The Big Blackout

It rained continuously the whole day yesterday - which is a good thing for this drought. And the temperature dropped below zero. At 5pm a thick fog enveloped the Old City. We could not even see the house behind us. My room was reasonably warm as I had my "hot air fan" switched on the whole day. But once out in the corridor, it was freezing. Everyone thinks it'll soon snow. Just a couple more days of rain and the precipitation will take place. I'm looking forward to it. Haven't seen snow in Jerusalem since 1994.

Well, with the rains came the blackouts. It's inevitable as the electric cables are laid underground (or better, below the stone pavements - because there're cisterns underground. When the cisterns fill up with water, it shortcircuits the cables. So at 4pm came the 1st blackout. I was prepared. Had my candles ready for several days now. The other guys who have to study for the exams were in a quandary. Some have portable fluorescent lights that they can attach to the computer system which is always running on a generator. But the poorer students have nothing. I gave 2 candles to Jean Paul - he was sitting in the dark with all his books opened. He didn't dare walk out because he might knock or fall over something. It really was pitch black. So the 2 candles (tea-lights) came in useful. It can burn for 3 to 4 hours, and jean paul could study again. I had 3 large candles that I took from the Holy Sepulchre 3 years ago - in case of a blackout. They're candles that have been used for Mass on Mt Calvary, and when they're burnt down too short, they're no longer used and are melted down to make new candles. I took 3 of them - about 6 inches tall: too tall to be unusable you might think, but you must remember the candlestands in the Holy Sepulchre are very tall and deep. A guest friar, Bro Nicola came to my room and at first he thought it was a chapel!!! He saw the candle burning in front of an icon of St Francis and a carpet on the floor. We had a good laugh. Nicola is a professional sculptor and he offered to do something in wood in memory of Fr Allegra. We discussed what he could do.

The 2nd blackout lasted from 6pm-8pm. I'm expecting more blackouts today. The other students are fretting because they need to study for a difficult exam today.

And talking about blackouts, today's 1st reading is about Goliath being felled by David and having his head chopped off. Now that's big time blackout! So don't fret over the Goliaths in life. You'll meet them often enough. What matters is we must like David gather little stones while there's time; or collecting used candles like me while there's still time. Then when the Goliath comes, you'll be prepared to fell him.