As grateful as I am for all of God's graces and blessings in my life, I often wonder about how many of the Lord's gifts I miss because I'm too distracted to notice them, too busy to open them, so self-absorbed that I close myself off to what others, including God, might be offering me.
A retreat is a time to be remember and be grateful for all the ways God has blessed me in the past - AND - it's a time when I find myself more open to perceiving, discovering, opening and enjoying what gifts might come my way from his hand this week. I was in the chapel here at Eastern Point after having met with my retreat director and, just sitting there in silence, I felt the Lord very close at my side and present in my heart. Though I hadn't really been praying I responded to the Lord's' presence with an interior, spontaneous, "Jesus - lock me in here!" I was praying, "Lock me in to this moment... lock me in to this experience of your immanence... lock me in to your arms reaching out to embrace me... lock me in to whatever you want to give me at this time... lock me in to your love, Lord!"
Well, I can't promise that you'll perceive all the gifts the Lord offers you this day - but I'll pray that the eyes of your heart and mind will be open to some of them, that you'll experience them and find yourself in a place where you, too, want to pray, "Lock me in right here, Lord! Hold me in this place! Hold me in your arms!"
OR... you might take some time in your prayer to remember just such a moment you've known in the past: recall it, remember it, replay it in your imagination, return to it and experience it again. And pray, "Lock me in right here, Jesus! Hold me in this moment! Hold me in your embrace! Hold me in your love! Lock me in, Lord!"
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