Howard, Leonard, Penny, Sheldon, and Raj in the TV series Big Bang Theory

I’m into the second week of my cold with little energy to do more than watch Big Bang Theory. I borrowed Season Three from the library and put my feet up. In one episode a guest is invited to Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment. She is about to sit down in the vacant spot on the couch when Howard, Raj, and Leonard gasp in unison. “You can’t sit there! That’s where Sheldon sits.”

“Can’t he sit somewhere else?” the newbie asks as if this were a reasonable possibility. Before Sheldon can explain, Penny, the girl next door who is generally irritated with the obsessively compulsive genius, recites–word for word–Sheldon’s rationale for needing to sit in that precise location. Sheldon is delighted: Penny understands him.

It’s a touching scene and a welcome interlude from my current reality. My cold is getting me down. I’m bothered by things I have said and done and regret the inconveniences I caused others. When I record them in my journal I realize they’re rather minor. The offended will survive. I bet my transgressions are no longer on anyone’s mind but mine. That doesn’t comfort me though. If such little things bother me, I’m not doing very well. 

I’ve felt this way before; it will pass. But in the meantime I wish I weren’t in this overly sensitive place again. I think of all the reasons why I landed in this precise location: not enough prayer or exercise top the list.

I tell God how disappointed I am in myself. And what do I hear in response?

He simply says, “I know.”

Just like Penny, God doesn’t blame, he understands.

Unlike Penny, he can maintain that compassion for a whole episode.

Blessed Trinity,
I receive your love, your presence and this day as a gift from you.
I open my heart to you.
Please lead me deeper into your transforming love
as we live these next hours together.
Amen.

– Morning Prayer of the SoulStream Community written by Karen Webber

Credits:
Image of cast of Big Bang Theory from Studio Systems News June 10, 2013
“Moonbeams” by Jessie Wilcox Smith (September 6, 1863 – May 3, 1935)

© Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim 2013
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