“Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be?’ ” (Luke 1:34).
Last night I half-slept, which made for a difficult morning at Maryknoll. I could not think to listen, speak, or read well. Everything was slow and halting. It is not so much the case that the work is getting more difficult, though we are accumulating and integrating all our learning along the way, and sometimes we reach the limits of our integration. No, today was much more an instance of real fatigue. At eight o’clock I was at about 75 percent, at nine about 50 percent and by the ten o’clock coffee break I wanted a nap. Only in the final hour did I begin to rebound. A hearty lunch with the friars, a few game attempts at small talk with Brother Leo and Fray Freddie, and our birthday celebration of Fray Rodrigo picked up my sagging spirits. By the afternoon I had rebounded. With little trouble I read an article in Revista Maryknoll about the migration of unaccompanied minors. I prepared for a 10-minute presentation on the parable of the prodigal son and feel flush with ideas.
Last night I half-slept, which made for a difficult morning at Maryknoll. I could not think to listen, speak, or read well. Everything was slow and halting. It is not so much the case that the work is getting more difficult, though we are accumulating and integrating all our learning along the way, and sometimes we reach the limits of our integration. No, today was much more an instance of real fatigue. At eight o’clock I was at about 75 percent, at nine about 50 percent and by the ten o’clock coffee break I wanted a nap. Only in the final hour did I begin to rebound. A hearty lunch with the friars, a few game attempts at small talk with Brother Leo and Fray Freddie, and our birthday celebration of Fray Rodrigo picked up my sagging spirits. By the afternoon I had rebounded. With little trouble I read an article in Revista Maryknoll about the migration of unaccompanied minors. I prepared for a 10-minute presentation on the parable of the prodigal son and feel flush with ideas.
I don’t know; would it be better, after all, for me to attend classes in the afternoon? Would I have more energy then?
Whatever the case, I would like to improve how well I sleep. There was no good reason not to sleep well last night. I went to bed at quarter past ten feeling well and content. I woke up at half past one, fell asleep again, woke again at three-thirty, fell asleep again, and woke again at four-thirty, remaining half-conscious until rising at five-thirty, not knowing I hadn’t slept fully.
If God or God’s angels didn’t have anything to do with this repeated waking—Am I Samuel? Is this the temple of the Lord?—then I must say I am disappointed that my body is not obeying the will of its soul. A little more integration, please!
A few odds and ends:
Joshua tells me he has a party of six to make the expedition with Emilio to Tunari Peak. I hope we can draw one or two more people. No prediction for the weather on Saturday is ventured at this time. We know we need to dress warmly and keep our hands and ears covered well.
The Wednesday conference, to be presented by a staff member of Maryknoll’s mission formation program, has to do with the cosmological visions of the West (i.e. Europe) and of traditional Andean civilization.
Finally, a happy solemnity of the Annunciation to all. Today I remain with Mary of Nazareth with her question to the angel Gabriel, “How can this be?” Dear God, show me through an angel how to live and receive totally the life you have promised in dreams and visions.
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