The Day of Ashes

In 2005, I discovered a seminarian named Michael Rogers. I enjoyed his thoughts about many Catholic subjects and his life as a teacher. His writing was so clear and passionate. It spoke to me on a deep level concerning his Christ centered life. This happened at a time when nothing Catholic could interest me. Since that first encounter I have followed his writing year after year and blog after blog. Fr. Michael Rogers SJ has continued writing in his clear, passionate, lively prose.  Now I find his writing is tempered with loving kindness along with his zeal for Christ and Catholic thought.

On The Road From La Sorta  a more current blog written by Fr. Michael Rogers SJ is where I found this post. It is a perfect start for my Lenten meditations.   

The Long Move

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I wrote in September of our move from Washington to Georgia. Once in Georgia, we looked for a house in order to resettle quickly.

The move into a new home took less time than the moving out from our home in Washington. But the moving in had its own set of difficulties. After we found the house that met our needs, we made an offer. Thus began the back and forth ordeal between agents, loan officers, and others as we tried to buy the house we wanted as our home. It was a very tense time, made so by the miscommunications, undefined goals, the divided attention of the seller's agent and the general "fog of war" that happens in many human endeavors.

Nevertheless, the last week of October brought the day we signed the papers to close, and all the aggravation and heart burn became a "bad dream." The sellers and we buyers were very happy to be through with the process and heartily shook hands. Cordiality was the order of the day.

Filled with delight, we moved into our new home.

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And we moved in. And in. And we are still in the process of moving in. It takes more than the delivery of boxes and furniture, painting and cleaning, sorting and storing. It takes time.

We have been in this house since the first day of November. We've celebrated Christmas with our daughter here, as well as the Super Bowl with our daughter and oldest son (that was a wonderful gift of grace), we learned of our youngest son's engagement here, hosted a new friend to tea, and we await the arrival of an old friend's visit this month. We have prayed and studied, worked and created, laughed and cried, grown closer together as a couple... And yet we still experience the loss of our former life together, in that other place, with those other people, and those other prayers, deeds, emotions, and the feel of those particular familiar habits of our past.

Each day here we move away from past, planting our feet one step at a time into the now and into a future reality.

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As I have pondered our move, I am reminded of others who have done and are doing the same thing. The woman from North Carolina who engaged me in conversation during the first few days after we had arrived from Washington. Then there are our next door neighbors. They just bought their first house and will move from our neighborhood in a few days. I too know the joy of moving from a rental to a home of our own. And then there was a new friend I met during November. She had moved from a town close to the one we left in Washington. How wonderful it has been to share with her our similar experiences in Washington and the Northwest.

All these people moving. Just like me. Our world is not static.

I realize none of my small difficulties or challenges are as gigantic or horrendous as those of others. Every day unnamed people start life anew because of persecution, illness, war, or natural disasters. They are experiencing the same general feelings and reactions I have had these past few weeks. Though at present I sometimes seem out of step and a stranger here, I know I'll discover people are basically the same everywhere. With each new venture into my new surroundings I'll renew my determination to be actively involved within my new community. Time and perseverance will help me to be at home here. I can see that already.

God Bless Those Who Move...