St. John’s Water Bottle
I had this tacit agreement with my gym, where I routinely forget my water bottle and they give it to me the next time I come in.
I liked to joke that the gym staff should find a special shelf for the damn thing so I could leave it there and fill it up every time I work out.
Well, my luck finally ran out.
Last week I left that water bottle somewhere in the gym—perhaps by the Stairmaster?—and when I got home, I went through the routine of calling to ask them to set it aside for me.
Only this time nobody turned it in.
I’m so used to the receptionists reaching under the counter and coming up with the water bottle that I was surprised when they told me they hadn’t seen it.
It’s was pretty nice, too, which makes me wonder why I wasn’t more careful with it.
I got it as a freebie from my company several years ago—gosh, was it the early 2000s the first time I worked there? — anyway it’s white metal with the company’s logo emblazoned on the side.
It sucks to think that somebody just walked off with it. We have a pretty good crowd there and I don’t like the idea of someone being so selfish.
And who want to drink from a stranger’s water bottle? I supposed you could disinfect it, but it’s still pretty gross.
One of the receptionists approached me during my workout with a large red bottle and asked if it belong to me.
No, but I appreciate the effort.
I gave up on the thing and just started using the water cooler more often during my workouts.
And then St. John disappeared.
Love Wipes Away Sin
After getting a stent implanted, I started praying to St John of God, the patron saint of people with heart disease.
Of course I take my meds, exercise and watch what I eat, but I was pretty scared—terrified, to be honest—and I wanted all the help I could get.
Born in 1495 as João Duarte Cidade, he was a Portuguese-born soldier and shepherd who experienced a profound religious conversion in Spain, dedicating his life to caring for the poor, sick, and mentally ill.
I even sent away for a St.John medal that I always wear around my neck at all times.
More recently, I picked up a St. John of God prayer card, which features a reproduction of St. John of God Saving the Sick from a Fire at the Royal Hospital in 1549 by the Spanish painter Manuel Gómez-Moreno González.
The other side of the card has a lengthy quote from St. John that ends with the line “just as water extinguishes a fire, so love wipes away a sin.”
I usually keep the card at home, but one morning I was feeling a little antsy, so I brought it to the gym with me. And then a few hours later I couldn’t find it.
Okay, now I was freaking out. I had no absoultely idea where it was.
Losing the water bottle was one thing, but this really hurt. I was so upset that I grabbed my phone and ordered another prayer card on Amazon.
This one didn’t seem nearly as nice as the one I had lost, but it would have to do.
I had just accepted this grim reality when I saw that the original card was under some papers on my coffee table.
I was so happy to have found the card, that I didn’t think about the memory mishap that caused this problem in the first place until later.
From what I understand, often we don’t forget things, so much as we fail to remember in the first place since we’re all so distracted by our phones and our worries.
So, St. John is back where he belongs, and I decided to keep the new card. It won’t hurt to have a spare.
And I’m going to take an old Poland Springs bottle to the gym and fill it up at the water cooler. This way if I lose it, who cares?
Can’t wait to see what I forget next.
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