A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and all those you wish to include in your greetings of happiness and peace in 2023! It’s a milestone year for the group of Sisters with whom I made my First Vows in August of 1963. We celebrate our 60th Jubilee (anniversary) in religious life this year, and though we are only 10 out of our original group of 20, we are grateful for the many graced experiences we have had over the years. As we move into our eighth decade on earth we are very aware of the place peace has had in our lives and hope to continue in this awareness in the future, however long that may be for each of us.
Have you ever wished you had a peaceful space or breathing room at your disposal when you just needed to get away from the noise and busyness of your day? Perhaps you have found such a place and make use of it daily or every once in a while. It could be your bedroom, your bathroom(?), the porch, your car, a special room in your apartment or home (even a closet!), or a church, or park, or boat, or bicycle—wherever you experience the peace we all long for at various times in our lives.
When I look at my favorite places or ways to find peace, I see how they have changed over the years as I have changed over the years. I find myself not having to always go somewhere else to find this peace I need at various times in my life. I’m intrigued with Scott Russell Sanders’s observation that
if I stay put, any place I’m in can become a holy center…because the stillness will allow me to hear what I can actually hear anywhere in the universe because the influence of the entire universe converges on every spot! This awareness of the universe, which encompasses all of creation, is something that I find intriguing and very helpful these days as our times become more fraught with so much change in our institutions, climate, jobs, politics, and religions to name a few. I am grateful for the scientists who have helped us become ever more aware of the universe in which we live. I marvel at the wonderful images we can now see of our place in the universe as well as other galaxies that share this universe with us.
It’s both awesome and overwhelming to know that we are still only touching the edges of what a wonderful world we were given to live in. I hope to spend these remaining years working toward leaving the planet a place of life, happiness, and peace for future generations. Peace be with you!
Every family should have a peaceful space or breathing room,
where any member can take refuge.
+Thich Nhat Hanh
Offer (peace) to people you notice on the street,
in the market, on the bus.
“May you be happy. May you be at peace.”
Feel the blessing move through your body
as you offer it. Notice how you both receive
some benefit from the blessing.
Gently, almost without effort,
each and every blessing becomes a Sabbath.
+Wayne Muller
There are no privileged locations. If you stay put,
your place may become a holy center, not because
it gives you special access to the divine,
but because in your stillness you hear what
might be heard anywhere. All there is to see
can be seen from anywhere in the universe,
if you know how to look; and the influence
of the entire universe converges on every spot.
+Scott Russell Sanders
Sister Mary Thill is a Sylvania Franciscan Sister. She can be reached at mthill@sistersosf.org.
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