A Concert of the Earth: Solitude and Connection

I desire to spend my birthdays with my maker in a retreat. However, I could not go this year as my mother has a new helper. Reminiscing about my retreat in Peter Canisius House in Pymble, New South Wales, Australia, last year, I found this prose.  

Peter Canisius House, Pymble, NSW, Australia

A Concert of the Earth

As the sun dips below the horizon, casting a warm glow across the landscape, the birds offer their final chirps and tweets of the day. Sensing the arrival of night, the crickets begin their melodic serenade, their rhythmic chirping calling for a mate. Amid the howling and whispering of the wind, the voices of the birds create a symphony of nature—unorchestrated and yet harmonious in its dynamic flow.

The leaves sway on the trees, and the vibrant flowers sprouting from the bushes join in, dancing in response to the urges of the wind. Together with the music of nature, these dancers form a concert of the earth, one that requires no conductor yet resonates deeply within the soul.

Solitude Amidst the Symphony

Nature offers me both comfort and company. The cool breeze caresses my skin and gently nudges my awareness of the presence that surrounds me. Though I find myself in solitude, I am never truly alone.

Have I ever been alone?

Not when I set aside my fears and conditioned thoughts. Not when I tune my senses to the sights, sounds, and textures of the world around me. Not when I remain present, fully aware of the awe and beauty that nature reveals.

Breaking the Illusion of Aloneness

My ego and blindness create the illusion of isolation, trapping me in the false notion of aloneness. When I banish these barriers, the truth reveals itself. 

How can I ever be alone when I immerse myself in the fellowship of God’s creation? The rustling leaves, the whispering winds, and the vibrant life surrounding me speak of connection and belonging.

A Spiritual Fellowship

This divine symphony reminds me that I belong to something far greater than myself. In the harmony of nature, I find a reflection of God’s handiwork, of which I am a part. It whispers that I have never been alone and never will be. When I quiet my mind and open my heart, I find an invitation to embrace my surroundings with gratitude and awe. I realise that solitude is not aloneness or emptiness; instead, it is communion. 

So here I sit, enveloped by the concert of the earth, a willing participant in this fellowship of creation. In communion with nature, I am reminded of an eternal truth: I am surrounded. I am connected. I am loved. 

Kelly Tan

Peter Canisius House, Pymble, NSW Australia

Homecoming: A Meditation

I just went home. I am not talking about the home which my husband and I have created with our kids over the past 20 something years in Georgia, but the home I was born into to. The family, friends, neighborhood and church where I grew up. 

My best friends’ daughter was getting married and so we traveled back to my old neighborhood. Best friend really does not quite capture the essence of our friendship. You see our mothers were friends and I have this image in my head of my mother rocking my friend to sleep while she was pregnant with me. Before I even entered into the world I knew and loved this person and in almost 60 years we have remained bonded by what God put together before I was born. Going home means seeing my friend. Seeing my friend brings me such joy.

I am one of the few people I knew growing up that left the neighborhood. Many of my friends bought their parents houses. There is a neighborhood bar that holds a charity event every Friday night and most Fridays that is where you will find all the neighbors. The Friday we were there was no different. There were faces I had not seen in years, but as soon as I did it was as if those years disappeared. My family heard stories of what I was like growing up, stories that only these people could share. The wedding brought even more people I knew from my past together. People I have loved my whole life. People I forgot I needed in my life. It was an amazing time. I was home.

The plane ride home gave me so much time to reflect. Part of me was sad. Why did I leave the place I loved so much? Why did I leave my best friend? What would life look like if I had stayed? I have a wonderful life, but there is a hole that exists, and that hole can only be filled by returning home.

This time of reflection gave me the chance to dig a little deeper. My experience returning home personally made me think about returning home spiritually. For me it all connects. I formed a deep and lasting relationship with someone before I was even born. That relationship is like breath for me. My neighborhood and the friends who still live there and show me love and such a sense of community. I left this place. My life took a different path, but I can always go home. No fear, no judgment, no hate, just love.

Isn’t that what our faith life is all about? We develop a relationship with God before we are even born that is never ending and life giving. We can wander away from and come back only to wander away again, but every time we do, we feel that hole fill up, empty only to be filled again. We could leave the church, but the church never leaves us. When we decide to return the community of God accepts you, no judgment, no fear, no hate just love. Returning home gives me such a sense of belonging, such a sense of peace. Returning to Jesus, to the church to the community of God brings me that same sense of belonging and that same sense of peace. This wonderful wedding weekend reminded me that personally and spiritually I can always go home and there the hole of longing will always be filled.

Jackie Sullivan

The Grace of One Who Hears Our Voice

A couple of weeks ago I welcomed my first and only assistant dog. Since an accident two years ago, where I more or less lost my eyesight, I have been waiting for the dog.

Last Sunday we heard the words where Jesus talks about himself as a good shepherd who takes care of his sheep. In the Gospel of John chapter 10, Jesus tells us how he calls out for his sheep and leads them to good pastures. The sheep follow him because they recognize His voice.

It is pretty amazing how I can see this happen in the relationship between me and my dog. When I call out for her, she instantly comes. As with the sheep she recognizes my voice.

For the sake of the dog my husband and I have built a fence around our garden where the dog freely can play. It reminds me of the image of the green pasture.

All of this makes me think of how Jesus takes care of us. He calls out for us, to lead us into freedom and play.

So in my own prayer, I feel an invitation to reflect on:

· what is it that makes us recognize the voice of Jesus.

· in what circumstances becomes his voice clearer to us?

· In the Gospel Jesus says that he leads the sheep to freedom. This makes me wonder how this freedom looks like in our own lives?

When I am with my assistant dog and feel her willingness to be close, it helps me to feel gratitude to God who uses the image of the nearness between the sheep and the shepherd to try to tell us about the love for us, which is Gods own. — Hillevi Bergvall

God sends help in many forms.