Take your time!

That's what the exercise is all about.

Do not rush through prayer as though it were one more thing to check off of your "to do" list.

The reason that there are as many beads on the rosary as there are is simple.

It "takes time" to get through a chaplet.

I prefer to think of it as an opportunity to "give time".

Meditation on the mysteries is an unselfish giving of ourselves. We take all the myriad things that clutter our lives with busy-ness and noise and push them all away. We bring into these moments of calm, ourselves. We are a delight to God's eye. That's why he created us. When we choose to put ourselves in His presence, or more precisely, to remind ourselves of our continually being in His presence, we bring our unique reactions to the mystery of the incarnation before him. We are His children and our free choice to seek out growth in the spirit is pleasing to Him.

The Anunciation

(Luke 1:26-28,30-36)

A young girl is alone praying.

There is no MTV, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, Times, Daily News, AM, FM, Streaming Video, Downloaded Audio, Unlimited family plan cellular minutes.

A young girl is alone praying.

These quiet moments away from the mundane routine of her days are comforting; refreshing.

Listen to the stillness of this moment.

Her lips move gently across the memorized words, that spoken together, create her evening prayers anew. They are her prayers. They are the prayers of her people. In her mind she hears the songs of David the King caressing the texts. David, the prophetic King, of whose line Moshiach would come to Redeem the children of the Covenant.

Breathe in deeply and feel the cool of the coming evening. Don't worry, you won't disturb her.

How very simple her room is. A bed, a chair, a chest, some shelves. Her eyes flit to the shelves for a held moment and then they flutter shut and she resumes her muted converse with her God.

What was it that caught her eye? There on the top shelf is a candle, not yet lit and some brilliantly coloured wildflowers that she picked that afternoon as she walked through a grassy field on her way home from a brief visit to her cousin. She had to talk to someone about Joseph, her betrothed, or she would burst! Her mother, Ann, was so occupied with preparations for the wedding feast, poor as it might be, that she has had little time to chat recently.

There it was on the shelf below! A delicate comb of fine dark wood sat there. It's surface was covered with an intricate design that dared the eye to follow it. Here was a work of Love. Hour after hour of affection was inscribed into it's very essence. That talented carpenter surely knew how to make more than oxe yokes and rough tables. He is a sensible man. He will provide for her. Her young life is very full.

"Hello Mary"

Her eyes fly open and wide!

"You are filled with Grace!"

(I am filled with fear! Who is this man, and how did he get past mother and father?)

"Don't worry. Adonai is with you."

The mans voice is calm, gentle, warm. The sound of it reassures and soothes her.

"You are the one. You are blessed among women."

What IS he talking about?

"Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Yeshua."

WAIT! All of the rest of that is very nice, and thank you very much for your kind words but,
WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT A BABY? You may have me mixed up with someone else. You see, I'm engaged to be married, but it is absolutely impossible that I am having a baby!

The unflappable gentle-man from God-knows-where patiently explains to her the message that he has been given to relay to her.

In her humanity, she does not want to believe it.

But, God has chosen well. He has prepared her from the time that she was in her mothers womb, for this moment. She accepts the task laid out for her by the angel. She trusts and whispers her assent: "Let it be done to me as you say".

And then she is alone again, at prayer.

No, not alone. Her hand moves slowly to her belly and rests there a moment, daring it to happen again. A smile engulfs her beautiful face as the sudden realization of what has happened establishes itself.

There is the scene, or more succinctly one of my versions of the scene, the mystery, the moment to be pondered. Now in meditation on it, let your mind wander. You are invited in to partake of the moment. Let it breathe. Let the clay of the walls be cool and crumbly to the touch. Let the barking of a dog in the street outside her window catch you unawares and break your concentration from the "holy moment" and bring you to the realization that the people that we recall in these meditations were not made of stained glass. There is no "right" way to meditate on the mysteries. But may I suggest that you give yourself permission to take a chance or two as you attempt to revisit tales that may have gathered "dust" over the years due to lack of intellectual or spiritual curiosity?

Now comes the fun part. We have a moment that we are exploring and "holding" as it were. And now we add the music. The first decade of the Rosary is recited while exploring the Anunciation. Two thoughts at the same time? Walking AND chewing gum? Yes, it can be done.

One our Father, 10 Hail Marys, and 1 Glory Be.

We start with our reliance on the Father, Creator.

We repeat the words of the Hail Mary over a decade to give time to our contemplation of the essence of the prayer, the Incarnation of Christ and the loving intercession of his mother.

We finish the meditation by coming home to the trinity.

