Days Have Turned into Weeks!

The weeks are running together because of the timing of when retreats start and end. I began my “3 weeks” on a Tuesday but my 6 day retreat began on a Thursday…When I posted last Saturday I was almost 2 days into my retreat. Now, as I sit here typing this reflection, I am 2 days out of my retreat back into to volunteering (believe or not I am washing dishes and cleaning bathrooms again).

The 6 day retreat was a wonderful experience. It was time spent deepening my understanding and belief that all things are part of God’s creation.  

We were silent, except for the hour we met in the morning after breakfast, during signing in morning mas, and the hour we met in the evening. You think being quiet and being silent are the same thing until you experience it for yourself. There were a great number of extremely loud silent people on retreat with me. While they weren’t talking, they were stomping through the hallways, shutting doors loudly…I am sure to other I was a very loud quiet person.  I spent time listening to music, the birds and the ocean, children playing on the beach, and the sounds of the house (creaky floors, running water, flushing toilets…) it is amazing the sounds of everyday life we miss out on because we become so busy rushing from one agenda item to the next.

In our group gathering we spent time hearing and reflecting on the changing world around us. Even though we might look around us and see the “terrible”, destruction of our plant, hatred, violence, racism, and the list could go on, we can become discouraged, we can become hopeless. We might start questioning “Where is God?” It reminds me of a sermon (or two) I’ve preached on the story of The Flood Story in Genesis. God set a new covenant and reminded Noah with the rainbow that never again will the earth be destroyed by flood. However, with the placing of the bow in the sky God was, in a way, saying ‘I won’t do this again, if creation is destroyed again it’s on y’all” (yes my God is southern).

Throughout various times during this retreat we talked about different moments in our history, that is the world’s history, that we have been at a point of rapid destruction when “something’ happened, a movement of positive actions that had enough force to make the change needed for society to live again in harmony with one another and with God.  With over 200 million groups working around the world in some local way to make changes that impact all of creation, “something” big is on the verge. This movement is such however, that we don’t know what it will be that makes the shift more real. It could be as simple as one community taking on a new commitment to recycling and better waste management or one person deciding to sponsor a village in Africa. It could be a group of women getting together for brunch and buying jewelry from other women trying to make a better life without having to reenter the world of sex trade and abuse (I’m looking at you ladies of FCC Osky), it could be supporting homeless coalitions or food cupboards, or turning off the air conditioner and opening a window.

There is so much more I want to share about this retreat and I will over time but I don’t want to ramble on now. 

I am looking forward to my next several days of volunteering and spending time with the other volunteers here. On Wednesday I will begin traveling again and I ask your prayers that I arrive safely to my destinations and have uneventful times on the train, plane, and in the automobile!

Week Five (Cape May and traveling) (8/30-9/5)

Hope for the week:  I hope this coming week I am able to continue reflecting on my retreat so I can hare in a more succinct way my experience.

Is there an Answer (last week’s question): How can I share God’s grace with someone this week, even in the silence?

I am not sure where I shared God’s grace with someone but I saw and felt God’s grace shared toward me when I was invited to help with parts of mass that “non priest” people can help with, this is not always a common practice but when there aren’t enough people to do all the things they (like in other churches) let just about anyone help out. J

Question of the Week: What one thing will I continue doing from my time on retreat?

Thought for the week:  I wondering if September will fly by as quickly as August did…

I invite you to join me daily in the Prayer for the week: Holy One, creator of heaven and earth, or land, sea, sky, and beyond open my eyes to the possibility of new beginnings in your creation. Where I see destruction or hatred, or neglect remind me that I have been called, by you, to care for this place I call home. In the many places O God, where I mindlessly ignore the destruction I cause, grant me your grace and guide me to ways of intentional change that restore the creation you allow me to enjoy. Amen.