Miscellaneous

Last night we had our reflection group. I began this group about twelve or fourteen years ago and, although the people change, we continue to be about fifteen and we begin with dinner and then prayer and sharing that is based on a chapter in a book but often takes a different direction. We have been using Margaret Silf's Inner Compass and last night the Chapter was on detachment. I loved the metaphors Margaret presents from ice-skating to standing on a stepping stone in the middle of a river. The stepping stone is all one can see until God places the next stone in front of us. She says that we have left our little stone home on the riverbank and we are out there taking one step at a time. When we look back we see that God is taking the stones from our home one by one to place them in front of us so that we continue to go forward; we cannot go back as God has demolished the house to find the stepping stones for us. I think I can relate to this in my own spiritual life. We really cannot go back but only forward by trusting God to provide the next stone to step on in the river of life.
My faculty faith-sharing group that meets every Thursday afternoon to pray and discuss the coming Sunday's Gospel was also all about detachment since the Gospel is about the young man who comes to Jesus to ask what he needs to do to attain eternal life. Jesus looked at him and loved him. However, the young man's face fell when Jesus told him to go sell all that he had and follow him; the young man went away sad. Then Jesus looked at his disciples and told them how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom but he added these consoling words "but nothing is impossible for God." This is the foundation for our trust as we wait for the next stepping stone to cross the river.