The words of the prayers are going to have different meanings and different parts will come to the forefront of your thoughts throughout the twenty mysteries. You may find different parts of the prayers becoming more or less important to dwell on during the 10 repetitions of the Hail Mary. All this is as it should be. The repeated prayers should not be an exercise in uniformity, but rather in discovery.

Our Father
In this mystery, the Fatherhood of God becomes a very human thing. He is not esoterically the "spiritual father of all mankind" in this moment. He is the creator, who in love spoke a word which is his son. This son becomes enfleshed as an expression of his love for mankind. The son takes on flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit in an expression of his love for and obedience to the Father.

Hail Mary
The first half of the prayer is the scene that we are contemplating. We hear the words that they spoke to each other. We experience the reality of the moment.

Glory Be
The essence of emotion in the Magnificat is present in this song of praise to the Triune God.

Please be sure your trays are in their upright position...

Those are words that have been repeated to me every time I've ever set out on a journey by plane.

They are repeated to remind us of basic observances that are required in order to be safely on our way.

The Sign of the Cross, The Creed, and the "mini-chaplet" that begins the Rosary prepares us for a journey. They are familiar prayers recited outside of the context of the mysteries. They are the "on ramp", the stretching before a marathon, the vocal warm up before an oratorio, the glorious cacophany of an orchestra tuning before the conductor's upbeat .

The order of the prayers teaches us as much as the individual prayers themselves do. It is a lesson that attempts to describe the all-embracing Love that is offered to us each moment that we exist.

The sign of the Cross. The symbol speaks. The crucifix grounds our contemplation to the harsh realilty of what the symbolic gesture recalls, so that the thoughts that arise might have balance. The cross is a burden. The cross is the promise of death. The cross is the victory over death. The cross is our only passage from mortality to immortality. The cross is remembrance. The cross is redemption. The cross is the ironic carpenter's handiwork, on which was hung the carpenter. The cross is an ultimate exercise of free will (fiat voluntas tua). The cross is the forge and the anvil on which our souls are tempered.

Then there is the "Our Father". We pray in union with the Son a perfect prayer to the Father. He who was without sin, prays as our High Priest for the forgiveness of "our" sins. Through Christ are we made acceptable to the Father. In his words we learn of the Father. What is Christ, if not the Word? In the Eucharist, "in communion", what do we feed on, if not the Word of God?

We follow the Pater Noster with three repetitions of the Hail Mary. The tale of the Incarnation of the word is recounted to us. It is for us to continually rediscover, re-experience the wonder of that single miraculous moment in history, when a single "yes" saved the world in it's entirety.

The Glory Be (Gloria Patri) is a song of great joy which places our praise where it is due, before the majesty of the triune God.

When we have gotten to this point, we will have carved out a "sacred space" within which we can have the calm, the peace, the collection, the centeredness, the disposition to spend time in contemplation of the mysteries of the life of our Saviour.

Three Prayers repeated over and over........

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou amongst women and blest is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

That's it right? I've figured out the beads!

But then, we traced the sign of the cross on ourselves at the beginning of the rosary. That's a prayer. Even if we don't utter a word, the sign of the cross is a physicalized prayer. Catholics love the idea of praying with all that we have available to pray with. Our minds, our hearts, our spirits, our bodies. When words fail us, or can no longer be uttered, we can still pray with the simplest of gestures. The ritual movements and postures are imbued with meaning and vibrant life, through repetition and association.

I cross myself and say the words. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. A stunning duet of sound and motion. I have reiterated my belief in the Trinity. I have begged for a blessing as I place myself in a sacred space. I have remembered the depth of Love shown to all of creation on a cross long ago. I bring to mind all of the current imagery associated with "bearing one's cross". My contemplation of the the myriad meanings of this simple gesture and utterance makes the duet a trio, which blossoms into a quartet as my soul shakes off the torpor of the too-busy day that has past and eagerly awaits my exercise of free will for the good.

Okay, so there's four prayers.

Hold on there Tex! We also recite the creed before the first Our Father. We take a brief stroll through the garden of what it is that we hold to be true. Take your time. Smell the flowers!

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty,the Creator of heaven and earth,and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into hell. On the third day He arose again from the dead.He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father. He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and life everlasting.Amen. "

Okay, Five Prayers!

Not so fast pardner. Each of the Mysteries, each pause for meditation upon a moment in the life of our Incarnate God is a prayer.

25 Prayers?

Don't forget the Fatima prayer at the end of each decade:

"Oh my Jesus! Forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of Hell! Lead ALL souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. "

30?

