By Elaine Chatwin
It’s fascinating how events converge over time to bring a lesson to light.
At the moment, one of the booklets I am studying is the 40-day practice of hospitality from The Contemplative Life Program. On day 10 Sr. Bernadette Teasdale wrote a passage she called The Ordinary Way. She believes that the contemplative dimension of hospitality emerges as one of the fruits of Centering Prayer in daily life. We carry that surrender to the presence and action of God into our daily life by loving our neighbor. The wisdom that really stood out for me was the welcoming of those we don’t choose or don’t understand or with whom we don’t agree. In a nutshell, hospitality that is unconditional to all.
The second event in this little story is the call to write about and experience UCoL’s Lenten theme of 40 days of reconciliation. We are told that this broad topic could include specific ideas about reconciliation, seeing the self clearly, confession, repentance, healing, and passion. So now that coffee pot in my mind is percolating with all kinds of thoughts about unconditional hospitality and reconciliation. A perfect set up for a life lesson to appear…
So yes, event number three did of course drop into my lap a few days ago. Or should I say into my fridge. It was a simple event. My husband brought home a gift of a dozen farm fresh eggs. Beautiful eggs. Stunning really. They were absolutely beautiful, large and some dark brown and some velvety green. A dozen eggs that were so perfect I would have taken them to the manger as a gift to the Christ child. “Who are these from” I joyfully asked my husband. You know what’s coming here, right? Yes. Someone who has never given me the time of day over the last 20 years I have known her. Yes. Someone I have turned my face away from and hardened my heart just enough that I did not have to give her a second thought any day of the week. Oh dear.
So now, I added those most perfect dozen eggs to my coffee pot and let all that percolate too. Well, the cup of coffee I poured out for myself made of those three events actually tasted pretty good. I had to make a conscious decision about holding on to my heart just the way it was or letting go of the past and opening to the possibility of unconditional hospitality that would grow into reconciliation. And I chose to open my heart a little. The reconciliation that was born is still pretty small and pretty tender, but it’s there. And I’m enjoying those eggs more than I would have guessed was possible.