So many things become a bridge when we take time to remember them and what they connect us to and how they continue to take us across time and space. I guess the earthquake in Chile has been one of those bridges for me. I lived in Concepcion; I was in Chile just three months when the great earthquake of the south struck on May 21, 1960. I remember the date as I woke up with the bed going two directions at the same time - up and down and back and forth. It was a disagreeable feeling but I thought it must be the 21 gun salute I had been told would be fired as it was a holiday in honor of the naval hero, Arturo Pratt. Anyway, we felt the earthquake but the huge statue of the Sacred Heart over the altar in our Chapel in Concepcion fell just after the sacristan had left the altar; the church across the street was destroyed. We had had to rebuild after a previous earthquake and so our school was solid. I hope it still is as we have not yet had any news from there. Kim King did call to let us know that she is fine in Renaca but the electricity is off. I am writing this on Saturday and only posting next week so it is not the news of the earthquake that I am reflecting on as how an event like this is an immediate bridge to friends who are in Concepcion. It is a bridge that reaches out to them in prayer; it is also a bridge of memories of friendship, of life shared, and of care and concern for one another. In another sense, the bridge is linking Haiti and Chile; both need our prayer.
I am writing ahead as I leave for St. Charles today and will be doing a Province retreat week end; I will return on Sunday night. It is Spring Break at the University and a welcome week away, although the online Program students do not have a break! I may miss a blog or two, but I am trying to at least put out a thought for each day I am away.
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