First I have to say that I did not want to go on this retreat. I didn’t want to give up an entire Saturday to go someplace where there were going to be questions about faith & deep stuff like that. I’m too shallow. But my friend, Dolores, was going to give a talk and my curiosity won out. “What was she going to talk about? Would I need to hold up little cue cards for the audience as she did her talk so people would know when to laugh or clap?” Besides, who wouldn’t want to get up at 7 a.m. on a dreary Saturday morning?
When we arrived, the first thing I noticed was a little Church that seemed to have been built on a swamp or something:
I still have no idea why that Church was sunken into the ground. Of course, considering that the room we were in was originally a stable, who knows what sort of building the Church was intended to be when it was built.
When we walked in, I was glad to see that I recognized most of the people there, if not from having spoken to them, at least by name or face. This was good because I don’t do particularly well with strangers. Strange people, yeah. Strangers, no.
Dolores did really well. Her voice didn’t sound too nervous and you could barely notice her trembling. 
Seriously, she really did a wonderful job.
We were broken up into groups of 6. I was with Frank (of course), 2 new people & 2 women I’ve known since our kids first started school together. Yeah, there’s the stranger factor but this was good because it was only 2 and they were nice. Well it was good until they got to the questions part. We just won’t talk about that here.
Sometime after lunch we had recess. We were told there was water if we followed a path out back. We did find water - in the form of mud. Lots of gooey, sticky mud that there was no way around; only through.
There were no signs indicating which way to walk when we came to a couple of forks but we managed to find our way to the water. We were supposed to be thinking on things like, “Have I changed?” and stuff like that but it ended up being more of a social hour. Okay, social 20 minutes. Then we almost had a tragedy:
Maybe Nelson heard something that disturbed him during the talks & meditations. Only he can know the reasons why he felt compelled to jump. But Dan talked him down. Either that or Dan was trying to help push him off the cliff.
After our walk through the woods, it turned out that Frank had carried a hitchhiker. There was a spider on him. I thought when they asked what did you bring back with you, he should have said that. We also brought back mud and goose dung on our shoes but I guess that’s not one of the answers they’d be looking for, either.
The day turned out to be a lot of fun. It was good talking to people I haven’t seen in ages. It was nice finding out the names of some people I have know for years. It was even nice getting to meet new people.
On a serious note, the theme was basically about seeing Jesus in the ordinary. There was some discussion about who do you see Jesus in or in what situations and also about when do others see Him in you. I feel like this - I mostly work from home. My contact with others is pretty limited. My life doesn’t really have any affect on anyone. But then I got to thinking. It’s easier seeing how others affect your life. It’s difficult if not impossible to know how you touch the lives of others. Except in those rare instances when someone says something to you, you generally just go about your life doing whatever you do. You’re not usually particularly aware of how your actions or how the way you live your life affects others. In my case, I am aware of how the bad things I do affect others but I’m sure not aware of anything in just the simple, ordinary things. Maybe it would be a good thing to be more aware of both sides - the good & the ordinary as well as the bad.
And no one better tell Msgr. that I’m sitting here blogging when I’m supposed to be doing the bulletin.
March 25th, 2007 at 1:46 pm Quote
Monk, I love the chapel, and also wonder if it was built that way on purpose.
Even though I’m Catholic too, I’ve been going to Lutheran churches the last few weeks to be introduced to the congregation as the state coordinator for Lutheran Disaster Services. Well, today at Christus Victor, when I was introduced and asked to stand, I finally realized the enormity of my job. All of these people have been influenced by Katrina in some way–most of them were volunteers from the north. All the regular parishioners are hurricane victims. I just looked up at the cross and said, “Help me.” That’s all I could say.
March 25th, 2007 at 8:45 pm Quote
Ya know, that’s when I think we run into problems - when we don’t do that & think we can handle things on our own.
Hey, how did this turn into a serious thread?? Oh, I heard a rumor today that the building wasn’t a chapel but I refuse to believe it. My version is much more interesting…
March 25th, 2007 at 9:01 pm Quote
Yeah, I’m going with your take on it.
March 25th, 2007 at 9:05 pm Quote
Well my friend, the fact that you and Frank came as a direct result of me being one of the speakers was, for me, Jesus in the ordinary.
Knowing that you stepped out of your comfort zone to come and support me really touched me and so yes…your actions really do affect others in a good way
So could you really see me trembling from across the room? Well, yeah…I guess you could since you were sitting only a couple of yards away. I found out later that when my husband got up to get me a box of tissues it wasn’t because I was crying - he was the one who really needed them!
It was nice seeing the two of you again today. I hope you enjoyed your dinner.
March 25th, 2007 at 9:10 pm Quote
Uh-oh…now I’m spreading rumors!
March 25th, 2007 at 9:38 pm Quote
Have to run inside to watch Cold Case but just wanted to say this real quick, speaking of seeing Jesus in the ordinary, what I love is finding humor in the ordinary.
March 25th, 2007 at 9:45 pm Quote
that pretty much describes how I see you — I never knew until recently how funny you are!
March 27th, 2007 at 2:08 am Quote
Retreats are all about looking closely to where God is in your life. And the whole taking a walk and thinking about how you changed is an important part of the retreat. I did that as well on mine and it did me a lot of good to go off in to the woods (or on to the dock in my case) to reflect on my life and where God is in my life. Its quite rewarding when you DO NOT socialize. tisk tisk. i expect better from my mother! =P I say we find out if there are any mother/daughter retreats out to Shelter Island…
I love you
March 27th, 2007 at 8:04 am Quote
Ya know… I really don’t like having kids who are smarter than I am. Stephen was saying something about the retreat, too.
March 29th, 2007 at 12:21 pm Quote
Yes teens can be quite smart … there is a retreat in Sag Harbor @ Cormaria for mothers and daughters … I have not had the opportunity, but if you are interested thought I would pass the info on.
March 29th, 2007 at 6:50 pm Quote
Oh, sure. Post publicly that there’s such a thing as a mother/daughter retreat right where Theresa can see it. Next thing ya know, I’ll have to admit to having done one of those with my mom.
I guess God had one of my friends speaking at the retreat because I was supposed to be there, eh? He’s sneaky that way.