We close each Chaplet of the rosary with the Salve Regina:

"Hail Holy Queen. Mother of Mercy. Our Life, Our sweetness and our Hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we lift up our mourning and sighs in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy upon us. And, after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus.

O Clement! O loving! O Sweet Virgin Mary!

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. "

OK, so it's not just three prayers repeated over and over again. What do YOU call it?

The Rosary.

It's a tool for finding time to be still; to LISTEN for the creator; A sublime method of placing yourself in the presence of God, wherever you may happen to be. I also believe that the prayers we pray, do bring about good for those who are in need of it. This good is manifested as the Holy Spirit sees fit.

(04/19/2005)

The smoke from the Sistine Chapel is WHITE!

Brothers and Sisters, I bring you news of great joy,

HABEMUS PAPAM!

TE DEUM laudamus: te Dominum confitemur.
Te aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur.
Tibi omnes Angeli; tibi Caeli et universae Potestates;
Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim incessabili voce proclamant:
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra maiestatis gloriae tuae.
Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus,
Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus,
Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.
Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur Ecclesia,
Patrem immensae maiestatis:
Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium;
Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum.
Tu Rex gloriae, Christe.
Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius.
Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, non horruisti Virginis uterum.
Tu, devicto mortis aculeo, aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.
Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris.
Iudex crederis esse venturus.
Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni: quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.
Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.
V. Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, et benedic hereditati tuae.
R. Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum.
V. Per singulos dies benedicimus te.
R. Et laudamus nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi.
V. Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire.
R. Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri.
V. Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos, quemadmodum speravimus in te. R. In te, Domine, speravi: non confundar in aeternum.

O GOD, we praise Thee: we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.
Everlasting Father, all the earth doth worship Thee.
To Thee all the Angels, the Heavens and all the Powers,
all the Cherubim and Seraphim, unceasingly proclaim:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts!
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy glory.
The glorious choir of the Apostles,
the wonderful company of Prophets,
the white-robed army of Martyrs, praise Thee.
Holy Church throughout the world doth acknowledge Thee:
the Father of infinite Majesty;
Thy adorable, true and only Son;
and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.
O Christ, Thou art the King of glory!
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
Thou, having taken it upon Thyself to deliver man, didst not disdain the Virgin's womb.
Thou overcame the sting of death and hast opened to believers the Kingdom of Heaven.
Thou sitest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.
We believe that Thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We beseech Thee, therefore, to help Thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Precious Blood.
Make them to be numbered with Thy Saints in everlasting glory.
V. Save Thy people, O Lord, and bless Thine inheritance!
R. Govern them, and raise them up forever.
V. Every day we thank Thee.
R. And we praise Thy Name forever, yea, forever and ever.
V. O Lord, deign to keep us from sin this day.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, for we have hoped in Thee.
R. O Lord, in Thee I have hoped; let me never be put to shame.

Why Mysteries?

All of the points along this path that we pause at are called "mysteries".

I remember when I was a little annoyance at my mom's knees, and I would have a profound question for which there was no quick and easy answer; a stock reply that was always at hand was "It's a mystery. We accept some things on faith alone."

Very unsatisfying answer, that. Especially for an empty-headed beastie who wants to eat the world and all it's ticklish wonder in one great gulp.

Perhaps the mystery thing was sometimes used to cover a dearth of theological brilliance on the part of dear old mom.

But, "mystery" was also tossed at my young head to stress something very important.

The depths of the mind of God are not knowable. In this life, I will never be able to "figure God out". I cannot contain Him. He contains me, and all else that is.

That is humbling.

It should be.

Humility helps one to understand at the core, that the needs and concerns of others must be met and addressed, if one is to have any measure of peace in addressing our own needs and concerns.

What is a mystery, if not the audacity of man to call out to God to ask, to demand forgiveness for the mess that we inevitably make of things when exercising the blessed curse, the cursed blessing of free will? The Omnipotent creator of the fusion flames of stars, the author of the myriad laws of physics that are obeyed by insensate nature, the completeness of perfection that is needful of no created thing; this sublime, divinity enters into a relationship with the created creature, one that seemingly takes every opportunity to insult him, to bite and claw at the hand held out in blessing, to deny the very godhead of the Deity.

This ineffable power of creation speaks a single perfect word.

In the speaking of this word resides trinity.

The Father is creator.
The Son is the word that was with God in the beginning, that is God.
This contemplation by the Father of the Son and by the Son of the Father is the everliving Spirit who is God.

How can what seems to be "threeness" still be only one God?

It's a mystery.

