Back

Finally back home after a total of 20 days on the road (sea, air). It's good to be back after a prolonged journey - especially when the reason to "be back" is continuously and vividly made apparent during the time spent away.

It was probably a fitting metaphor that we came full circle - literally - by beginning and ending this northern part of our travels at He Cares, which is perhaps the main reason why - if I may speak for myself - I am, or we are, back. It's the touchstone of this particular stage of my calling, a part of the mission that I've found myself carrying no matter how far away from the physical "center" of activity the roads lead me. In the same way that I bring to the "farthest corners" the many things God has taught me in He Cares, so too do I now bring what He has taught me on these travels back into His service.

One thing I've learned is the irony of how being away and apart from the familiar world actually moves one towards commitment - or otherwise reinforces existing commitments; you actually realize what your heart and soul find truly essential and important and what superficialities you can live without. I find myself at the end of this trip with a new armful of strengthened commitments in more than a few areas - spiritual, personal, and even professional. The simplicity in "trimming the fat" is beautiful - it's a matter of saying "yes" to some things and "no" to some others. I also began this series of travels with one question - or should I say proposition - I needed God to resolve, and I believe He's made His answer clear enough.

It's also a blessing to hit the ground running in returning to His service at He Cares, and an additional blessing to be able to share how He reveals Himself (as He promised He would in Matthew 25) daily as we go about our mission. Yesterday was a day to experience truly the fullness of joy in Him, especially after missing three Saturdays in a row away from the Center - started the day with singing His praises with His little angels, continued with serving Him through ministering physically and emotionally to the kids, and the day just kept on giving as I talked to at least four different people at separate opportunities about the magnitude of His love and the reason for this commitment to His service. A reminder of St. Peter's exhortation to "simply proclaim the Lord Christ holy in your hearts, and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you have." (1 Peter 3:15)

He is the Reason, the only Reason for this hope and joy - and today, Pentecost Sunday, celebrates once again the reason why our hearts burn so much with His love that sometimes we cannot help to cause "forest fires" of blazing light to spread throughout the darkest corners of this earth. May His Holy Spirit that has descended upon us continue to radiate His glory from within! I pray that He will continue to send me on more journeys like this past series of travels, for the grace to carry His light to all the corners of the earth, and for the strength to do His will and proclaim even more loudly His holiness in my heart - in the way that I live, in the way that I love, and, when the occasion calls for it, in the words that come out from my heart. Amen. :-)

I love you Lord, even more today than yesterday. Thank you for everything.