(Photo taken at Camp St. John at Marywood retreat center)

When my dear friend Kim saw this photo of one of God’s more colorful creatures, she shared this acronym with me: “FROG: forever reliant on God.”

What does it mean to be forever reliant on God?

As this “introvert-intuitive-feeler” comes off of serving as a spiritual director for a busy retreat weekend (which came on the heels of a very busy couple of months), my soul longs for quietness and rest.  In today’s reading in Silence and Stillness in Every Season, John Main writes that meditation is vitally important because “it prepares us for the real freedom that lives and rejoices at the heart of this mystery within us… To pray in the infinite depths of our spirit, which is the depth of God, is to be utterly free” (page 264).

This afternoon, I used this excerpt as a meditative lead for a session of contemplative prayer with a small cadre of dedicated staff at one of Jacksonville’s homeless shelters.  Once each week, this group gathers to take time out of a frenetic schedule, to find that still point, to set aside twenty-five minutes for quiet.  To rest and plumb the depths before gathering ourselves to go out.

We plumb the depths so we can be, if not utterly free, at least a little more free of self.  We plumb the depths so we can once again be present with our brothers and sisters.