My To-do List is Empty

My to-do list is now empty. I found a shirt to wear on the plane tomorrow, and the silk scarf that will accompany me on my pilgrimage.  My pack seems too heavy at almost 15 pounds, but the clothes I’ll be wearing are in it, except for the fleece I’ll put on in the morning, along with my boots, jeans, shirt and the scarf.  The jeans will stay behind as we head off on our pilgrimage, stripped down to the bare essentials.  I’ll have my phone this time, unlike on my first time, when I had nothing electronic but my camera, a slightly newer version of which I’ll take tomorrow.

How I hate these final hours before departure!  For 2 days, and especially today, I have been scrambling and scurrying from one thing to another.

Thankfully, Kent has done much in terms of emptying the refrigerator and taking care of things out doors.

 It is nearly 11, and the Lyft driver should appear by 5:45 or 6:00.

We’ll have 5 days at the Pilgrim Gathering in Menlo Park and with the family in San Francisco before we fly to Paris on Monday.

What have I forgotten?  From the New Zealand Book of Common Prayer, a favorite:

Lord,

it is night.

The night is for stillness.

Let us be still in the presence of God.

It is night after a long day.

What has been done has been done;

what has not been done has not been done;

let it be.

The night is dark.

Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives

rest in you.

The night is quiet.

Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,

all dear to us,

and all who have no peace.

The night heralds the dawn.

Let us look expectantly to a new day,

new joys,

new possibilities.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

Morning: waiting to board our flight to Oakland, CA