Pondering from the Bike Path

Remember "Bicycle Race" by Queen...I never liked that song and it is just going through my head like a tornado revving up for the big spin. The last two days I have been able to go for some rides and wow does that have a way of clearing my head. It has been too long and this year my goal is to prep for 100K in August. I rode up this bridge onto the trail and was surprised that I was not out of breath when I got to the top.

Yesterday was another gathering of Sisters and Associates who are interested in dreaming together about our future. This group always connects in a way that is invigorating and when leaving there is much to think about. We have now invited others to join us for an afternoon in July when the community gathers for CSA Days (this is our summer gathering - as it gets closer I will write more about it, just know that this is when we come together from different places). After we met I reflected on the centrality of CSA in my life and began to wonder what things will be like down the road. A friend recently asked the question, "Am I living my Religious Life radically enough?" This resonates with me in a big way.

What does it mean to be radical in the 21st Century? My thought is that we are called to present to society and the world in a way that is different than it was in the 19th and 20th Centuries. It seems that there is such hunger for a spiritual life among people from all different walks of life. We are gifted with a life that not only fosters a strong spiritual life, it is encouraged. I take many retreat opportunities each year. Two silent retreats (an eight day and a three day) and at least one other (this year it will be like four other retreats...I am on a roll). We also have opportunities for communal prayer that is outside of the liturgy and that is another source of replenishing. These are things that I do not see available to many other people. Yet, some of the reading I have done about the New Monasticism indicates there is a shift in this (the book I read is Ancient Faith, New Mission: New Monasticism as Fresh Expression of Church, written by Graham Cray, Ian Mobsby and Aaron Kennedy).  I wonder how I can share the fruits of my life in new ways? My guess is that my desire to study leadership through doctoral work and the interest I have in transformational leadership and community is very much connected to my questions. It also seems that moving to Fond du Lac has everything to do with these questions. Soon I will embark on the next phase and see what it brings...for now let's listen to Queen.