In the Exercises, there is a contemplation which asks you to imagine standing before God and the communion of saints. My image of Ignatius in that gathering was of a tall, thin man standing off to the side smiling — perhaps drawing on this image I looked up at each day on my way to meet with my director. I was shocked to discover that Ignatius was only 4'11" tall. I am a solid two inches taller than the good saint!
Andy Otto's wonderful post about five ways to find God in all things is reprised on Loyola Press' 31-days of St. Ignatius calendar. I love his suggestion to do something by hand that you might not have to. Yesterday my kids and I baked bread, kneading and shaping the loaves. This morning I was reminded of the sacredness of the everyday when I sliced a piece for toast and noticed that my oldest had slashed the sign of the cross in the top of the loaves, as his Irish great-great-great grandmother did.
Andy's post is wonderful! And I love that image of St Ignatius and see it daily... some nice person fashioned it into a bookmark for me!
ReplyDeleteOh..bookmarks! I should do another bookmark give away for July!!
DeleteAnd yes, Andy's post is marvelous. A place to begin (as Robin noted on her blog!)
Michelle, you and Fran are right about Andy's post being excellent. I need to be more intentional in being aware of God in every single act.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really appreciate is your older son slashing the sign of the cross on the bread - now that is intentional and speaks volumes about his priorities in life.
Rising bread is always a miracle to me...even with modern yeast!
DeleteMade pizza dough twice this week, but I think my guests expect me to do it by hand.
ReplyDeleteIf they are traveling thousands of miles, I would suppose so!
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