyone else away from, especially God. It will grow.

And it won’t stay walled off. Not for long.

It will keep growing. Quietly pushing everything else in your life aside. Slowly separating you from everything and everyone dear to you, including God. Until it’s not just a thing in your life.

But the thing in your life.

All of us plant things. Usually without realizing we’ve done it.

Or thinking about what we’re going to get from it.

Our only hope? Reconciliation.

And the daily planting and replanting of the only thing that really matters in the end.

St. Barnabas

Died: 61

Feast Day: June 11

Patronage: Cyprus, Antioch, against hailstorms and invoked as a peacemaker

Saint Barnabas, born Joseph, from the tribe of Levi in Cyprus, was a follower of Jesus. After Christ’s death, he sold his property and placed the money at the feet of the Apostles. (Acts 4:36-37) His name was then changed to Barnabas, meaning son of encouragement. Barnabas most likely knew Saul, thus he supported and sponsored Saul to the Apostles, after Saul's conversion. The Acts of the Apostles chronicles their travels and apostolate to the Gentiles. At the Council of Jerusalem, they testified on behalf of the Gentiles concerning Jewish rites. St. Luke wrote about Barnabas with esteem. He was martyred in Cyprus and in 448 his body was found incorrupt.

This heatwave will end like everything does and life will be better for me when it does.

  – Guest Submission

Discovering new positive feelings you didn't even know you could feel

  – Guest Submission

One day there might be a cure (or at least an effective treatment) for my chronic illness

  – Guest Submission

I've seen a few of these posts going around, but there are a few tips that I haven't seen on any of them, so I'm making my own.

Meal prep. Meal prep meal prep meal prep. Cooking your own food is a fantastic way to save money, but ain't NOBODY got time to do that every day. Find a recipe you like, make enough to last you through the week. I usually cook two dishes over the weekend so I can alternate foods for lunch and dinner. My mainstays are beef stews, chicken breasts with an assortment of sauces, pork chops ditto, and tilapia. Some of these are more expensive than others, but all of them will keep for a week in the fridge and many of them can be cooked in one pot or pan (less washing, yay!).

Keep rice on hand. Rice goes with almost any entree and is great for making your food go further when you're on a budget or just miscalculated how much protein you had on hand.

Keep some food in the freezer (I like pre-made casseroles). There will be weeks where you miscalculate your meal prepping. There will be weeks where you have a Dread Plague and cannot cook. Being able to thaw food out and just have it to eat will save your bacon. Always replace it once you've used it though!

Regardless of how often you get sick, keep a Cold Survival Kit in your pantry. This consists of two or three cans of the soup of your choice, copious quantities of Vitamin C, a couple of bottles of Gatorade, saltine crackers, and ginger tea. (Ginger tea is MAGIC for nausea. If you can't get anything down, smell a teabag and/or the tea while it's steeping. Take a sip of the tea once it's steeped and hold it in your mouth. YES, it works that well. Add some honey to the tea to make it more palatable and give you a bit of energy.) Like the freezer food, you will need this at some point and you will need it badly. Also like the freezer food, replace it when you use it.