Trinity Sunday, June 15, 2014

Sacred Heart Retreat House
Trinity Sunday, June 15, 2014

It's been a week since I left home for the first part of the sabbatical.  Colorado is so very different than Hawaii, beautiful in its own way.  The retreat house is located atop a hill, and overlooks rolling prairie on all sides.  To the west, the majestic Rockies, some peaks still snow-covered, rise above the countryside, but we are so far away that only the sky dominates the view.

The weather has varied considerably, day by day.  We've had one night where the temps dropped to the upper 30's, and one day that reached up to 81.  There have been thunderstorms twice, and it seems that most days the clouds gather later in the afternoon.  I am changing clothes throughout the day, to adjust to the changing conditions.  Jeans, wool socks, a sweater, vest, and often a windbreaker in the morning, and later evening, slacks and short sleeves during the middle of the day.  Shorts and tee shirt for long walks.

The schedule is:  8 am breakfast, 10 am spiritual direction, 11:30 am mass/liturgy/worship/church, 12 pm lunch, 5:30 dinner.  I am walking at least two hours each day, mostly through trails that weave throughout the hilly 288 acres.  Being at 5,830 feet altitude has taken time to adjust to, the biggest challenge getting wonder on steep inclines (or is it age?).  Direction and worship involve another 1.5 - 2 hours.  I'm prayerful for most of the day, so that even walking seems like meditation and worship.  I am constantly amazed at the beauty and gift of creation all around me, and have taken lots of photos of little and big things, which are a constantly-changing visual buffet.  In addition, I'm spending a significant time in prayerful meditation and reflection on the Bible.  And then there is sleep.  It might sound rather boring and unproductive, but in reality has given me space and time to be with God, which has been wonderful, terrifying, gut-wrenching, and always new and surprising.

The first portion of the 30-day exercises is about God's unconditional love.  That might seem like a given.  It is certainly something I preach.  It is something I try to give.  But when it comes right down to it, most of what I know of God's unconditional love is knowledge, theological proposition, scripture.  Those are all good things, but they are about doing and knowing, not simply being.

So I will leave you with the first "work" I was given.  Below you will find three Bible references, and some reflection questions.  I invite you to sit with each of them.  Let them work in and through you.  Let God speak directly to you as you read and reflect on them.

Isaiah 43:1-7
Who is God for me?
How does God see me?

Luke 12:22-34
What worries or fears do I want to let go of as I begin this retreat?

Psalm 139:1-18
How does God gaze upon me?

Blessings!

P.S. There is life without Starbucks!