A night in the novitiate

I got up very early this morning to drive the hour and a half to the old Jesuit novitiate. I had an appointment with my spiritual director in the afternoon -- and had a room in the retreatants wing reserved for the night.

I spent the first 5 hours in blissful silence -and surprisingly even singing for the noon liturgy did not break the resulting stillness. The pianist and I practiced each song once, speaking softly and only the few words necessary.

I saw a half dozen cardinals (of the bird sort, not the ecclesial sort) on a morning walk, listened to the wind rustle the winter leaves in the afternoon.

I woke this morning before dawn and sat in the small chapel, at the very top of the hill, and watched the light morph from rose to amber to soft white.

In the middle of it all, I did stop by the computer in the small parlor and check my email -- and make a Scrabble move in my game against Cathy! [OK, I confess...I went twice.] The second time there was a sign on the computer saying "Please don't turn this computer off." Signed God. God, S.J.