Squeezing it all in...

There has been so much happening this past semester yet I’ve not been able to share much through posting stories/updates here.  I have missed writing since starting my new job.  Blogging helps to keep me centered and to express my thoughts/prayers in a different way and I’ve missed this avenue of praying.  That’s not to say that I haven’t been reflecting/praying throughout the day but when I take the time to write and really listen in the silence I feel more at peace and closer to God. 

I was able to journal these thoughts this morning as I wrote from a basement chapel at a church downtown.  I am usually here on Monday nights for Adoration at the conclusion of Marathon Monday but a friend called me this morning asking me to sub for her since she was unable to make her regularly scheduled Holy Hour.  On a whim, I grabbed my laptop so I could journal through blogging while sitting in this space of reverence.  

Marybeth had sent with me an article she shared with my students during a guest lecture.  To read the article in its entirety, click here.  It is a quick read but here are some parts that really jumped out at me this morning:

·         “We must be careful,” St. Thérèse said, “to keep our hearts detached not only from mutual goods, but spiritual goods, as well”.  Ah, how this hit home for me.  All semester I had been lamenting my lack of time to blog and how spiritually freeing it is for me to have that carved out time to write/reflect on God’s word.  I was overly attached to that form of prayer and neglecting the other ways I could grow closer to God.

·         “We must not become starched Christians,” Pope Francis said, “discussing theology calmly over tea.”  The author of the article then goes on to speak about how she would prefer her quiet uninterrupted time to pray but what if that is not what God has in mind for her that day?  Yes, I would prefer having my regular time to blog but with planning and prepping for classes, managing life, striving to maintain social and familial connections, grading projects/tests/papers while also planning for the upcoming semester, fitting in daily reading/talking time with Adam, attending meetings, walking the dog, and still trying to get to bed before too late each night….I’m finding that there is not enough time to engage in my usual stress relievers.  The author of this article makes the point that “sometimes it [prayer time] is a gift I need to give.  It costs me something.  It empties me.  And in that sacrifice, I can show Jesus that I love him, whether prayer comes in the scent of an ocean breeze or in the cries of a tired child”. 

Yes, that is what has been happening throughout the last four months!  I may not have had the time to blog and pray in my own way, my preferred method, but I have been through my other daily actions.  When I drive in to campus on a Sunday afternoon to meet with a distraught student, Jesus is there.  Spending way too many hours grading an assignment for one of my classes taking away from the time spent talking with Adam or communicating with family, Jesus sees that sacrifice.  Making time to visit with a neighbor/friend each Thursday morning for our standing coffee date has brought tremendous spiritual growth and peace through sharing stories and learning from her wisdom no matter that I might fall behind in that day's to-do list and chores by having this standing date.  Even the missed mandatory new faculty meeting on Monday morning was not wasted as that time was spent calming down two students in the midst of panic attacks as end of the semester deadlines loom.  I would hope through these daily--what were considered distractions at first--are really just other ways of living out the Gospel and praying through action and the words spoken in these situations.   

For now, in the times when I’m unable to blog as much as I would like, I will ponder over these words/thoughts in my heart and continue praying without ceasing throughout the day.  Should you have any prayer intentions or requests that I can take with me throughout daily activities, please do share them with me and I will take them to my weekly Holy Hour.  

 In closing, I will borrow the prayer, written by St. Thérèse, shared in the article I referenced earlier:

O my God!  I offer Thee all my actions of the day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love.

O my God!  I ask of Thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all Eternity.  Amen.