Natal day blessings

Holy One of Blessing
Your presence
fills creation.
You have kept us alive,
You have sustained us,
You have brought us
to this moment.

[Inclusive-language translation of the traditional Jewish prayer of gratitude Shecheheyanu.]

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Grandmère Mimi popped in in the comments of the post below to wish me a happy birthday. Thank you, Mimi!

The Adorable Godson and I share a birthday, so I am taking him out to lunch.

I will complete this post in a few hours...

Please remember to pray for Robyn.

* * * * * * *

It is evening now. The Adorable Godson, who is also the Brainy Godson, is reading Euclid for fun. Not in Greek, but still -- have you ever seen the English edition of Euclid's The Elements? It is huge. You could use it for weight-lifting, or for one of those yoga bricks they sell for $15 at the overpriced health food store. He brought it along to lunch. We (the Adorable Godson and I, not the book) ate Thai food and talked about Life --also Religion and Science and The Scholarly World-- and had ourselves a fine time.

Otherwise it was a quiet day, and this evening was the antithesis of last year's birthday evening, when I cooked supper for a couple of dozen of my local nearest and dearest. But this year's age is a nondescript one that does not require a party, and besides, the academic schedule is different and we are still in finals, so I have a stack of papers to read and final grades to calculate.

Such exciting lives we lead.

Oh, and the Adorable Godson has very good news. He has an internship for the summer at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he will be programming (as in computer program) a telescope. If I understood correctly, the telescope is actually in Chile. People will be able to view quasars and other astronomical marvels through it, using their computers. The Adorable Godson wants to be an astrophysicist. He is currently getting a second bachelor's degree, in physics (the first was in computer science) so that he can apply to graduate school in a couple of years and pursue his dream. More power to him! Today was his 23d birthday.

Thanks for the visits and greetings, all! And thanks be to Godde. I'm not wild about this particular age, but it beats the alternative.

A five quasar gravitational lens. Credit (and explanation): NASA