The Grand Canal, Venice -- pastel by Ann Peters
Good Morning, God!
I love this pastel of a lone gondolier on the Grand Canal. Actually, I love Venice. The Sea may be rising — but they are adapting. Hmm. It seems to me that we do the same with Aging. We adapt.
Adaptation seems a lot like Maintenance in that it is essential but unappreciated.
Our culture admires the Alamo or the Masada — people who refused to surrender — refused to accept and adapt. Somehow that seems clearer in History where we have “picked sides” and labeled some “noble” and others “bad.” But, when exactly to resist and when to “walk away or walk around” is messy.
Jesus “stepped around” Roman rule. He would not have been at Masada. He had a “Higher Context” — a Higher Calling. We ALL have Higher Callings, don’t we God. So, today — as I unpack and repack and do the laundry and tidy up loose ends — I am setting off toward a Time of Listening: My second 10-day silent retreat at the Benedictine Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado.
In the first one, in 1995, You helped me empty out tons of resentment and regret — anger and judgments — left over from working. This time it feels more like You intend on Rearranging — but it is UP to YOU! I shall show up and go along.
And, yes, I “hear” You saying that “listening” is part of an on-going connection. But, it feels as if I have way too much daily detritus to have a clear connection. Please, God, I want Your Help in Sorting Things Out. I WANT more time with People — Beloved Family and Beloved Friends. So off I go into a period of Silence and Solitude — a Time to Pull Back and be Pruned. Thank YOU!
Story teller,
A Moment with God 
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