Humorous insights from retreatants Once in awhile when talking to a retreatant they will relate to me an insight that they received that is both profound and funny. I was talking to a young man, I will call him Steve. He told me that when he came on Monday he wanted to ‘get it’, and then go back home changed, healed and in control. He related that as the days went on he became more and more distressed because events weren’t going the way he wanted them to. So on Thursday after mass, he was complaining to the Lord about how bad things were going. Then he stopped looked at me and said the strangest thing happened. “I got this insight, not in words but as if it were downloaded into my brain”. He continued. “What I got was this. ‘Steve, you see these monks, well they are here for a lifetime, that’s right, a lifetime, and you expect to achieve whatever is you think you want in four days?’ “. He laughed and said “it was such a relief for me to hear that, or perceive it on some level. So I came here wanting to be in control and leaving knowing that it will take time, a lifetime of growth and struggle and beginning again”. As he was leaving the room, he said: “I can live with that”.--Br.MD
Thanks Mark for posting this. I have enjoyed many of your writings. This one is really cute and true. It takes a long time to get to the place where we want to be, a lifetime for most actually. I especially love the photo that you posted and the caption too. It also reminds me of my dad making me a wooden Puffin for my garden. The wings are supposed to rotate in the wind but he made them a bit too heavy, just like life it's not always easy to "take flight" but we keep on trying and putting one foot in front of the other. I may try and fix that Puffin that my dad made me. God never gives up on us, so I shouldn't give up on it. May God bless you always! +
