Almsgiving 2022

Reliquary

Today, Wednesday, January 5, my daughter and I held our almsgiving. 

The monks brought a new reliquary, that they had received on the first of the year from Sri Lanka with them.  They said that mine is the first house they've taken this new reliquary with them!  The presence of the reliquary transforms the house into a temple.  Reliquaries are usually kept covered with a cloth to keep out dust, etc., but the monks uncovered it to show me and I asked if I could take a picture of it (they know about my blog!)  I did not ask them about the relic that is contained within. There are probably just as many relics of the Buddha as there are pieces of the True Cross.  A person's belief and faith can transform something ordinary into something extraordinary. 

I woke up at 8:00 a.m., today and did all the tasks on my to do list.  Everything was done and ready by the time the monks arrived.

As is our custom, small amounts of all the food that was prepared for the almsgiving were served in small containers, along with water and juice (apple juice, in this instance) to be offered at the altar. 

Platter of Offerings to the Buddha

After the monks had had their lunch (they wore their masks before and after their lunch; we had our masks on the whole time) and chanted blessings, one of the monks walked through the house, at my invitation, and blessed the house by sprinkling blessed water (he poured some blessed water into a clean bowl and used a freshly picked rose from the garden to dip into the water to sprinkle around the house, from the front door steps to the back door steps.

Just before they left, I asked them if there was anyone at the Temple who might need a meal and served up a plate of food for them to take back.  There are usually three or four monks at this particular Temple although I only invited two and often, some people come to the Temple if they need a helping hand.  Daughter and I also shared some food with neighbor S and her family and I took a share over to friend R.  Almsgiving food is meant to be shared.  I was too tired in the evening to take anything over to neighbor T, but, I'll take some of the desserts over to her, tomorrow.  

Almsgiving Lunch

 

In the evening, I set about "erasing the evidence" - cleaning up evidence of the almsgiving.  All the chair covers and table linen were washed, dried, and put way, except for the few napkins and the one table cloth that have to be ironed (will do that, tomorrow, as I had put away the ironing board and iron).  Then, most of the dishes were put in the dishwasher and washed; the rest were washed by hand.  The dishwasher has been emptied, but, some items have not been put away in the cupboards, yet (requires climbing up on the stepstool to do so!)

Daughter's winter break ends today; she starts work, again, tomorrow (still working remotely from home, but, her office is planning to have them all return to the office, around the end of the month, rotating who will be in the office on any given day; apparently, they need to keep staffing levels to no more than 40% of occupancy capacity of the building due to Covid).  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Being able to have the almsgiving
- Daughter's help with all the work, before, during, and after
- The monks blessing the house as well as my daughter and me
- Being able to share some of the food with friends and neighbors
- Working appliances!

Today's joyful activity was having the almsgiving.  I feel it is a blessed start to the New Year.  

Plans for tomorrow includes more erasing the evidence - putting things back where they go until the next time, ironing the items that need ironing, and doing some paperwork.

How was your Wednesday?  What are your plans for Thursday?