My last day in Florence found me making a pilgrimage to some of my prayer churches, where I have prayed for the people on my top ten prayer list.
This last morning I was surprised and delighted to step into a service at La Badia; the monks and nuns, prostrate or standing, singing praise and thanksgiving! A disheveled man came in, took off his shoes and prostrated himself for most of the service; afterwards he stretched out on a corner pew. * I lit a candle for a friend’s sister whose cancer has reoccurred.
What to make of all of this without judging? The celebration in song, the humility of the man, the prayer for the sick. I want to say that it is all part of God’s plan, but no, the idea of God’s plan doesn’t ring true. It is what happens, and God is with us to work it through.
* You may have noticed that I never post picture of people in personal or compromising situations—the homeless sleeping by a church, people in wheelchairs, etc. I honor them too much to make an example of their ‘otherness’. Who am I to judge?
This last morning I was surprised and delighted to step into a service at La Badia; the monks and nuns, prostrate or standing, singing praise and thanksgiving! A disheveled man came in, took off his shoes and prostrated himself for most of the service; afterwards he stretched out on a corner pew. * I lit a candle for a friend’s sister whose cancer has reoccurred.
What to make of all of this without judging? The celebration in song, the humility of the man, the prayer for the sick. I want to say that it is all part of God’s plan, but no, the idea of God’s plan doesn’t ring true. It is what happens, and God is with us to work it through.
* You may have noticed that I never post picture of people in personal or compromising situations—the homeless sleeping by a church, people in wheelchairs, etc. I honor them too much to make an example of their ‘otherness’. Who am I to judge?
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