June 30th

  Chuck had a question about my writing of Bulletin blurbs, “How do you remember this stuff?”  His directness led me to consider my experience over the past few years.
        I first started writing these blurbs when Joceline Lemaire asked for short pieces to fill extra space in the Bulletin.  I found myself waking up some mornings with an entire reflection in mind—all I needed to do was grab a pen and some paper.  After a while, those “revelations” stopped.  I still wanted to write — so, before going to sleep, I would try to recall a memory or a piece of Scripture.  I hoped this practice would act as a prompt.  If I felt any inspiration the next day, it generally took writing a few drafts before I felt I had a piece worth sending in.  That strategy worked for a while.  Recently that tactic was failing to prove fruitful.  I wondered if my days as a blurb writer were coming to an end.  The thought saddened me; it also filled me with gratitude for the opportunity I had been given.
        Then Chuck asked his question—and I began writing this blurb.  The inspiration did not come in my sleep or through any effort of dredging up old memories; it came out of an ordinary encounter in my everyday life.  Grace was now showing up, unbidden, in broad daylight.
        And isn’t that the way grace works sometime?  We find ourselves attracted to a certain activity or person—and there is an initial spurt of inspiration, marked by the telltale sign of joy.  The flow of grace appears to slow down and we have to invest time and energy to maintain the practice or keep up the relationship with that person.  The third movement of grace opens us to the surprising awareness of God’s presence all around—in the ordinary, the everyday—as the love of God shows through in unexpected ways and places.