Saturday, June 18, 2016

Dear God,

How can we be certain new life comes after death?  How can we be assured faith continues to live after the death of the church?

Yesterday I was drawn into the church at All Hallows College in Dublin.  Quiet, cold and wonderfully beautiful, I walked down the center aisle to the altar.  There I paused to touch the divine table where more than a century the cup and plate sat to feed spiritually hungry people.  I looked high up where magnificent stained windows radiated the stories of faith.  Hearing this campus, school, church, and various buildings have recently been purchased by the city college, I wondered about life and death, death and life.  As I stood by the feast of faith, I sang aloud the Lord's Prayer. Listening to the echoing sounds of my own faith, I thought of you.

Later I thought of the sister of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Cistercian brother that we met during the day, both talking with us about the decline of monasteries and communities of faith.  I wondered, pondered, and prayed.

Gracious God,
how are
we to
interpret death
among institutions
of faith?
How do
we respond?
What do
we pray for?
How do
we let go
and trust
new life
awaits us?

Love, Andrea