Mysteries are a good thing to contemplate. Perhaps they are not meant to have "knowable" answers. Perhaps contemplation is the end and not the means in such exercises.

I believe it is so with the Rosary.

We remember the life of a man.
We add to this the incomprehensible condenscension on the part of a GOD to take on imperfection; to take on flesh, which is subject to corruption.
We ponder His willingness to subject His Son to the effects of sin, the results of free choice, willingly exercised against the will of God.
We attempt to comprehend the acceptance on the part of the Son, to take sin itself, upon himself, who is without sin, so that man might have cause to hope for something more than a grave to end his days.
We collectively and individually recall key moments from his life and breathe new life into our memories of His lessons of love.

In those moments we find solace, peace, and inspiration.

Christ did not come into the world as a grand warrior to subdue the foes of the "true believers".

He came into the world as a rabbi, a teacher, to make true believers of the world.

The Path

Mary is not the one we pray "to".

She is the locus of our meditation on:
The life of the church
The life of our saviour
The life of our faith

Christ is the son of man. Mary is his mother.
That relationship was gifted to us at the foot of the cross at Golgotha.

We acknowledge her as our mother.
We approach her as our advocate.
We pray with her as a friend.

We begin by asking for the blessing of the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This is done grasping the crucifix and tracing the sign on ourselves.
We touch the forehead, seat of the mind (In the name of the Father)
We touch the breast, symbolic of the spirit (and of the Son)
We touch the two shoulders, symbolic of the bearing of our daily burdens - both physical and emotional. (and of the Holy Spirit)

I look at the cross. It is not barren. It has a representation of a suffering person on it. It reminds me of the reality of what has passed. An Object of torture and execution is the focus of my meditation on the goodness of God. (Amen)

None of the above is dogmatic pronouncement on what is to be believed or understood. It is just what happens to come to mind when I search for meaning in "meaningless" symbolic gestures.


The title of this entry is "The Path".

A path is a way to get from where we are, to where we want to be.

If we believe
What our parents taught us
What our church teaches us
What the scriptures teach us
What the voice of God whispers into the center of our being, we hold this as true:

We are made to know the fullness of God's love.

The human adventure is the freedom to look for or ignore that ever present perfect love.

Words from the mouth of man can roll off the tongue till the end of time, and attempt to describe that perfection, and they will ever fall short.

The gift of prayer is a bridge, a way, "a path" that we can follow. When we pray, we place ourselves in the presence of God. He makes his ever-present availability to us, apparent. It is necessary to push out the distractions that inhabit and inhibit us. Our world is a noisy place. There is the noise measured in decibels. There is also the noise that free-floats between our ears. We are bombarded with commercialism, hedonistic societal mores, too-many-demands-on-not-enough-time, interpersonal relational difficulties, politics, 24-hour news cycles, grocery shopping, laundry, Saturday morning soccer, rising costs, stagnant pay, taxes, car payments, mortgage payments, credit card payments, tuition payments, did I mention stagnant pay? You get the idea.

All of that tends to "dilute" the quality of the time we set aside for God.

The Rosary is a durable bridge from that freneticism to a place of calm where we can hear once again.

The first prayer uttered before a single "Ave" is said is the Creed.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

And in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Holy Catholic Church,

the Communion of Saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and life everlasting.

These are the enduring truths of the Catholic Church, announced as the foundation of our faith.

This is succinct theology in encapsulated form. A concise narrative of what it is we believe.

This is the first hint that the rosary is not simply "A Marian thing".

The Framework

A bunch of beads. A Commemorative medal. A crucifix. Good God is that a dead body stuck to it? MEMORIZED Prayers. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Marian Devotion. You'd think that SHE was their god.

Alright. There are most of the regular objections that I've come into acquaintance with over the years when defending my affection for this thing.

This circle that has neither beginning nor end.

This seamless continuity has a path which leads to it.

There is the Crucifix.

Next, we walk alittle way in a chaplet which consists of an Our Father, three Hail Marys, and a Glory Be.

Then we are swept into the flow of decades - each preceeded by an Our Father and succeeded by the Glory Be.

Each Decade is an occasion to contemplate one of the "mysteries".

There are twenty of them.

The Joyful Mysteries

The Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary that she would bear the Christ.
The Visitation of Elizabeth by Mary
The Nativity
The presentation of the Child at the Temple
The Finding of Christ as a young child with the wise men at the Temple

The Luminous Mysteries

The Baptism in the Jordan
The Miracle at Cana
The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God
The Transfiguration
The Institution of the Eucharist

The Sorrowful Mysteries

The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging at the Pillar
The Crowning with thorns
The Carrying of the cross
The Crucifixion

The Glorious Mysteries

The Resurrection
The Ascension
The Descent of the Holy Spirit
The Assumption
The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven

The titles are used to draw our thoughts into a particular event in the life of Christ colored by the various underlying emotions depicted in the title of each set of mysteries.

