So did you hear the one about.....

In my last post, I mentioned God's "sense of humor" showing through very quickly after being told to think about what was in my boat. While I am certainly no scripture scholar, I'm pretty sure that there is no specific mention of the Lord playing practical jokes. I do believe though, that He enjoys just a little teasing once in a while (refer to "God's Bazinga" posted earlier) Here is another example to support my theory.

The morning after my boat conversation, our parish was hosting a mini-retreat. The speaker was wonderful; the morning very rewarding for everyone who attended. I was really feeling that the faith community had been drawn closer, simply by coming together. Near the end of the presentation, the speaker related a story of his trip to the Holy Land. He mentioned visiting the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem - and being privileged to see a small chapel not normally open to the public. On one of the walls is a carving of a boat - with the inscription "Lord we shall go"- you can read more at the links I've posted here!

Boat Carving Forges Precious Bond 
Church of the Holy Sepulchre 



And, the humor continues! After returning home, I was finally able to go outside to "play in the dirt" to begin prepping my veggie garden. I started digging up and pulling the weeds that had quickly been taking over already. I decided to look at the bright side, and began thinking about my boat challenge again. After all, the reference from earlier in the day sort of made it seem important. As I was using the shovel to pull out the dandelions, I began thinking about how deep the roots of these plants were. And, the fact that even though they were colorful, and taste pretty good with the right hot bacon dressing, they are still in fact weeds. Then I recalled how silly it was that the dandelion was not even a plant native to our country. They had been carried from Europe on.....wait a minute.....ships! Sailors would actually have barrels of them planted on board ship, and eat the leaves and flowers to help prevent scurvy! OK - twice in the same day....this boat thing really might be important.

On Sunday, I didn't need to be at church until the 11:00 Mass. I am an early riser, even when I don't have to be, so I decided to get started on the next read for our new Spiritual Book Club. I made my coffee, then pulled the book out of the box I had just received from Amazon. Apparently this whole idea about boats really is the direction I am supposed to be headed in!

Honestly, I'm still not sure exactly what it is I am supposed to be thinking about. I'm really not sure how I should even begin to start answering that question; what's in your boat? Am I looking for an answer as to what I want in there, or what I need to get rid of and leave behind? How does that relate to asking for the graces of courage and generosity? As I mentioned in the previous post, I believe I am being lead somewhere important. God's sense of humor is just the beginning of a journey in my boat that could end up either storm tossed or on a placid sea. Either way, I guess it's where He wants me to be. I just hope I don't get too seasick along the way!