St. Mary by-the-Sea, Cape May Point, NJ

For the second year in a row, I'm spending a week at a beautiful retreat house, St. Mary by-the-Sea in Cape May Point, NJ.  The retreat house is a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Saint Joseph -- a community whose mission is to "live and work so that all people may be united with God and with one another."  

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This is a very special place . . . it truly feels like sacred ground . . . and a retreat here is a time for silence, contemplative prayer, relaxation and transformation.

The mission of the Vaccine Choice Prayer Community and the intentions of our members are a major focus of my prayer and contemplation this week.  

The vaccine issue has become quite a controversial one with both sides equally passionate about their stand.  What I keep coming back to is that both sides -- at least as far as parents are concerned -- want the same thing --  to do what they believe is best for their children!  So what if both sides, would put aside their differences and come together as a community in prayer; and what if this prayer community could bring about change that would protect the rights of those who choose not to vaccinate and develop safer vaccines for those who choose to vaccinate?   What if??? 

On Wednesday, the first full day of my retreat, I was walking through the beautiful neighborhood near the retreat house, thinking about VCPC and how prayer can change things when I practically walked into the sign you see here! 

Those of you who know me have most likely heard me say, "Coincidences are God's way of remaining anonymous."  Well, I have no doubt that God sent me down that particular road for a reason!  

Let's all join together and invite others to join us to "Be the change we want."

The theme of this year's retreat is "Standing Still and Learning to Be Astonished."  Yesterday's focus was on "Tenderness" and today's focus was on "Imagination."  Below is an excerpt from one of today's readings.

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No Ordinary Time by Jan Phillips

"A culture can't lift itself out of a dark and destructive mindset, but creative acts and ideas from a few can ignite the moral imagination of the many.  We are coming to understand ourselves as expressions of the universe, activities of the cosmos.  We are the universe reflecting back on itself, evolution pondering its next moves.  We are the first ones -- homo sapiens -- to recognize the future is largely in our hands.  It is happening through us, not to us.  We are collaborating in the ever-expanding cosmos by expressing creatively the ineffable mystery that surrounds us."

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Thank you for joining me in being the "few" who "can ignite the moral imagination of the many."  God bless and take care . . . 

Sunset, Cape May Point, July 16, 2014

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