God movement

This was my fifth silent retreat, my fourth silent directed retreat. Last year I went on a preached retreat which, while full of wonderful moments of prayer and solitude, left me yearning for a silent directed retreat again this year. There is just something about spending a whole week in silence, with God and the gentle companionship of a director. In my fairly limited experience, something "of God" happens when I enter into the quiet with my whole heart.

Last week was a continued experience of the mystery and wonder of spending time in the quiet with God. It's very hard to put words on, and really was a deeply personal and intimate experience. But something shifted for me in my relationship with God last week. There was a deepening of my relationship, an incredible experience of love that still leaves me breathless.

One of my favorite activities on retreat is to take photographs. I've been doing this since my first silent directed retreat when I was a Candidate with the sisters. My skills as a photographer seem to greatly increase during these weeks ... I think it has something to do with seeing with the eyes of my heart. In any case, this picture speaks to me of the invitation to move with God. It's taken at sunset over meadow garden that Sister Clare has created for the birds and the butterflies (which were in abundance but not in the photo). There's movement in the photograph. Just as life is not static, it seems to me that our relationship with God isn't static either. Our loving God invites us to move, to change, to dance ...