[Magdalen] Crucible

[Molly Wolf]

Thanks, darling Brudda.

As I believe I've mentioned, I am hoping to buy my own personal lump of Canadian Shield at the west end of Gananoque, a goodly chunk of granite with four oak trees (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, obviously).  Going there and sitting on the stone brings me that sense of time-without-time, the pull of gravity, the soft slow breath of Creation, souls rustling in the palm of God's hand.

I call the rock St. Sam's.

Love,
Molly

The man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. -- Mark Twain

> On Dec 7, 2014, at 7:38 PM, Jon Egger <revegger at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Many of us have known each other and met each other at listmeets for at
> least 20 years.  We've all had changes in our lives...sorrows and
> joys...and this community has meant much t0 me, and I know everyone else,
> too.   Recently, it bathes my soul and for me it's grace upon grace, humbly
> taken and wrapped around my shoulders.
> 
> +++
> Grace & peace,
> jon
> 
> 
>> On Sun, Dec 7, 2014 at 6:31 PM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Jim,
>> Your loving care of Marcy has changed your life; your sharing your and
>> Marcy's life journeys with us changes our lives.  Thank you.  Thank God.
>> 
>> Ginga
>> 
>>> On Sun, Dec 7, 2014 at 6:59 PM, Judy Fleener <fleenerj at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Jim, I am so grateful for your sharing.  It helps me prepare for what is
>>> ahead of us.  There will be a time when Bill and I will be looking at
>>> illness and separation.  It may not be as immediate and fully in our
>> faces
>>> as you are experiencing, but the specter is there.  At 83 and 77 we are
>>> especially aware of what a blessing we have.  You and Marcie are in our
>>> prayers each day.
>>> Judy
>>> 
>>> On Sun, Dec 7, 2014 at 6:05 PM, Capers Limehouse <
>>> capers.limehouse at comcast.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Lovely. Holding you in light. Capers
>>>> On Dec 7, 2014, at 3:09 PM, James Handsfield <jhandsfield at icloud.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> I had a bit of an epiphany today at church.  I’ve been seeing Lindsay
>>>> Buehler for spiritual direction - actually both Marcy and I have been
>>>> seeing her, sometimes together.  During this time with Marcy’s illness,
>>>> I’ve felt sometimes abandoned, sometimes reassured, but most of the
>> time
>>>> abandoned.  According to Lindsay, it’s not desolation, which I was
>> afraid
>>>> it was, but it’s finding I’m in a different room of God’s house, and I
>>> need
>>>> to find God there, not where I used to find God.
>>>>> 
>>>>> My epiphany this morning is that this room is a crucible, and I’m
>> being
>>>> refined.  Out of necessity caring for Marcy, I’m gradually being rid
>> of a
>>>> great deal of selfishness, and at the same time finding myself more and
>>>> more open to the love of those around me, including at St. Bede’s, in
>> my
>>>> neighborhood, here in the pub, and many other places.  It’s not an easy
>>>> process, and it often hurts - a lot - both in the pain of change, and
>>>> perhaps even more seeing what I’d been holding on to and how it made me
>>>> sometimes distant from those I love.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I’m grateful that this is a safe place to share such things.
>>>>> 
>>>>> -----------------
>>>>> Thinking one can behave their way into heaven is an insult to the
>> very
>>>> foundation of salvation.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Jim Handsfield
>>>>> jhandsfield at att.net
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Judy Fleener, ObJN
>>> Western Michigan
>>