I (We) Have No Idea

This past week I had a Zoom meeting with three other Benedictine women for a group called "55 & Under." 55 & Under is a gathering of women across Benedictine federations in the United States. We are currently participating in a more intense three-year process as we look toward the future, as is the case for most women in religious life.

We gathered in Beech Grove, Indiana last year and will head to Norfolk, Nebraska for more conversation later this year. In the meantime, we are meeting in small groups to talk and reflect. One of the members in my group offered the opening prayer, using the famous lines from Thomas Merton.

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,

though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

What was great about the prayer was pretty immediate. As soon as she said the lines, "I have no idea where I am going," we all started smiling and laughing to ourselves. 

None of us have any idea where we're going...and at least we're figuring it out together!

Let us walk in the holy presence.

Is this not a miracle?

I remember heading to a hermitage in our monastery woods to make retreat before I became a novice. In the hermitage was a copy of Mary Lou's book of poetry, The Blue Heron and Thirty-Seven Other Miracles. I read the poems in succession before the day ended. Each tells the story of a miracle Lou experienced in her life. Here is one.

"What

is

most

precious

in

life?"

I asked.

"Music,"

she answered,

"and loving

someone.

It doesn't

really matter

if you

are loved

in return.

Just

to love

another person

—at least once

in your lifetime—

is reason

enough

to have walked

the earth."

Is this not a miracle?

____________________

The sun was shining the other day, and we needed some fresh air at work. While I waited for J to come downstairs for a walk, I looked at the patch of soil that lines the walkway into the office. The daffodils were pushing themselves through a dead leaf. Resurrection. Miracle.

Mom is in town this weekend. She works at a garden center, so I took her to Potratz to see the greenhouse. The prayer plant...the pitcher plant...are these not miracles?

We even spotted a blue heron while walking along the creek after Liturgy today. And when the meringue and the lemon filling seal themselves and don't separate? Maybe the best miracle!

And here is a word-play miracle for a "quirky" person such as myself. When I played Wordle yesterday morning, I had five yellows right before my five greens! I had never experienced that before, and I simply delighted. What fun!

But, the real miracle I want this weekend? The Eagles to win the Super Bowl tonight! Fly, Eagles, Fly!

We are surrounded by miracles, indeed. As we sang this morning, "Open my eyes, God."

Let us walk in the holy presence.

Women Talking

Last week at dinner we were talking about our favorite films of all time. As a woman of a certain age, I have no choice but to include Titanic on the list, but there are others with perhaps some higher cinematic standards, too, that I included like The Shawshank Redemption.

Little did I know that I would add another film to the list a few days later.

J and I went to see Women Talking, the Oscar-nominated film by Sarah Polley. In the story (based on a novel, based on a true events), a group of women who belong to a Mennonite religious colony must discern whether they will stay or leave after the men continually abuse them. 

Yes, the subject matter isn't easy, but the movie was so well made, so well acted, so thought-provoking that it had us captivated from start to finish. It started at 7:45pm, and I didn't even fall asleep! A true compliment!

Of course, it's hard not to think about the Rule of Benedict where, in Chapter 3, Benedict asks the prioress or abbot to call the community for counsel. The movie was basically an ongoing dialogue of discernment. There was listening, there was arguing, there was spirit moving, there was intergenerational insight.

I cannot recommend it enough, though I admit, it might be not for everyone.

I'd also recommend the burrata at Cloud 9! Women talking over food!

Let us walk in the holy presence.