Packing For Silence Revisited

Wernerville Cross
by Wayne Stratz
Hangs at the Jesuit Center

As I mentioned in my last blog post, a blog post mentioning a mug brought me into the world of the RevGals

I just read that post to see if the items remain the same. It has for the most part. The pool stick is not huge these days as I trust to find a functional one at the Jesuit Center. Port has been replaced at times with ales and there was the one retreat I took a bottle of Absinthe.

At home when faced with the desire to cut glass I rarely drink. By the end of a silent day... a beverage while chatting with God through an examen makes sense.

My habit of drawing cards for others at the retreat center and of drawing future glass designs means once again I will be packing up a bit of my studio.

You never know how it will go, but I still have Michelle's post about playing with the psalms in my head. Random psalm prayers may be the way to go. But the object is not to force an agenda on the retreat.  No different than forcing a lesson plan onto my students,  It will unfold and all I ask is to unfold with it.

prepping for teaching, silence, and pizza

I am not well known for my plans, though I have them, well kind of, well they are floating around in my brain and as they float by I tweak them till another thought distracts me. Slowly my plans come into shape.

But I have this week coming up, which when I signed my contract was going to be the 7th week of teaching, but then the powers that reign above me decided the students would only be there for six. I was given the option of being paid and showing up, or not being paid and staying away. I went for the money and with Mosaic Woman being laid off, that was a fine decision.

So I have five days in my classroom alone, except for the two Daves, who are in the same position. I am teaching a new science class again this year... Earth and Space Science, or what I will call The History of the Universe. And I have a week to prepare. I could get a lot done

On Friday I looked at my classroom and realized I had never been in one space for so long... closing in on ten years. And I thought I could spend some time making a collage, then I thought... tear down the whole thing, clear the walls, start new. I don't do that kind of thing.



But there is something else, it is coming on as soon as this week is over, something I do annually and just enter into, no preparing. But in church this morning I felt a need to prepare for silence. Not sure how.

For now I am getting ready for a friend's visit. Pizza time.

So what are you preparing for?