Busy-ness

It was a strenuous week last week, and there is no slowing down at the start of this week.

On Monday evening I will tell my vocation story. Most of my brothers have already given theirs, and they have raised high the expectations for the few who have yet to speak. I hope to give a compelling oral account of the faith I now hold, the hope I have, and the love I have found. In the end, this story must be not so much my life story as a testimonial of what the Holy Spirit has done, and is doing, to me.

This will be the first time I open up in an intimate way to all the brothers at once. No doubt, a few of them have been waiting for me to get more personal with them. Well, the moment is arriving. I can guarantee you that I will feel a little nervous and perhaps vulnerable for some time afterward. This introvert likes to protect his mysteries, and he's good at it. Let's see how he good he is at self-revelation.

Still haven't moved beyond a messy half of a first draft of a written account of my vocation story. The formators told us on Friday that it is advisable but not necessary to complete the story before the beginning of novitiate. In other words, we have more time to write these stories for our future spiritual directors. I welcome the extension, but all the same, I would have liked to be done with this assignment. Sigh. Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.

Working, too, on another project, a liturgical project, involving several of the brothers, which occupied me all this weekend and will keep me busy until Tuesday afternoon. More on this later.

Wednesday is Independence Day, which, though a holiday, probably means we'll be stepping up the fraternal interaction. I believe we're joining the Capuchin friars who live in Hays for dinner and frivolities of a patriotic kind.

As I say, there is no slowing down yet. We may pause a little later this week or next weekend. Truthfully, we won't be slowing down until we get to California, and then begins the hurly-burly of adjustment to novice life. No rest until October?