Reflections from our sojourner
Amigas del Señor
From Hermana Lise:
It’s Friday, May 8th. I’m finishing up my third week here at Amigas del Señor. It’s hot and humid and dry at the same time (no rain), and I’ve fed more than enough mosquitoes, thank you very much!
By now, I’m well integrated into the routine here—work (I especially like doing outdoor physical work before the day heats up), the daily offices (structured prayer time) and silent Quaker worship, meals, chores, times for reflection, spiritual formation, Spanish review, rest, and often a walk to the beach as the sun is setting.
Hermana Lise tending the cookfire at the motherhouse.
I’ve noticed that the routine predictability of the day, something that could feel boring, is balanced by the experience of something new every day. This week, we had the semi-miraculous finishing of the gate after delay upon delay (I’ll leave the full saga to the Sisters), the hatching of 5 chicks, my first time harvesting bananas (you chop down the palm with a machete), cutting hair on both Sisters (not my area of expertise at all—my goal was to give them ‘not the worst haircut of their lives,’ which I apparently achieved), and a trip to the Mother House and Limoncito, which involved a lot of waiting for rides, changes of plan, an exciting trip down dirt roads on the back of an ATV (4 people), and meeting friends of the Sisters.
Showing off the banana starts Sister Lise just planted in the rim of the compost pit she dug and filled.
Speaking of waiting, Hermana Confianza chose the book Seven Spiritual Gifts of Waiting by Holly Whitcomb as the focus of our spiritual formation time together. It has been an apt choice, as I am in a time of large transition and waiting. I just officially retired (May 1), am awaiting the birth of my second grandchild in June, and am seeking discernment about how best to pray, act, and respond to the great crises at home in the US. Some of the gifts of waiting include learning to live more in the moment, to give up worrying (as much), to deepen trust in God, and focus on the gifts and good of every day. I especially like the idea of living into the slogan ‘It is enough.’ Living here is good practice in living day-to-day and deciding that whatever happens in the day, it is enough. (And yes, it helps that I have been on an absolute news fast since coming here . . . !)
So when I return in another week or so, I probably won’t have mastered Spanish, nor will I probably have a direct message from God about what to do next in my life. I can’t say that I deeply pay attention to every Scripture reading or song. Yet, it is all enough. I’m showing up; I’m soaking up the language and the worship and the culture and the rest and the space in my life, and I believe that through this, God is actively nurturing me and preparing me for the next things. It is enough. I may not even know exactly HOW this will change or inform me for months. But I know it will. Thanks be to God and to the Amigas for this experience.