Today's walk was along a major roadway, so the calm of water was far off. Tomorrow I will head down to the river for a different kind of walk. There was however a surprising wildflower in the midst of roadside weeds and a cross at the top of the monastery hill I have missed in winter.
The Young Adult Service Corps (YASC) missionaries continue to fascinate me and give me so much hope for our church. There are actually 29 of them who will go to 27 different countries, and their ages are actually 21 to 30. However there is a couple with grown children who have quit their jobs in the US to head permanently to Honduras as missionaries. This couple will work in the Diocese of Honduras in education. These missionaries each have a story of profound call. Conversations were rich today with one who heads to Liverpool as the first YASC to serve there; one from the Diocese of Puerto Rico who will go to Brazil; deeper conversation with the one headed to Rome who will work with African refugees there; another from the Diocese of Southwest Florida who will go to a different part of Brazil.
The YASC group voices ring out with laughter, friendship, singing with guitar outside my window, along with piano playing on the floor below my room. This retreat time for me is filled with surprises. It's not totally silent and that's ok. The Great Silence after Compline feeds me and so do all of the surprises God gives every day! Paying attention is all that's required, and I have the gift of time to delight in that.