Last Thoughts on Yesterday's Gospel

We have been away from the Revised Common Lectionary at my church for some time.  We used the Narrative Lectionary for much of the school year last year (2012-2013).  For summer, we've been travelling through Acts.

I've been continuing to post weekly meditations on the Revised Common Lectionary here, and it's interesting to contemplate the intersections.  Yesterday, while much of the world explored the Good Samaritan, we read Acts 9:  32-43, where Paul heals and brings back Tabitha, also called Dorcas, back from the dead. 

Our pastor talked about a time where he knew he would likely be called to the hospital:   a woman with a difficult pregnancy wanted to be sure he could get to the hospital to baptize the baby.  He kept the supplies by the door, ready to go at a moment's notice.

I thought of the to-go pack in popular culture, of people living in apocalyptic times who try to prepare ahead of their run for safety.  My favorite example is Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower.  The teenage protagonist and narrator knows that the outside world is likely to invade her walled community at some point, and she prepares a backpack and even does drills where she practices grabbing the bag in the dark. 

I thought of the spiritual to-go pack.  I wondered if a vial of holy water is part of the standard Eucharist bag.  Would sanctified oil be part of it?  I'd want both, although in the Lutheran tradition, one doesn't need special water to do a baptism.

I thought of the items that most of us take with us through our weekly lives.  What's in your purse/backpack that travels with you?