So what's the deal? You announce a mystery then repeat rote prayers until your mouth grows dry and your lips chap? Sounds like it would bore God to tears.......

If that's all it were, I'd agree.

But, allow me to posit another viewpoint and understanding of what is going on when one prays the rosary.

The rosary, through time, becomes a comfortable old friend. If we're lucky, we're introduced to the practice at a young age. At that point, perhaps, it is a study in repetition, but to good purpose.

Words have inestimable power. And, the words of simple prayers, repeated in this structured flow, are given the opportunity to seep into the corners, the crevices, the deep recesses of ones being. There, they nestle comfortably, like well-thumbed books on a shelf, waiting patiently for moments of quiet. In contemplation, intricate layers of profound meaning are discovered in the well-worn words of familiar prayers.

Is this a function of the divine "opening a door to hidden insight"?

Well perhaps, in some measure. But I believe that revelation also requires a willingness to search. The best place to begin is with the familiar words of the prayers that we come to again and again. Sometimes, it requires nothing more than a willingness to renew our acquaintance with something that we believe we already know very well.

The words that we choose to use color the person that we continually create. I refer to this observation of mine as "writing a life script". As an actor, I know that there are a number of ways to portray a scene. One can "wing it" basically improvising the staging and dialogue as you go along, being careful to listen to the other players who give you "cues" as to where a scene is going. The other way to portray a scene is to study your lines, repeat them over and over in rehearsal, assign specific movement (blocking) to specific lines and know, in advance, where you are and what you are supposed to be saying each moment. Each method has certain advantages and in truth, a superior performance is usually a combination of the two.

In volunteering at hospice, I noted the power of words repeated over a lifetime. At the end of life, we are a summation of the choices that we have made along the way. Sometimes the end is a time of lucidity and clarity and fond reminiscence. Sometimes it is a fog of confusion and half-memory. In both instances, when we stumble, we fall back on the person we were. If one dwelt on petty little things, more often than not, I would hear petty little things dwelt on in the hospice. One woman would repeat over and over to me "Where is he, that Jerk! He doesn't come to see me!" this about a spouse who had pre-deceased her by many years. When you're on auto-pilot, you'll fall back on that "life script" I referred to. Those words, tempered by time and usage, became who she was at the end.

Words have power.

The words of the Rosary have power suffused with grace.

Take a little walk with me and we'll poke the dusty old beads and see what we can shake out of them, or ourselves.

The Rosary in my Pocket

It shows its age. A large-ish rosary, though not as large as the one that used to hang off the belt of Sister Mary Denise's Dominican habit. Originally, it had black beads. The ashy brown wood is showing through at the center of each bead. The paint has worn off from years of use. The junction between the initial chaplet of 1 OF, 3 HMs and 1 GB is a round representation of the miraculous medal set within a star of David with rounded edges. The crucifix is black wood, with a metal Christ affixed, silver colored metal backs the cross and just reaches around to touch the front of the four points of the cross. This favorite rosary of mine belonged to my great grandmother. My mother gave it to my wife, to pass on to me when she had learned that I was re-introducing myself to the practice of reciting the rosary during Lent a couple of seasons back. When I received it, I could see my wife watching for my reaction. She knows that I'm a major "softie" and simple gestures, meaningfully thought out, carry great import for me. I held the relic of a simpler faith in my hands. I felt a sense of continuity that I found to be reassuring. This continuity was not only with the life of the child I was who would process out-of-doors around the parish grounds reciting the rosary during the May crowning ceremonies at my home parish with Monsignor Henahan reciting the beginning of each prayer over the public address system , but continuity with a simple faith that my great-grandmother held to. Grasping these beads, holding onto this chain, this anchor in the midst of a life of poverty and the societal ills that appertain thereto, she walked through a life. When I reach into my pocket and am reminded of its presence it speaks to moments that I will carve out again and again. My spirit, my Lord, my fondly remembered acquaintances, my questions, my firmly held opinions, my uncertainties..... We, all of us, in our turn, will shout, or whisper, or sing or observe mute moments. We will take the thread of time and turn it about upon itself while gathering in a chapel of the heart. All of us will continue the search with unsure hands for the wellspring of truth that we hear burbling somewhere in the echoing distance.