The Womb of Wonders

The Womb of Wonders
The Englishman Richard Blechynden ran the tea concession at the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904. On one very hot Missouri summer day, not a single fairgoer stopped to purchase a cup of hot tea at his stand.

This ingenious Englishman decided to solve his predicament by creatively defying history, not to mention all previous tradition, by offering his customers ice-cold tea! Unthinkable in his own tradition-bound England, his insane concoction of ice and hot tea was immediately adopted by try-anything Americans and remains popular to this day. So on this hot August day, if you quench your thirst with a glass of iced tea, raise your glass in a toast to Richard Blechynden for his courage to think outside the box. After setting down your glass of iced tea, take a moment to survey your life and your problems, most of which likely will seem insolvable and beyond your control. But don’t give up, be inspired by your drink of iced tea and, like Blechynden, think the unthinkable.

Help me turn my problems upside down,
forgetting the rules of logic and tradition,
my fears of what the neighbors will say,
to be inspired by the Mother of Invention.

From A Book of Wonders by Ed Hays

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prayer action suggestion:
Pick one situation in your life that is troublesome and think the unthinkable as a solution. Go into your womb of wonders and give it a try.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SIGN UP NOW [1] to receive an e-email alert each week directing you to Fr. Hays' prayer reflections.

Want to know more about Fr. Ed Hays?

--Read a profile [2] on Fr. Hays

Visit Ave Maria Press [3] for a full selection of books by Fr. Hays.