Thursday the movers came to pack up my stuff and move it into storage. Amazing how much stuff can accumulate over the years... In its infinite wisdom the Guard will pay for packing and storing my belongings, but only after I return and submit a travel voucher to them! I wonder how Soldiers living close to the bone financially can afford to do that. Thank God for credit cards, I guess.
What with everything else that needed doing, I was feeling pretty frazzled, hassled, and harried. I celebrated 0715 Mass for the folks of St. Thomas Aquinas parish, which helped me regain a proper spiritual trajectory. They had a farewell gathering for me afterwards, with coffee and baked goods. The STA community has been a great source of spiritual support for many years, and I'm going to miss them.
Leave-taking is all about powerlessness, I've been told by friends of mine who attend AA and Al-Anon meetings regularly. Fortunately, in the midst of the powerlessnesses of our life we have the option to come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves is really, really, really big -- and not lacking any essential skill sets necessary to handle whatever situations we find ourselves in.
Then we're able to make a decision to turn our wills and lives over to the care of God, as we understand God. My friends call this "working the Steps," and I've got to say that it seems to be sound spiritual practice.
Fortunately, the movers showed up about an hour later than I'd planned, so it gave me a little more time to get ready for them.
It sure would have been helpful to have a packing list for this deployment before the movers took everything away! However, as a LTC friend of mine keeps admonishing me, "Chaplain, there you go expecting the Army to make sense."
As luck would have it, I received a packing list a couple of hours after my stuff had been taken away. Now I have to figure out how to get the things I should have kept out, and get everything into just three duffel bags....
I guess this is what my friends who go to AA meetings would call "powerlessness"!
Blessings and peace to one and all,
Fr. Tim, SJ
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1 comment:
Thanks for your thoughts about powerlessness, and of that great Power that surrounds us, even when things seem dark.
Your words are really helpful and especially meaningful now. I need to remember to turn my will and life to the care of God, as you say. Even amidst the blogosphere, you continue to challenge and inspire us! Thanks. MRC
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