03.10.2023 | Fish Fry Friday in Lent

A chilly, cloudy start to our day here in the Carondelet Garden.  The good news is the hyacinths are in bloom!  Lovely little grape clusters of flowers simply bursting on this Fish Fry Friday in the Second week of Lent.  If you are out and about you just might see these #supercoololdpeople St. Stephen Protomartyr's Fish Fry this afternoon.

We went to a busy restaurant with friends last night.  It was a fun time reconnecting with some folks we hadn't seen in a while and simply catching up.  The problem for this old guy is that I have a terrible time hearing in noisy places.  It seems we live in a noisy, busy world filled with constant distractions.  At the simple, ordinary level of a small table of friends, really hearing them, for me, is a challenge.  It has been this way for several years and I talked to my doctor about it.  Hearing tests were okay.  Normal for a old gardener.  What was different wasn't that I have difficulty understanding.  I have difficulty attending to the conversation individually.  It's harder and harder to block out the extraneous noise to truly listen and attend to the conversation.  My doctor said it is common as we get older, but he is seeing it in people of all ages as distractions become more prevalent.  

Something like that happens to me as well with my inner life.  Listening for that wee small voice is difficult sometimes.  How do I make space? How do I shut out the other noises?  How do I make the space to graciously and lovingly open up and listen?  I start by making space and taking the time to really listen.  I can tell you it is not easy for me.  Yet, when I make the choice and create the space for true relationship and listen, my world changes.  I keep trying to make space.  I keep trying to take the time to really listen for that small voice that reminds me that I am loved, just the way I am, right now.