REVIEW – ASH WEDNESDAY AND TEA

GOOD MORNING WORLD

I was all excited to begin my Lenten season once I happened upon the idea of quiet time with a cup of tea and reflection.  When the time was over, I had consumed one cup from the two cup pot and I was in tears.  I am not so sure this is the result for which I was reaching. 

In the meantime it seems I may not be ready to spend time alone in contemplation.  The book I had taken with me to peruse for inspiration is “One Thousand Gifts”.  I bought it along with the DVD and workbook to take the 5 week course over Lent.  See I was planning ahead.  I even bought a CD of the Rosary thinking I might do that daily.  The thing I have shown myself on day one of Lent is that I am certainly a planner – follow through is totally lacking.  Can feelings of failure be far behind?

The book ‘1000 Gifts’ is a great read so far.  Challenging.  I did not really get into that as I was stuck on tea.  Teas that I had given participated in and missed. I remembered my great Aunt’s Tea House that she ran in the summers.  I remember going there with my mother.  The tea house is long gone.  My mother is as well.   Those teas are no more.

I was lost in thought of all the “First Day of School Teas”  I had for our children as they tumbled in from the bus filled with stories of who their teacher was and who was in their class and the latest from the playground.   Those are no more.

After supper in the evenings when the kids were little my husband and I would have a cup of tea and talk.  The kids were told there was an imaginary circle around the table and they could not come in until we were done.  This was a time to catch up and slow down from the day and transition to the next chores of bath, stories and bed.  Those are no more

In my reflection I was sitting in a kitchen not far from the shore with a cup of tea on an old metal table with a gray and yellow top.  The table that years ago on TV they would advertise for sale by showing you that you could light a fire on and it would not harm it!  Many a cup of tea I had there with Auntie and we shared stories and intimate details of our lives I am betting she shared with no other.   We laughed and cried and visited.   She’s now gone.  Those are no more.

I was thinking of the many teas we had on Fridays.  That ‘tea’ usually had an alcohol content on the package on those days.  We used to call it tea as many of those gathered were teachers and we could ask if we saw them at school would we see them for tea on Friday?  Laughter that led to suppers that led to Trivial Pursuit to end the work week with fun.   The numbers could have been 2 or 4 or even up towards a dozen adults and kids.   Those are no more.

I have to admit all this led me to wonder what Jesus was thinking on His first day in the wilderness.  He knew the end of his journey.

As I sat with my cup of tea and tried to focus on my 1000 gifts I was being distracted by tea thoughts.  I was reminded of tea and popovers that another of my dad’s sisters took us to in the summers on occasion.  Those are still available and I can go on my own in the summers when I am in Maine!  

And there it is…HOPE.  I was reminded that my word of the year is HOPE.  I heard it from many places in January so assumed I was to adopt it for the next twelve months.  I am not so sure my Lent has gotten off to a great start.  My penance for this day seems to be mourning what is gone.  I can only HOPE that it goes up hill from here.

I am still going to try “tea thoughts” each afternoon.  I have decided that for Lent this year, along with observing the no meat Fridays, it would be simpler to write what I am grateful for each day at the end of the day in a journal as I had done a few years ago.  Finding something of which to be grateful for may be enough challenge in and of itself some days.

…..ONWARD TO MORE MISADVENTURE…