A Gift: Tuesday's Reflection

Taking a first thing in the morning walk always feels like a gift, even on muggy days. I know I will delight in neighborhood gardens or a house I've not noticed before, and doesn't it look charming? An idea for something I am writing may pop into my head or the answer to a question I have been pondering. 

Sometimes I am more aware of God walking with me --or am I walking with God?

And sometimes I receive a most unexpected gift. 

I decided to walk over to the campus of St Catherine University, only blocks away. In fact, our very first house was right across the street from St Kate's, and I was once even a visiting lecturer, the lowest position on the faculty totem pole, in the education department for a few years. Wow--that was a very long time ago! 

I don't walk there very often. Not only are we located within easy walking distance of St Kate's, but also St Thomas and Macalester, and they each have lovely campuses. I rarely walk there, however. Why don't I go to one of their libraries or student centers for an afternoon of writing? St Kate's has a lovely pond at the edge of the campus and there are benches where I could sit and read. Why don't I do that?

I go to a writing class and other Wisdom Ways events on the St Kate's Campus and an occasional concert or lecture at their O'Shaughnessy Auditorium and sometimes attend an event at the other schools, but by and large I take their presence for granted.

I wonder why that it is. 

Being a student has always felt like a holy task to me and a campus is sacred ground. And, I felt that as I walked along the sidewalks of St Kate's the other morning. I felt a sense of awe for the learning that is offered and received there, along with the openings to new ideas, new relationships, new roles in the world. 

I am no longer an official student, but I hope I learn something every day. I hope I can open to what is offered every day, as well as ways I can give of myself. Walking the campus on a quiet summer morning was a reminder of those holy tasks.

And then I received a surprising gift.

I walked towards the student center and decided to go down a staircase, assuming it would lead me towards the open lawn area and the pond. It did, but at the foot of the stairs, tucked away serenely, privately was a sculpture by Paul Granlund  

Paul Granlund is a famous Minnesota sculptor, and a year or so ago I went on a tour with his son to see many of his sculptures throughout Minneapolis and St Paul, some on the campus of St Thomas. We didn't visit this one, however, and I had no idea it was there. 

Many of his sculptures are spiritual in nature, as this one, which is called "Zerogee," as in a gravity free condition, certainly is. I felt joy and exuberance and strength and life. Oh, such life! I felt renewal and hope and energy. All tucked away in this quiet spot.

Finding this sculpture felt like an invitation to walk this sacred ground more often and to view my days as filled with holy tasks. Every Sunday in church I hear the words, "The gifts of God for the people of God." That morning I received a gift from God. 

An Invitation
What gifts have you received lately? I would love to know.