Coming to Bali!

I am fulfilling a dream I had five years ago, and a promise I made that I would return some day to Bali, and in particular to a special retreat center nestled high in the mountains of central Bali, where  the air is cool and fresh.

I am able to spend a week here on this lebaran holiday (like our Christmas) for the end of Ramadan, and already I have been welcomed "home" by the director of the retreat center.  The beauty and spirit of this place is so indescribable, that I will have to post some pictures to give some idea of what I see and absorb here day after day.

  There is also a real prayer life here, as the morning and evening "Office," the "Liturgy of the Hours," are said in chapel every day, and at the morning office, there is also the Mass integrated into the reading of the psalms.  Because I had just had the experience of monks at the Buddhist vihara in Batu, just above the city of Malang, I can feel the connection as this beautiful ritual of chant moves us into and out of the day.  There is also a special devotion here to Bunda Maria, the Mother of Carmel, because this is a Carmelite retreat house, in the spirit of the prophet Elijah, and the saints like St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avia, and so many more.

  What I feel most of all, and what has brought me back here is that I am loved.  Just a little while ago, another Maria, who does many duties here, and who once gave me a head massage that cured my bad flu, told me we have been friends for five years.  Whenever I contacted them over the years, I heard, "We are waiting for you."  They have waited for me here for five years, and all I have done is show up and receive this love.  All I can give is my heart, and I give it gladly, freely.

 To sum up, what I experience here is growth, the growth of so many varieties of fruits and vegetables and flowers, and the growth of the spirit of love and community.  I am being planted here.