Unplugging

Two posts today, because I'm spending Saturday at the diocese's camp, chaperoning a pre-confirmation retreat. The directions specifically tell us to unplug for the retreat time. No cellphones or music players or tiny web browsers to keep us connected to the world outside the camp. The young people often groan when they hear about this rule. Me too - I've gotten used to doing my daily blog! Time to set the computer aside and pay attention to just one thing, the spiritual experience offered to me in this retreat.

We so rarely do just one thing. When I took a prayer class with Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, she challenged us to do one task, like making the bed, without thinking about anything else. Don't make plans in your head, don't talk on the phone, just make the bed. The Buddhist author Thich Nat Hanh offers a similar exercise of eating a tangerine. Don't read the paper, don't reach for slices while you're typing or driving a car, just sit there and taste the tangerine. This kind of mindfulness is challenging for me. As a mom, I do very few things without also filling milk cups and wiping noses. As a priest, any free time easily becomes a chance to outline the next week's sermon. But whenever I try, I find God's blessings all around me, just waiting for me to slow down long enough to notice them.