Rummaging For God

Some call it a garage sale, some a yard sale or tag sale and still others a Rummage sale, but, no matter what they call it they are all looking for that “gem” that says take me to my new home.  They wander from house to house, looking around at some houses longer than others and others possibly stopping just to visit with a neighbor they haven’t talked to in a while.  Some will go home with armloads of “gems” and others will just have enjoyed the walk.

Reflecting on our time this week discussing discernment, The Universe Story, and contemplation I found a few “gems” too.  There were times in my candidacy year that I wondered whether I was “doing” discernment or not, but, this week I realized discernment isn’t something we can do, it’s simply putting the Rummage Sale sign up and letting God show us the “gems” in our life.  When we open ourselves up to letting God rummage through us, the “gems” in our life sparkle a little brighter.

I personally find rummage sales a bit chaotic, but, as we learned at Jubilee Farm this week, beauty often comes from chaos.  Like winding through the tables of gems at a sale, we had the opportunity to explore 111 acres of lush farm land and marvel at the beauty that has become of the chaos of light-years ago.  By embracing Holy Mystery we can see beauty created from chaos.

Finally, we completed our week with a day of reflection on contemplation with our brother, Fr. Jim Barnett.  People have rummage sales for a variety of reasons; get rid of stuff, make a little spending money, get ready to move etc, but today we realized why we spend time in contemplation and let God rummage through our hearts…. because we love God!

While most rummage sales last only a few hours, our rummage sale with God is likely to last a lifetime if we pay attention to the “gems” God places before us.

(Kelly, Chuc, Christin at Jubilee Farm in Springfield, IL)