Seventh Sunday of Easter, May 12, 2024
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Exploring your memories
God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
On this Ascension Sunday, we feel the liminal space around us. Jesus was, was not, and was again. He walked with us and ate with us, showed us his wounds, and sent us out into all the world. The Holy Spirit will come and fill our mouths and hearts with praise. We don’t need our own words; God will speak through us. We are waiting.
Here’s a poem by Steve Garnaas-Holmes remembering this moment:
Up in the Air
It was not what we had hoped for,
that this moment of uplifting victory—
Jesus ascending to the throne of heaven—
would drip with grief. But we’d lost him.
In the wake of the swirling glory
we stood on the windswept hill
looking up vacantly into the air
as at a graveside, in silent discomfort,
hollowed out by sorrow at his departure,
heaven’s theft, the cloud’s cruel erasure.
Â
It took angels to nudge us awake,
to begin to think not of what used to be
but what was possible.
Think about all that you’ve been through during your own “gift of years.” Slowly, letting God guide you to particulars, reflect on moments during your life, both positive and negative moments. Pursue these memories as you pray. Write down as much as you want about what you discover.
| Memories/ experiences | Childhood | Teens/College | Adult | Family Life | Present Time |
| Positive | |||||
| Negative |
As you think and pray, let God show you:
- How you were tested
- What you learned
- How God brought you closer to him
- What happened next (as a result)
Of course you could spend a long time with this, whether or not you’re on retreat. Take a few minutes (15 or more?) and give it a try. These reflections can allow you to discern more about why you do what you do and how you are who you are. God’s touch over time becomes more clear. You will retain deeper and more meaningful stories to share with your family and friends. And your empathy will mature as you listen to the memories of others.
We are all one river.
Here’s an example from my college years (which started out a desolation, but then veered up into consolation):
I was driving a van with bad brakes through Amish Pennsylvania woods at night, following friends in another car. The night was clear and the black sky was full of stars. On a curve at the bottom of a hill the brakes failed and we smashed into a tree. Two friends (one my age in college and the other 5 years old) in the van were mostly unhurt. I wasn’t hurt either. Still, all of us were nearly killed.
| Tested | I felt very angry and shouted at the sky. Who will I blame – myself? My friend? God? Nobody? |
| Learned | I am not in charge of everything in my life. Other people love me more than I realized. |
| Giving God glory | Over a decade I grew grateful for my life and felt humbled by God’s presence that night. I saw another example of God’s faithfulness. |
| What came next | Relationships with everyone involved grew deeper. They trusted me. I loved them more. I learned about trusting myself without assuming everything would always turn out well. |
This Examen of one’s life can certainly be done each day as well as on occasion. When Fr. Teilhard de Chardin was deep in the Gobi Desert with neither bread nor wine for the Eucharist, he offered up his experiences of the day. As he prayed:
Since I have neither bread nor wine nor altar, I shall rise beyond symbols to the pure majesty of the real, and I shall offer you, I your priest, on the altar of the whole earth, the toil and sorrow of the world.
Giving God the glory.
Beloved, if God so loved us, so we must also love one another.
 (Acts 1, Psalm 103, 1 John 4, John 14, John 17)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
#
