by Sally Curtis AsKew
Richard Rohr reminded me last week of the distinction we make between sacred and secular. I think I wrote about this a couple of years ago when talking about some crocus which appeared in a very desolate place. It was a harsh environment with major air pollution from the nearby copper mines. We had been moved from a place where things were familiar to us to a whole new environment.
Father Rohr says “You don’t have to go to sacred places to pray or wait for holy days for good things to happen. You can pray always, and everything that happens is potentially sacred if you allow it to be. Once we can accept that God is in all situations, and that God can and will use even bad situations for good, then everything becomes an occasion for good and an occasion for God….Your task is to find the good, the true, and the beautiful in everything, even and most especially the problematic.”
During the last few months I have had to remind myself of these things over and over again. With first having to give up and admit that I could no longer care for Albert at home and then facing his having a serious stroke a month later, it was almost more than I could bear. I have had to keep reminding myself of all the good parts of our situation: he got good medical care, good therapy to help him regain as much use of himself as he could, and a safe, caring place to be. Yes, I know there are times when he wants to come home and have things be as they were. There are times when I wish the same thing. Some nights I wake up and look to be sure he is still in bed beside me, and then I have to remember that he is not there and will never be again. For more than 54 years we had our morning devotional together—all those years using The Upper Room Disciplines and the Prayer Calendar produced by United Methodist Women. For 45 of those years we had pulled out one Christmas card and prayed especially for those who sent it. Doing that this year has brought tears to my eyes more than once as when I wrote that letter or e-mail, I had to explain why I was doing it alone this year.
Again, Father Rohr says “You don’t have to go to sacred places to pray or wait for holy days for good things to happen. You can pray always, and everything that happens is potentially sacred if you allow it to be. Once we can accept that God is in all situations, and that God can and will use even bad situations for good, then everything becomes an occasion for good and an occasion for God. This is the day Yahweh has made memorable, let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24).” I will not tell you that these months have been easy, but I can tell you that with the support of loving friends and family that I have made my peace with the situation.
Prayer: God, astonish me daily with your love.