"Come to me...I will give you rest"

Fish pond in LAX area hotel  | 5.13.2011

The last several days were hectic and full of noise. As an interim caregiver for different family members over the past couple of years I had grown used to a certain routine, working in my responsibilities with everything else in my busy life. One thing I hadn't done before was travel with my current charge, who was in a wheelchair. New challenges, some rude encounters at the airport, and unexpected obstacles littered our path as we flew across the country to meet and catch up with family. I found myself stripped of my usual appointments with the Lord at daily Mass or adoration, unable to take my customary quiet time in company with Him. By the second day I wanted to crawl out of my skin - my soul cried out for a quiet space of stillness with the Lord.

It was then, very early in the morning, that I decided to wander through the hotel where we stayed. My duties were done for the moment and I had a little time to chill. Few people were awake, and the lounges were relatively empty and quiet. I came upon an indoor pond stocked with fish and turtles. In my hurry the previous day I hadn't noticed how beautiful and quiet it was, even though it was literally along the path of breakfast and reception traffic, the busiest and noisiest part of the hotel in the mornings and evenings. I watched one rather large and pretty fish just floating in the water under a large leaf. The water around it was moving but it remained still. As I watched the ripples drifting from its head like so many straying thoughts, I suddenly found a space with the Lord. "Rest," he said, "stay with me here". It was a blessed moment - the Lord in His great kindness found a space to be with me even though I was deprived of all our usual meeting places. So I stayed - and prayed - and found rest. May you find the quiet spaces where the Lord invites you to rest with Him. I leave you with that quote from Matthew that found me in my tiredness on that strange day:

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." ~ Matthew 11:28-30