Day 22
Keep Holy the Sabbath
Reflection By: Lou Rotta

I never thought I would see two family members generations apart have the orbits of their lives line up like an eclipse. My 79 year old mother is suffering from dementia, and this past year, I have been watching as the condition takes Mom's mental capacity back to the fragile times of early childhood. But there is another life orbiting and the two have lined up. This life is our grand daughter born 4/13/2006. A generation removed, this young life has shaded and covered the life of her great grandmother. The two are one in the universe, and as I watch the deterioration of Mom and the growth of my granddaughter, I wonder about my own journey which is locked in its own orbit lodged between them both. As they form their eclipse, slowly one will go one way and the other will go in another.

The generation that bore me and the generation that comes to replacement me are both in my site. At this point where is my alignment with their orbits? Or better yet, where is my alignment with the God of the universe? Maybe it isn't about alignment but about doing His work. Mom's life was dedicated to doing His work and my granddaughter has yet to see that challenge and now basks in God's precious innocence. The beauty is my Mom now basks in the same precious innocence.

This Lenten journey may be to set our lives in orbit to bask in the precious innocence of our God.