Dear Reader:

Every time we have to leave a retreat it seems these days- Whether it is our summer Edisto one and or our mid-winter Pawleys retreat…there is a piece of us that gets left behind…a shadow.

It takes all four of us to keep the puzzle pieces in tact any more…we do better as a team than individually. God didn’t intend any of us to go it alone…in this lifetime. These days when we part it is like we have to get ready to acclimate once again to our “other” life.

I, also, recognize more often when something just pops up out of nowhere…there is a reason. When a blog post from 2014 popped up and I noticed one of my favorite authors (Madeleine L’Engle) had written a small insert …I knew I was supposed to hear it, listen to it, embrace it, learn from it and (most importantly) share it.

The only answer to life is more of life!

Madeleine went on to explain that when life gets tough we must dig in and get tougher. We have to be adventuresome and get out there and live it….even while making mistakes. Wrong choices just help us realize what we don’t want, where the wrong direction is…and then it steers us along the path of right choices…and growth.

This short story explains it….like this:

“The Road to Holiness”  

A seeker after truth came to a saint for guidance.
“Tell me, wise one, how did you become holy?”
“Two words.”
“And what are they, please?”
“Right choices.”
The seeker was fascinated. “How does one learn to choose rightly?”
“One word.”
“One word! May I have it, please?” the seeker asked.
“Growth.”
The seeker was thrilled. “How does one grow?”
“Two words.”
“What are they, pray tell?”
“Wrong choices.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

We are being told that the only way to understand life is to live it…fully and completely. So if we make our daily routine too “routine” (too restricted and narrow) we deny ourselves the opportunity to grow in our understanding of the universe and our place in it. God wants to see us continuously growing…to become spiritual “lifetime learners.”  The best way to do this is to let go of the norm, the secure…and open our eyes and heart to new people, places, and events… waiting to show us new perspectives and thoughts.

So until tomorrow….we will take our memories with us, be thankful for the time we had together, and hopefully laugh out loud by ourselves remembering different incidents from the retreat. A successful retreat…then!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh