A Little Nudge

A road through the woods of Itasca State Park,
taken by Sister Laura Suhr

For a long time, I have been feeling a funny nudge inside. Another word for nudge might be a longing. It was as though God has been trying to get my attention. I’ve learned that a godly longing is really a prompt by God. The 14th-century anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing calls this longing a leash. Well, I’m not a dog, but at least a faithful dog only needs a gentle tug on a leash to come along. So I follow the gentle tug in my heart.

What I finally surmised was that God wanted me to take an extended period away from the ordinary schedule to be with God. But where? How? I now find myself living the answer. My wife and I are about to begin our fourth week of sequestration. Life has slowed down for us, way down. We live by ourselves in a very old farmhouse tucked behind trees and opening to fields and woods. It has become a holy time, a time for silence and prayer as well as the round of meals, reading. Time to read that special book that we’ve been putting off. Time to really see what is important and to act on it. Writing letters to loved ones, the lonely. We are far away from daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren, so we have had a Zoom birthday celebration. Not the same, but we are able to focus on what and who is important.

Our world and national situation is not of our making, yet, I believe we can make it a holy time, a god-full time. It makes us realize that, in Christ, we are all one, and are intimately involved with each other.

Charles Preble, OblSB