Today we are finishing up our retreat and I take with me a resolve to let the dust settle and live my dream. The story of the 7 wise virgins and the 7 foolish virgins is about having enough light to live your dream. Readers of this scripture are intentionally bothered by the lack of charity of the wise ones, because we know that Jesus teaches us to share. Even in Matthew's account earlier the loaves and fishes are shared to feed the crowd. But, this Gospel is about accountability and tough love. The foolish virgins are careless and let their own fires go out. If your fire goes out no one can rebuild it for you. If your dream dies, it will matter to no one more than to you. Keep the fire burning and with that light you will serve God, humanity and creation in the way God intended you to. This is the message I take with me from this retreat, and I am grateful to Father Joe Nassal for that gift. The previous postings are from each of our conferences.
This reminds me of the story of my father's library. My father was a machinist for AT&T. He worked repairing the machines that built the microchips that ran the phone system. Throughout his life he collected many books that people recommended to him or that he read about in the many magazines he read. His dream was to retire and read them all when he had leisure to do it. At age 54 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died within a year. Those books remained in the library collecting dust until my mother sold the house and moved to Maine. Don't put off your dreams, my mother taught me. There are books only you need to read and words only you can say. Don't wait for tomorrow to do it. The tomorrow you wait for may never come if you do not live your dream today. I leave retreat ready to live my dream. May God grant us all the wisdom and courage and grace to do that.
