A World Crammed with God's Presence: Retreat Notes, Day One

Pilgrim Feet

Day one of our retreat--a retreat day that begins this way can't be a bad day:


We go early in the morning to a grocery store, make a few purchases, and the cashier, who is extremely kind and helpful (she makes sure we get a discount on one item that had been on sale up to yesterday), says to us as she checks out our handful of nibbles, "Isn't it great not to be perfect?  That was the theme of my devotional this morning.  I'll probably forget it as the day goes on, but for now, I'm glad not to be perfect."

We agree with her.  Since, as we say, how else can spirit or Spirit make its way into our hearts and lives?  The perfect don't have need of s/Spirit.  They already have what they need.  Being perfect or infallible must be a perfectly horrible thing to carry around, like a million-ton tortoise shell on one's back.

We all nod sagely, smile, appear to want the conversation to continue.  But she has more customers to check out and we have our walking tour to begin.

And so out we go from the store, seeing on a car in the parking lot as we exit the store, "Obamanos: vote!"  And the retreat is off to a flying start.

P.S. Later in the day: it occurs to me I should mention that I'm drawing on Colleen Baker at Enlightened Catholicism for the notion of a world crammed with God's presence.