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A Propagation Meditation
by American Phoenix | February 4, 2010
I spent my Tuesday afternoon driving my college roommate, who became a nun with the Little Sisters of the Poor, to her family’s home in Stockton for her annual family visit. This is the one day out of the year where I get a good hour or two to have my own visit and I look forward to it. I’m always feted very well, because her parents love me with a home cooked Italian meal. Her dad is the only person who cooks eggplant that I will eat - besides my own mother. That’s about the highest food compliment possible, as eggplant is so NOT on my favorite food list. Her mother says she’s an atheist, but she goes to church every Sunday and prays to our Blessed Mother for intercession. We always disagree on politics, but she always listens to me because she knows that I will always give her a honest and truthful assessment of the state of “it” - whatever it is. I enjoy our friendly repartée. But I digress.
On the drive home, I tuned in Immaculate Heart Radio, KSFB, out of San Francisco, CA. I was then at the junction of Interstate 5 and Highway 4. I should say I tried to tune it in. The signal to noise ratio was quite low, and I could barely make out the voices that I heard. I knew it was Fr. Benedict Groeschel and that he was saying the rosary with another person, but that was about all I could make out. It reminded me of that passage in I Kings in which God speaks to Elijah in a whisper.
It struck me that this was almost a metaphor for life. How often do we try to tune in God? And even when we make the effort, how often do the many distractions in our lives act as noise - a distraction from the message? I strained to listen, despite the fact that I am undoubtedly spiritually lazy. I could hear enough of the rosary to say the responses at the right time, but only just barely.
It was raining as I drove home that night. It poured as I passed through Tracy. Oddly, during one of the cloud bursts, propagation all of a sudden got very clear (a higher signal to noise ratio) for a few moments. Then it was back to the background noise almost overwhelming the signal. Likewise, it is at those most difficult moments of life that God reaches us through our suffering, not in spite of it but because of it. For it is when we suffer that we more fully understand Christ’s suffering on the cross and His love for us.
As the distance between home and the source of KSFB’s signal decreased, the signal got stronger and more clear. I was able to hear the final prayers of the rosary without too much noise. Just as throughout life, one accumulates experiences, both spiritual and otherwise, that can allow one to better hone in on the “signal.” (Or take one further away, depending on how one interprets those experiences.)
Topics: Christianity, Prayer |