10.28.2024 | Ordinary Monday

A bit of a cloudy start to the day here in the Carondelet Garden in South Saint Louis.  The clouds are supposed to stick around all day with warmer temperatures hitting the upper 70s later this afternoon.  We may even see a bit of rain on Thursday.

The garden is slowly changing into its winter mode more and more the past few days.  Leaves are changing at a rapid pace and gently falling to the ground.  We will be collecting them soon to be turned into leaf mould which will nourish the garden once again next year.  It is a circle of life indeed.

The circle of life has been on my mind these past few weeks. It is the time of year when I feel the thin places.  This week will be another funeral for a family friend.  We have had more than we wish to count this year.  I realize it is one of the things that happens as we get older.  Friends and family pass away and new lives are born and the joy and grief mix and mingle as we continue to live.  As I persist on this journey, I realize that thin spaces exist not only in the places around us but also within us.  Each of is standing at that threshold of our pain or wonder.  We are standing in our own thin place.  We soon realize that we are all broken in some way or another.  But those of us who embrace our brokenness will be transformed.  As Dr. B said, "we are broken, but somehow we fit!"  Somehow, we fit.  

Jeremiah 6:16 tells us:
"Thus says the Lord, stand at the crossroad and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls."

The Irish have a saying that says, "What is not worth seeking, is not worth finding."  Seek the good way,    Cherish the memories.  Remember that God loves us, just the way we are, right now!  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.