Her conversion had been sudden, like a strong wind through a stand of leafy trees; noisy, boughs bending. But for a few years now it had been quiet. She listened for God’s whisper but couldn’t feel the finger of God guiding her life. She missed the Almighty. She yearned for that special warmth, the glow, the light that enveloped her. She knew in her heart that God was with her, but she was deaf, dumb and as the saying goes, blind.

It began with the concert. A string ensemble in a plush, new concert hall premiering a piece based around Shakespeare’s "All the worlds a stage…" from As You Like It. (One of the protagonists in that play is a Rosalind). The quotation helped her to focus on her mortality, the brief time she had to do good, please God, grow spiritually, help those around her. She came away refreshed, in touch with her spirit, talking of personal things with her friend. Growing close. Growing close with others is a way to grow close with God. Where two or more are gathered in my name…

Her back hurt so she went to bed to read. The fact that she was aging nagged again at her. The recurrent image that time was slipping through her fingers like sand found a place in the forefront of her mind…again. She picked up a book; one from her spiritual book club and there it was…"We allow time to flow through our fingers like so much sand and, all the while, it is God timelessly present with us." She was moved to journal and wrote that it is the presence of God in our lives that gives meaning to our lives. In these moments, tasting the preciousness, facing the sacred, making extraordinary the ordinary, we sense the Presence. We hear God’s whisper.

Her friend from the concert couldn’t meet her for another hour so she stopped by the mall to browse. The computer store pulled her and she immediately found herself looking at a game. It reminded her of the "God Game" from a Roman Catholic priest’s novel. She created people, built homes for them, moved their lives to accomplish their goals. She and her stepdaughter played it continuously, one stopping the other starting. It became clear that time management was of vital importance in the Sims lives, and there was only so much for meeting their various needs. Some could be met during one day, but not all. She had to balance which needs were met one day, others another day. More importantly though, it gave her and the daughter a common interest. The girl’s bedroom door was open. She was part of the family again.

So the family decided to go to a play. It was a study of how real life, art, and the creative spirit merge and intertwine so it becomes unclear which is what, where one begins and the other ends. All this was wrapped in a murder mystery. It was well done, the actors were very good…professionals. But she came away awed at the real mystery, how God was speaking to her through the arts, giving her direction as clearly as she gave her Sims direction. Perhaps she wasn’t so blind after all. There was hope. It springs eternal…

February 21, 2000