This morning at Mass, Father Krzysztof spoke of those moments of grace when a person experiences a flash of insight where revelation arises.  He talked about the importance of taking pause and giving time to reflect upon these insights in order that these not disappear into memory, but rather, so that they might impact the present moment, our actions or possibly even the course of our lives.

He began with the story of a night when the stars fell.  Over 200,000 meteors blazed through the night and into the morning of November 12, 1833, astounding people of the entire world. Can you imagine how such a sight such as this might take your breath away?  I know that almost every day, I feel that I’m watching 200,000 meteors flying across a dark sky.  In fact, I feel this way every time I am with my grandson.

In the telling of this story, I reflected a little on the circle I walk each day at the river and how by taking pause, I come to an experience of peaceful revelation and renewal.

I also remembered my student’s magic journals, written over the years.  Based on the journals written by protagonist, Douglas Spaulding, of Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, I asked my students to write down their daily revelations in a ‘magic journal’.  Some of the students strongly disliked these.  And, a lot of the time, their parents disliked them more.

But, as I pondered these matters today at Mass, I have no regrets for my efforts with these students.  This is a practice of ‘noticing’ that I deeply treasure.  If the students approached this journal with a lack of sincerity and if my efforts were not appreciated by parents, it matters not…to this day, I am grateful that I followed through with this exercise.  This is insight that we can all benefit from.