Comments on: The Neighbors Drop By

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:59:38 +0000

Bret & Tom,

Thank you for stopping by. I’m thrilled that you had such a rich and robust exchange with some of the folks who hang out here with me. I am proud of them.

God bless your good work.

Paul

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:49:16 +0000

Paul,

Paul: Bret and I thank you for your kind hospitality today. It was a very satisfying experience and I came away feeling inspired, encouraged, and edified by all the comments of your devoted blog followers. And as for your question, “Does that make me strange?” I’d say (tongue firmly in cheek) “No, there are plenty of other things that make you strange.” And of course I hope you know I’m kidding but you can’t give me a straightline like that and expect me to have the self-control to walk away from it. Besides, the things that make you unique are also what make you such a lovable bloke.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:07:58 +0000

I just got out of a long meeting so I’m just catching up. Thanks for the great additional contributions, Denise and Eric. I’m finding this exchange very rich and consoling. It’s been opening up so many graces for me all day long. Thank you to all of you who have been so generous with your sharing.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:42:35 +0000

Everyone,

I am thrilled at the conversation that is going on in my absence. I am in California at a gathering of “mid-life” Jesuits (which is proving to both challenging and comforting) and have been in session all morning.

I don’t have a place, real or imaginary, to which I escape. (Tom, I certainly wouldn’t risk going somewhere while someone had a drill in my mouth.) I do have strong memories of places and experiences, but I don’t think I ever consciously seek to conjure them up. Does this make me strange?

Paul

By: Bret Nicholaus

Bret Nicholaus — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:12:07 +0000

Eric,
Thank you for your wonderful post. First of all, I love that you are one of the few today to mention that your daydream place is completely imaginary. That’s great! Adults tend to eschew total imagination, yet it is so essential for so many reasons.
Your comment about Jesus gets right to the heart of a quote I love from Einstein: “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” Spending time with Jesus NOW is simply a foretaste of the feast to come, a foretaste of the time someday when we we will be able to spend eternity in the presence of Christ and in God’s new creation. By meeting Jesus in your special spot, you are experiencing a bit of the future heaven in the midst of this present reality. That’s awesome. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful thought, and what a blessing it sounds like your kids are for you!
Bret

By: Bret Nicholaus

Bret Nicholaus — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:00:20 +0000

Denise,
You bring up an interesting point. You mention daydreaming about a past trip, but people also tend to daydream about trips that they are going to be taking. I wonder what percent of people tend to daydream about UPCOMING events and what percent of people tend to daydream about PAST events. Hmmm……..
Bret

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:56:04 +0000

I also want to add that my wife and daughter and I had regular meals together. She and her husband are living with us because they want to help my wife care for me. Their jobs require frequent evening work, but when they are home in the evening it is very important to them that we have dinner together.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:52:26 +0000

I go to a completely imaginary place. It is a meadow surrounded by woods. There is a large stream that flows through the meadow. There is a cliff to my right and a waterfall that plunges down the cliff. It is the source of the stream. When I go there I find Jesus sitting by the stream and I sit down along side of Him. We sometimes talk. We sometimes sit in silence together. Occasionally, Jesus in an instant presents a striking image that presents an aspect of Who He is or of His relationship to me. I do use other forms of prayer, but when I find myself easily distracted or have that “nothing’s happening feeling” I go to this place and just sit with Jesus. I have a terminal illness, ALS, but when I am there with Jesus the illness feels gone. It is as though I am meeting Him in the eternal realm rather than the current temporal realm. Sometimes we make agreements about what I am to do while still in the temporal realm.

By: Denise

Denise — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:31:32 +0000

I like to daydream about different trips I’ve taken, some to nearby places and some faraway. I think about the special moments shared with travel companions and about the moments of solitude that also enhanced those trips. I remember on my trip to Spain I experienced a very special day of surprises. We had the itinerary, but the free time that day brought several surprises—walking by a church as a wedding let out, sitting in another as guests gathered for a different wedding, snatching a bit of quiet alone time in the midst of the crowd, wandering into a courtyard with friends to find a live performance of a local legendary tale. It was a memorable day, but just one to dream again about. Now I look forward to dreaming about the next trip I’m planning.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:17:01 +0000

Michelle, I’ll bet that cake tasted wonderful. And I agree that mealtimes–especially dinners–were the hardest on the silent retreats I have experienced. And yet it was always my meditation time after dinner when I seemed to bring that longing to the fore and I was often met with a profound sense of divine presence.

And Maureen, thanks for taking us along on that very visual trip down the trail, over the log, and down to the creek amid the tall trees. I can feel the warm breeze and see the dappled sun on the banks of the creek. Who was it that said, “The past isn’t over; it isn’t even past!” I agree.