During Lent a couple years ago, I spent two days and two nights on an individual retreat at a Benedictine monastery. This evening, I looked back in my journal for something I remember writing while there. I found what I was looking for in those pages, but I also found this word of blessing (which I wasn't looking for) that Sister Leann offered me while I ate oatmeal the morning of my departure. I'm so pleased to be reminded of it. The gray-haired, 80'ish-or-so nun patted me on the back and said, "We pray for you when you come. We pray for you when you leave. We can never pray enough."
“Thou takest the pen – and the lines dance. Thou takest the flute – and the notes shimmer.
Thou takest the brush – and the colors sing. So all things have meaning and beauty in that space beyond where Thou art.
How, then, can I hold anything back from Thee.”
— Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings
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