Earlier this month, I had the privilege of joining my dad for his annual retreat to Manresa House of Retreats in Convent, LA. This retreat is all-men's 3-day silent retreat. On this retreat, I learned the wonderful value of sharing faith with others without speaking. This idea is reflective of St. Francis of Assisi's saying that we should preach the gospel always and only used words when necessary.
This morning, while watching ESPN, I saw a nice piece on Bo Jackson (a former great football and baseball player). For the anniversary of the terrible tornadoes that swept through Alabama last year, Bo decided to raise money to help those communities who are still trying to recover. Bo was not going to raise the money by campaigning with his words, but by bicycling across Alabama. Though this was not a silent ride, the symbolism of the ride is reflective of the Spirit working in one's actions more so than in one's words. Along the way, Bo created a "tornado" of cyclists that mimicked the wave and path of the tornadoes. However, instead of the tornadoes wreaking havoc this time, the cyclists brought faith, hope, love to others in the form of community and support. I imagine that the ride gave the riders a chance to internalize all that they saw along the way and allowed them to share community with one another not so much by speaking but by riding side by side with each other.
Can the Spirit be as present to us as pelaton of cyclists? I'd like to think so.
Bo Bikes Bama
May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.
My dad did that retreat two years in a row (at the same place!), and if you knew him you'd know he's not into that stuff at all...but it really changed him.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think the cycling is really inspiring, maybe it's so effective because when you are biking across states you are physically "moving", giving the sense that you are on a journey, or beginning a "movement" in the more literal sense. In a way it sort of draws people in because no hard work (other than actual cycling) is involved; all you have to do is show up. You already said it, but to me this is community building in action. And in the end, the more people involved, the greater the "movement" becomes.
That's wonderful, Elizabeth! We'll have to talk more about your dad's experience soon. Thanks for reading and commenting.
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