Ode to Jasmine

Jasmine is my favorite flower; very delicate, sweet smelling blossoms are cascading on vines out at the grotto and climbing up the live oak in front of Greatfull House, but I cannot smell it or even bear to be near it, as I have developed a late-in-life allergy to it.  Furthermore, the pollen here, as elsewhere, has been devastating, and I have been very ill for three and a half weeks with respiratory problems, making me very debilitated.

I was invited out to the condo on the beach for my two days off.  I know now why all those Victorian novels had people traveling to the seaside for a cure.  Breathing in the ocean air for the first time, my lungs became temporarily, at least, uncongested.

Morning Prayer

Tuesday through Friday we hold morning prayer at the different houses.  At Nouwen House, Valson reads from one of Jean Vanier's books, and we share responses to it.  Wednesdays I lead it here, at Greatfull.  We open with a song accompanied by guitar.  I try to find a reference to something in the recent liturgy and present a brief teaching on it.  Remember our audience:  I have spoken on the role donkeys played in Scripture, lambs, sheep, and this week, I've prepared something on music.  We end with prayers of petition, another song, then hold hands for the Lord's Prayer and kiss of peace.

Thursdays is twenty minutes of silent meditation at the Community Center.  You wouldn't think such hyper-active people could sit for that long without sound, but they do and it's a lovely experience.  Friday we go over to Peace House, where the blind woman, Katrina, has recorded prayer, song and a short message. This is the part of community I love best.

A Death in the Family

While I was away in Miami and then New Jersey, our dear Sharon died.  She was given a beautiful send off, with assistants and supervisors taking turns watching vigil through the night, as her casket was laid out in our gathering room among flowers and candles.  The entire community, friends and family went in procession across to the church for the funeral mass the next day.   Sharon came to Harbor House as a very young woman.  She was a funny, funny lady, who would break out into a Donald Duck imitation at the drop of a hat.  She read very well, and was always chosen to narrate the Living Nativity and other Scripture during the course of a year.  She lived with Mary and Sister Rita in Prayer House off campus.

Each of our core members is reacting differently in their grief.  Stacy is very angry and is acting out on it. We, assistants, are trying to understand and cope with her.