Aligning with Grace

I reflect on lessons transmitted to me and hopefully learned, over a two week period of visiting dear ones, but of also journeying more deeply inward. I walk oceans, grounding my feet - sticking my toes in sand, waves, and foam - and ultimately my soul - deeply breathing in the fresh salt air, which purifies, and bathing in salt water that detoxifies. I am conscious of the gift of this time, and of all that nature generously offers me. I share milestones with life long friends, gal pals, and BFF's, and the wisdom garnered from decades of our combined life experiences and ages. I add to these the insights culled from morning walks, and gathered along with shells from the many shorelines I visit. I marvel at animal visitations, and the messages they leave at my feet, including the gift of numerous feathers. I culminate the nearly two weeks of my soul's sojourn with Sunday liturgy, and the spiritual nourishment of the Eucharist, ever attentive to the homilist's words...

"Create a clean heart in me, and renew my spirit." ~ Psalm 51 Create a clean heart in me... Sometimes, this means our hearts will be broken open... Sometimes, this means that we must excavate the innermost chambers within and let go of what does not serve... For nearly a year - or more - I have recited this simple verse - and prayed it - almost as a demand - perhaps not truly knowing what it means, or what it implies... If we ask for our hearts to be cleansed, then every bit of us must be cleansed as well: our bodies, our minds, and our very souls. Every part of us must be healed... I begin this Lent, very mindful of where the last one took me, on a most unexpected journey. I begin this Lent by praying with a group of women I have joined every week, for a  good while. Our gatherings punctuate my week and splits it in two... I attend the Ash Wednesday service at this wonderful, and very welcoming Episcopal Church where I go to pray, sitting next to one of th...

A magnificent Holy Saturday begins with a Cardinal singing on my dogwood tree, even though it is still bare and without any buds yet. Cardinals remind us of our lives' true purpose... Then, I meet the morning with a brace of rich images dancing within the kaleidoscope of my mind; they are simply beautiful memories from yesterday... Where to begin? And where to end? Different scenes from the tableaux of my own spiritual journey, gently come into focus, and so, I share them in a stream of consciousness... My spirit is touched profoundly in ways I can hardly describe... I am blessed to spend the day in silence, and am called to prayer, meditation, and contemplation... I reach out for my oldest rosary, blessed by Padre Pio, the Franciscan priest bearing the stigmata, who died in the late sixties and was sainted about a decade ago. I think of his faith, his simplicity, and how there was a time I prayed this rosary often, choosing to do so today, to commemorate the Passion of the...