³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34

Years ago, I went through the Academy for Spiritual Formation. It was held at the Mercy Center, a Catholic Retreat Center in Burlingame, up by San Francisco. I went one week every quarter for two years. There was so much I loved about that retreat center, but I especially loved walking the grounds. Of course, being more northern California, the weather is certainly different than from down here at home and so are the plants and flowers that grow there. The grounds were quite beautiful, ever changing but always familiar, the pathways were lined with snowdrops that seemed to bow their graceful white bonnets as you walked by. 

As you followed the meandering pathway that would step down a few steps here and there, you would come to a beautiful labyrinth. The path of the labyrinth was lined with small rocks and the path itself was simple dirt. When you walked it there was a massively wonderful natural stone that you would come to when you reached the center. Surrounding the labyrinth in one spot was a koi pond, where you could sit and watch the fish as they would slip in and out of rocks and back and forth under a small bridge, frogs, dragonflies, and butterflies would also collect around the pond.

Each week that I was there, I seemed to find something new on the grounds that I had not seen before. I had found a path that led out behind the Center, down past the housing of the Sisters that lived there. This path went into a more wooded area that had what seemed like a hidden creek, one that wasn’t seen or known of by many of the participants. As I walked along the edge of this path, I began to see trees that had signs on them. At first I couldn’t get close enough to see what they said, so I went through the growth to get a better look, and found these trees were actually Stations of the Cross. This was a humbling find for me, like a Via Delarosa along this wooded creek bed, how many years of prayers has this hidden path heard? On my way back to the Main House I found a small Zen garden with a bench, maybe others had a need to sit and ponder and give thanks for what they too had just experienced as I did.  

It’s been 16 years since I last saw the Mercy Center and yet I return there often in mind, heart and spirit. When I came home I began a journey of turning my backyard into a garden sanctuary where I can find myself, where I listen to God’s whispers and find a place of peace. My garden is always changing, always creating. It’s a place I work with my hands and find a deep sense of peace and comfort when the chaos of the world is more that I want to deal with. I feel fortunate to have such a place, my hope for you is that you too have such a place. It does not have to be a garden, it can be anything that brings you joy in your heat and peace in your soul.

“May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into you bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, to dance. It is there for each and every one of you. Amen.” St. Teresa of Avila

Blessings,
Brenda

Little children, let’s not love with words or speech, but with action and truth. This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts in God’s presence. 1 John 3:18-19

God has called us to act out our love for each other by serving.  Jesus taught us to love your neighbor as yourself. I recently came across a story in the Orange County Register about one couple who has done just that.

When the stay at home orders went into effect, four families began meeting every evening at 6 PM. They all brought out their chairs and sat in their area that had been marked off with chalk so that they kept the 6-foot distance from each other. They called this gathering “6 at 6”. As life slowed down, they talked about how their kids’ graduations were being disrupted because of COVID-19. They began to notice patterns like geese flying overhead at the same time and neighbors coming home from work. They also noticed a couple who would walk by every night around 6:30 the same time. They waved and said hello but didn’t know each other.

One morning the families in the “6 at 6” group found cards on their car windshields.  Inside the cards there were nice notes of encouragement with a small amount of cash for the graduates.  The cards were signed by Bill and Barb. A few streets away twins celebrating their birthday also received a birthday greeting from the mysterious Bill and Barb. No one knew who they were. 

Over time the mystery was solved, and they figured out that Bill and Barb were the couple that walked by every night at 6:30 PM.  The graduates that received the cards then wrote signs and thank you cards and passed them out to Bill and Barb when they went by during their evening walk. 

Through this pandemic there have been many ways that love has been put into action.  People continue to keep our food closet stocked so that we can feed our neighbors.  Those that can shop for others who are in the at-risk community do. Gift cards were purchased for our shower ministry guests. Protestors have gathered to bring our attention to the need for love and justice for our black neighbors. Many people have sewn endless numbers of masks so that we have them to help slow the spread of the virus. It gives me hope that through all of the fear, anger and finger pointing surrounding the uncertainty of COVID-19 that the language of love still speaks louder.

Gracious and loving God, use us to spread your love. Help us to see each circumstance in our lives as an opportunity to grow in your love. May we see this world we live in as a place to grow in your love so that we may share this love with our neighbors.

Go in love,
Marty