Inner Movement

​Dear ISLC Community,

Believe it or not, we are still in the heart of the Easter season. Christ is risen! How often, though, do I get caught up in the minutiae as the school year ends, as the hum drum of work continues, as I drive home in traffic? The ways to lose sight of this glorious moment and the invitation into a more profound way of living are endless. It comforts me, then, to read the post-resurrection stories of how Jesus continues to meet the disciples exactly as they were: locked in the upper room, discouraged and walking back from Jerusalem, gone fishing . . . Jesus was there, in the midst of his friends, urging them on in their grief until they could recognize him.

This May at the ISLC, we invite you to “learn to see,” as Christine Rodgers’ evening of social justice poetry calls us. Envision a more just economy with the story of Capeltic coffee and the Jesuit mission in Chiapas, Mexico. Bring intention into parenting with the Mindful Parenting workshops of parishioner, Rebecca Walsh, and look back on the challenges and graces of living into our sanctuary commitment with a reflection facilitated by Francisco Herrera.

As we continue to move through the Easter season, take heart that the new life emerging in our ordinariness often never looks as we would have expected. The poet John O’Donohue describes this inner movement beautifully and encourages us to believe “In out-of-the-way places of the heart / Where your thoughts never think to wander / This beginning has been quietly forming.” Join us in the ISLC’s events this May as we trust in these new beginnings.

In peace,
Grace


“For a New Beginning”

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

John O’Donohue
To Bless the Space Between Us