A wide spot in my imagination.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

The trinitarian formula of a forgetful mind

I'm forgetful, or lazy, or absent-minded, or something.

For most of my life, I've been forgetting things. Growing up, it was my homework and jackets. By the time I graduated from high school, I had probably lost a dozen or more coats.

As an adult, it's car keys, billfolds and cell phones. I never lose them, but I often forget them. Leave them places. Set them down somewhere "important" (such as the freezer or the bumper of the car), then wander off. I spend a lot of time searching for them.

Then I find them and off we go again.

Most days when I leave the house, I have a little ritual. I pat three pockets to see that I have my three things: front right pocket: phone; front left pocket: keys; back right pocket: wallet.

Yesterday, as I was doing my triple check, it occurred to me this was some kind of modern genuflection: a bow to my own humble humanity. But rather than crossing myself, I'm patting myself: Sort of a mix between a TSA pat down and some kind of ritual observance in honor of forgetfulness. Odd, I know. But that's how my mind works.

Then it dawned on me that my three necessary objects -- phone, keys, and wallet -- are some kind of trinitarian formula. I just haven't determined their metaphysical meaning yet. Oh well, scholars and theologians have been haggling over explaining the Christian Trinity with equally unsatisfactory meanings for a long time, so I figure I've got a couple of thousand years yet to work it all out.

Your thoughts are welcome as to the meaning of this all.

In the meantime, let me see how I add my newest object to lose: reading glasses, the curse of being over 40. Three pairs I own, and none to be found. Oh, maybe they're in the car.

Let's see, where did I put my keys...

3 comments:

  1. It means you have ADD and need phone counseling with a qualified professional in North Carolina. I hear he gives special rates to old friends.

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  2. three is a good number, always associated with divinity, does this means your keys, wallet and phone are divine? probably not!!! Ha, ha! but to your daily existence they just may be.

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  3. Raised a superstitions Catholic, Prayer to Saint really work if given the right definition of "work." For your troubles you might try, St. Lucy, she deals with vision, St. Nicholas, he got the money issues pretty well covered, and the keyes, my favorite St. Christopher he helps the well travelled souls. If your concern is with lossing things, here is a prayer to St Anthony, who helps find lost people, but for the devote his help extends to certain objects. This is a prayer my mother actually tought me: "Tony, Tony turn around, what once was lost can now be found." (Not to be confussed with "lost causes" that is St. Jude) I am still wonder how others Christians (like my wife) make it through a day without all these devine interventions. Good Luck Tim, you will need it (St. Patty) John

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