IT’S STILL OUR FAITH
by Maura Hanrahan
"I was in this store, one that sells crystals and all kinds of new age items, and I found myself picking up a rock, a smooth, round rock. There was a little card with it, about the spirituality of nature and how we need to get in touch with it. So I picked it up and brought it to the cash. Then I stopped. Hang on a minute, I thought. I live on an island and there are literally millions of these rocks all around us. I can pick up any one I want –they’re on every beach, they’re free! How did I get to the point where I’m actually buying a rock? And buying a rock to bring me closer to God? How did that happen?"
There were about 30 of us in the room when a woman told this story. We were gathered to begin a part-time, three-year program in spiritual mentoring (sometimes called spiritual direction). We were at a centre for Christian spirituality and social justice operated by the Presentation Sisters. Everyone laughed when the woman stopped speaking. But no one was laughing at her (and I think she guffawed the loudest); everyone was laughing with her, for most of us recognized her experience in some form.
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