What About Your Life is Stretching You?

How we hate to move out of our comfort zones! But, how we hate to be considered "predictable" either! I have to say that it is almost hurtful to have to admit to living a "narrow life," enjoying the company of folks I "get along with," who tend to support issues the way I do. Some of them have greater convictions than I, but we still think alike. There's an important reflection point you are asked to address -- "what about your life is stretching [you]"?
I remember a former Pastor at SJN, Msgr.Jordan, who truly knew how to be open in a way that was absent of judgment. On one occasion, after a funeral held at SJN for an individual who was part of the homeless community, we welcomed an interesting collection of mourners to the reception following the service, and Fr. Jordan wound up face to face with Leslie, Austin's famous cross-dresser, who arrived wearing a nun's headdress and a thong. I believe he tried to shock Fr. Jordan when he asked him about whether he was acceptable in the eyes of the church, and the Pastor merely smiled and said that God welcomed everyone to the table. How does one avoid the temptation to be suspicious of "that" visitor?

In Chapter 4, the authors make a curious comment that solitude is important because it "opens us up" to be in relationship with others. It is true that many of us have almost lost touch with what it's like to live in the quiet -- too many ringing cell phones, radios that are never turned off, television noises in the background, even the sound of traffic outside. Sometimes, we don't even realize how badly we need time to be quiet. As a single person, I've created some space for silence in my own home each morning in prayer, but once a year I head to the valley for the supreme quiet offered at Lebh Shomea, a Silent House of Prayer operated by the Oblates in the middle of South Texas ranch country. I've learned through that experience, that the quiet truly does restore us for living in community. I think I could really live in that kind of silence for much longer than the week I spend each year, but that would almost be an escape from my own destiny on the planet. I'm just thankful for the restoration that comes to me while I am there.

Food for thought, enjoy the read,

Nancy Biehler