Dear Ones of St. C’s, 

As the election season dies down and all we have left to do is face ourselves and the country we are a part of, I have been pondering welcome, hospitality, and the walls we build in our lives and within ourselves.  Jesus says to look at the log in our own eye before we look at the speck in our neighbors eye.  I am tired of pointing at everyone else who is the problem.  I am wondering how I participate in the pain that this country is experiencing.  What are the parts of myself that I refuse to welcome and tend to?  When I reject parts of myself, how do I project that onto people I dislike?  The idea of projection is a psychological term that I first heard in seminary.  This idea of projection scared me and made me realize the value of knowing my own inner world.  Projection means that if I hate things within myself that I cannot face then when I see these same things in someone else, I might amplify my own hatred of myself onto them.  Therefore projecting my own baggage onto someone else. 

Jesus calls us to love others as we love ourselves.  But do you love yourself?  On December 5th, Anna Pringle and myself will be leading an Advent quiet morning.  The focus of our time will be on welcoming the stranger.  We will look at how Mary takes a risk and welcomes a stranger into her womb.  We will reflect on the ways that Jesus calls us to welcome the stranger.  We will tend to parts of ourselves that we have become estranged from and try to welcome these parts back in, with the hopes of loving ourselves and those around us better.  This will be a time of retreating by ourselves and then coming back again to reflect together.  You will be free to share as you feel comfortable or just listen and reflect.  I hope that you will join us!

with care, 

Meghan