Crashbox

The bitter taste of cigarette smoke lingers on my tongue as I walk toward that dark ancient structure that, for the moment, I call home. I sinned, and I walked the empty streets in my despondency. A dim figure approached, treading the sidewalk under the cover of the trees. I walked warily into the street, keeping my distance in the threatening Santa Paula night. It was a priest---Father, a familair face from St. Sebastian's. There in the chilly street I received absolution and the advice: "Keep watch with me and pray, that you will not be taken unawares: for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." I have too long forgotten that God is BIG. That He is majestic and incomprehensible and terrifying. And as I walked on, marveling at the encounter, I was humbled. Nothing we do goes unnoticed; nothing that happens is chance; we are loved as we will never know.