Seek the blessing in every gathering. . .

I led a retreat this past week end at the Hazelden Renewal Center in MN.  The topic was Cultivating Hope In All Our Affairs.  Twenty-eight of us gathered and gently moved forward in our thinking, our personal explorations, our willingness to be intimately vulnerable and open to the vulnerabilities of others.  It was miraculous, really.  I have discovered that these kinds of week ends are always miraculous, in fact, because perceptions become changed.  You can see it happening.  You can feel the shift occurring.  And you can see the body language relaxing, as participants settle into their willingness to help others heal as they, in turn, heal too.

Every gathering can serve as a blessing.  Every gathering.  Even those we dread.  Perhaps those are the ones that bless us the most, in fact.  Perhaps we may not see it at first.  We may deny it.  But we are always being “called to” the gathering we find ourselves in.  Trusting that there is a reason for our presence lessens our resistance.

Deciding to believe that “this we experience now has been selected on our behalf,” offers us comfort and relief.  We will never be lead to a place where the God of our understanding hasn’t also come.  Look around at your next gathering and be grateful for “the invitation.”