Today was spent with my sister who is visiting from Lansing. We spent the day doing little menial things, washing dishes, taking trash to the transfer station, buying groceries, playing video games. That's what I like about being able to spend time with my sister. We can do the most mundane things. There never has to be a lot of preparation, it never has to be big, we don't get (that) bored just doing every day things when we visit. I would argue some of the things we did today were less than every day things. I mean, really, driving garbage down the road to have it hauled away to some place unknown? That's pretty much a below average activity.

What makes these things great is that we are able to share other things and these really trivial activities become the catalyst for communion. During these times we get to share with each other about family, friends, our hopes, our struggles, our disparages, our excitements. And we are even able to share the dreaded silent moments and appreciate them.

These are things that can only happen with people who you are close to and care about and who care about you. It's much more than finishing chores. These things become the basis for showing that people matter no matter what. Even if they aren't exciting, they aren't doing anything incredible, in fact they are doing things no one really WANTS to do.

It's these moments that make me grateful and appreciative for what I have and not focus on the things I wish I did. When everything comes down it's much more meaningful to have someone, even if it's just some "one", that you care about. That is a gift.

This is not a Hallmark moment.

"a smoking man shakes, and the broken girl aches, and the Clown starts to sing a song, he sings:
Mercy lives here, Mercy lives here, at home with the saints and the sinners, Mercy lives here"
-the choir from the album Flap Your Wings