Dear Family,
As usual, I’m writing this about a week before you read it, so it’s always an adventure to see how the week will turn out. You hope for good things and you pray for them. Then there are the tragedies that bring sadness and emptiness, and we run out of words.
I think it was on 60 Minutes last Sunday that I saw an interview with a man who had been falsely imprisoned for many years. The interviewer asked him something about how he was reacting to be free. His answer was that he simply was grateful for each day. That’s how he was taking it all in, day by day. On top of that he was not angry because it was a waste of energy. I can’t help but wonder what my reaction would be in his situation.
There are probably shelf-loads of spirituality books written about the ‘grace of the present moment’ and similar ideas. I guess that’s a pretty good indication that paying attention to what is right now is an enduring truth. How many times have we caught ourselves going through all the “if only’s,” if only this would happen, if only that had not happened, etc?
What triggered this whole line of thought was anticipating leaving you on Tuesday for a vacation. Given the last number of months of heart, heath and healing issues, you would be justified in thinking I had been on a vacation already for a long time. I’m hoping, along with my doctor, that "getting out of Dodge” will be part of that process and not an abuse.
I’m also hoping that I will be able to negotiate airports and all the rest of it. My optimism is rooted in the fact that the Lord wouldn’t let me lose the non-refundable tickets that I bought – deliberately without insurance! Of course, I suppose there is always the fault of presumption...
Anyway, while I’m gone I know you will continue to be hospitable as you always are to both priests and visitors who come through here in the next few weeks. They come to minister to you AND to be ministered to by you. Have you ever thought about the effect of your hospitality? Maybe because you chose to be the face of Jesus for them, when they go home they’ll kick it up a notch, and be more of His face for the people around them.
So here I am thinking about all the possibilities.
They are good and a cause for hope. Still I can’t forget that I have today to deal with as well. Who am I seeing today and how am I being Jesus for them? My point is that if I get too caught up with future possibilities, to say nothing of trying to remember to pack my passport along with my tickets and toothpaste, I lose the moment that God gives me now to be a little kinder.
For the next three Twitches, you will have some guest writers. Since I haven’t asked them yet I won’t tell you who, but I think it could be pretty special.
I’m finished for now and as usual I will depend on Annie to come up with some little whimsical piece of art to fill the column.
Meanwhile, may all we do and say be…
In Jesus,
