A Reflection from Retreat

Hey folks, I thought I'd share something I wrote during our reflection period at debriefing. Also I wanted to ask a favor. If anyone took photos could you pretty please share them on flickr, snapfish, facebook, or on here! Those of us who don't own or forgot to bring a camera would really appreciate it! Thanks!

Untitled prose/poem

What had I to offer?

I stood broken-hearted before a broken world
But I offered up my heart - what remained of it

I had two empty hands
      bereft of jewelery
      admittedly unused to labor
but I stretched them forth
      and dipped them into
      the sea of sorrow of a suffering humanity

Lord, I prayed, Make use of these hands
my God, May my heart not be crushed, I begged

I thought this was to be a year of sacrifice
I braced myself for a new struggle
      but a struggle that would reap fruit, I hoped

Initially, yes, there was sacrifice, there was struggle
But sacrifice was quickly replaced by gifts
      and struggle gave way to peace

Unexpectedly, quietly, healing took place

Each smile of my students
      dropped a seed into the soil of my heart
Daily prayer was the gentle rain
      which fell regularly, refreshing my soul
and Hours of conversation and laughter
      with my community warmed and baked
      the soil that once was tepid

The seeds have sprung into a splendid garden
      which in turn gives seed manifold
The waters of prayer and Eucharist fed a stream
      which runs deeply round the greenery
The sunshine has set free a spirit
      once held hostage by the past

I did not expect to make peace with myself
I did not hope to be happy, nor find that
      I needed my students as much as they needed me

These things I discovered and now a psalm echoes through my days:
      They go out, they go out full of weeping
      They come back, their mouths full of laughter.