Vacation and Vocation

Dear Friends,In a book I have been reading about discernment, I came across this quotation: "Find a place in your heart and speak there with the Lord. It is the Lord's reception room."The words were written by Theophan the Recluse, a well-known saint in the Russian Orthodox Church. I  find the image beguiling. I am getting ready to go  on vacation, and it is easy  to think that once I am away from the regular routines of life, I will have more time for prayer, for writing and reflecting, and for discerning my vocation as a child of God. Yet Theophan reminds us: the reception room of God is in each of our hearts,  and there God awaits, ready to hear every prayer and every thought. God always seeks to call us more deeply into our lives with Christ and to a clearer understanding of our vocation as Christians.  We may have the chance to go on vacation this summer; we may not. Regardless, there is a quiet place where God even now is reaching out to us. My prayer is that each of us will go to that place for refreshment, renewal, and strength. For there the Lord waits.Faithfully,Tom