Through welcome spurts of rain and light traffic, we arrive at a
place of animal warmth and winter charm, birds chirping in the branches, a
smiling monk to greet us. He tells us to
help him prepare a welcoming heart and create a big suspense, a feeling like
awaiting the arrival of a loved one.
Though our hopes have been crushed by the news of the day, and
we have a pervasive sense of impending doom threatening the planet, we desire
an alternative future. We are watching
for the dawning unfolding in the cosmos.
Even in a time that is profoundly disorienting, the end time,
the time of the last things, the being hoped for is already perceptible. Our fulfillment is in the future, dwelling in
God's heart. The world, though still far
from its foretold end, is already pregnant with a future filled with
possibilities unimaginable to us at the present.
We are temporary dwellers on this planet, travelers on the
cosmic way. We are not home yet.
Retreat with Ivan Nicoletto, author of Journey of Faith, Journey
of the Universe: The Lectionary and the New Cosmology
