Cinco de Mayo has rolled around once again

...and according to this article in Wikipedia it is observed "by Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and people of non-Mexican heritage", which is another way of saying "everybody". So if you do not celebrate Cinco de Mayo, or worse yet, are not even aware of Cinco de Mayo, you are definitely the odd man (or woman) out. Wikipedia also tells us that this particular holiday was popularized (British, popularised) in the United States in the 1980s by manufacturers of beer, wine, and tequila, and that more beer is sold every year on May 5th than during the Super Bowl. Judging from the celebratory noises emanating from Mexican restaurants everywhere on this day, I can certainly believe it.

Well, enough about that except to say that Cinco de Mayo has nothing to do with Mexican Independence Day, which occurs in September and celebrates Mexico's independence from Spain. No, dear heart, Cinco de Mayo celebrates the defeat of the French Army in 1862 by a much smaller Mexican army at the First Battle of Puebla, although France turned around later and gained the upper hand at the Second Battle of Puebla, which led to the installation of Maximilian I as Emperor of Mexico by none other than Napoleon III. As I said, enough of that.

But you really should read every last word of that Wikipedia article as well as enjoy the colorful (British, colourful) pictures of dancers in Mexican costume.

Moving right along, yesterday I was walking through our local Kroger supermarket pushing the squeakiest, noisiest grocery cart I have ever pushed (I was intent on completing my grocery shopping and too lazy to turn around and get another grocery cart). Suddenly, in the frozen food aisle, I had a mental picture of scenes from the movie Thoroughly Modern Millie starring Julie Andrews in which the villainess, Beatrice Lillie, gets rid of bodies by concealing them in an ordinary-looking but very squeaky laundry cart. I completed my Kroger experience with a smile on my face and no small bit of consternation in my cerebral cortex. I even mentioned the scene from the movie to an older couple in the dog food aisle.

There is no point to my telling you this except that it happened and I thought you might enjoy hearing about it.

Sometimes I talk to people in grocery stores. For instance, I was behind a woman in the checkout line (different day) whose cart was piled high and overflowing with what must have been five or six hundred dollars worth of purchases, and I could not resist. "I hope you buy groceries just once a month," I said, and the woman replied, "My son is coming home from school for a visit," to which I responded, "And like a good mother you wanted to have one of everything he liked" but I could see it was more than that. For instance, she had a 12-pack of Coca Cola, a 12-pack of Canada Dry Ginger Ale, and a 12-pack of some third kind of soft drink in her cart, along with what looked to be hundreds of boxes of this and that just to be on the safe side. I surmised that either her son's visit was not going to be a short one or she was throwing a welcome-home party for the entire neighborhood and personal friends from far and near, or perhaps her son was bringing home half the school with him. I said nothing. I know when to be quiet.

Speaking of Mexico, our little half-Chihuahua, half-Jack Russell terrier, who sleeps on our bed at night, came and curled up under my left arm when I awoke this morning. I suppose since I received my every-two-months intra-vitreous shots in my eyes yesterday for the macular degeneration that was diagnosed five years ago, one of the first thoughts I had upon awaking was "If my eyesight fails completely, how will the bills get paid online? How will we get food? and so forth because Mrs. RWP no longer has a drivers license (British, licence). One of those 'God-voice' moments happened and my worries were interrupted internally by this thought, "Why can't you be more like your little dog? She relies on you completely for food and shelter. When she goes outdoors, you are always there right by her side and she is happy and safe on her leash because she trusts you and knows you love her. Try to do that with Me. Take no thought for the morrow."

So I'm ending this post with a familiar passage from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapter 6. Jesus is speaking:

25 "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

That's good advice for every day. Even Cinco de Mayo. Now go back and click on the link to that article.

If you prefer beautiful music to articles from Wikipedia, here's the Mississippi College Choir singing "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need" by isaac Watts (4:42) .

Here are the lyrics:

1. My Shepherd will supply my need:
Jehovah is His Name;
In pastures fresh He makes me feed,
Beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back
When I forsake His ways,
And leads me, for His mercy's sake,
In paths of truth and grace.

2. When I walk through the shades of death,
Thy presence is my stay;
A word of Thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,
Doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Thine oil anoints my head.

3. The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be my abode,
And all my work be praise!
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, nor a guest,
But like a child at home.