Speaking of God's laughter, I've always been partial to this one: "When you have the feeling of belonging to God, when your heart is God’s heart, you can hear the thunder of his laughter rolling inside you. (The quote continues....) You feel God’s presence in your being, and the pulse of His love moves you forward on His path. If others derive some joy from your service, you know it is really God they are seeing in your actions. When this is the case, your service is pure and inspired, flowing naturally and inevitably like a bud blossoming into flower." Gurumayi Chidvilasananda (A Siddha Guru)

Why am I afraid that something unpleasant, or at least unwanted, has happened in your life?
I hope I am wrong, or that if I am right it is so minor that you can be gallantly indifferent to such triviality.
In any case, prayers and good wishes!
Pax,
Geri

I didn't know you were a John Lennon fan.

We look forward to seeing you. We are back from our trip to Rome. Alas, we arrived the day after the funeral and left the day before the conclave began. The entire time we were there 'vacante sede'. But there were many spiritual gifts as we traveled Gaspar's Rome and retreated to Giano.

When Benedict was elected we were in Paris. I turned on the TV and saw the CNN scrawl with the name Benedict and immediately felt peace. Later I learned it was Cardinal Ratzinger and felt surprised. Then I saw broadcast of his first appearance and felt trust in the Holy Spirit.

Shortly after our tour guide picked us up and took us to Notre Dame as tourists but the visit became part of our pilgrimage as the plaza was full and the church was full. We entered to see enlarged photographs of Benedict and to be given a candle. We took a seat at the candlelight prayer service for the new pope. Despite our lack of French, we felt very connected to these Parisians and no doubt many other tourists and pilgrims. We weren't in Rome but we were in community.

We have lots more to catch up on.

Maria Elena & Dave