Reflection for Saturday, October 4, 2008: 26th week in Ordinary Time.
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Authors
Furlong, Beth
Issue Date
2008-10-04
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Essay
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en_US
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Abstract
These three sentences from Reading 1 and the Responsorial Psalm remind me of the importance of trust and of acceptance of "not knowing" at the moment.||"I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know." "Teach me wisdom and knowledge, for in your commands I trust." "The revelation of your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple."|I apply the above to the reality of our lives -- we often cannot understand our present reality -- why this crisis? This illness? This poverty? These family relationship problems? I believe it will be in later life or the hereafter when we finally know and understand. We will then understand the "big picture" of the meaning of our lives. I think of two stories which helps with this understanding.|In a past Community Health Nursing clinical course, each student was expected to present an hour conference educating her colleagues about one family she was caring for in the home setting. In her preparation, this student followed all the guidelines -- including the criteria to integrate some aspect of the Humanities with the Health Sciences. She found a poem that addressed the message above, i.e., we go through life looking at the meaning of our lives as if we were looking at the underside of clothing. It is only at the end of life or in the hereafter that we have the understanding and knowledge of seeing the meaning of our lives from the outer "right" side of the clothing-- and, then, of course, we see the "big picture" and the meaning.|I vision my life to the metaphor of a beautiful piece of fabric art and weaving --at the top I vision 100 plus multi-colored threads of different consistencies across the top. As life progresses, they have intertwined in many different ways consistent with my particular life journey. While I usually see the underside of the weaving, I am old enough now to also have some understanding and knowledge of some the connections and ultimate meanings in my life. I anticipate the time when I see the outer "right" side of this fabric weaving -- and, have the understanding and knowledge of what all of my life meant.|May we have patience in our understanding and knowledge of our current reality.
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University Ministry, Creighton University.
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These reflections may not be sold or used commercially without permission. Personal or parish use is permitted.
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Lectionary number: 460