Carmelite Meeting

I went to breakfast this morning at the Waffle Shop with John at 7:00 a.m.  It was an early start to the day with a nice breakfast.  Saw three guys walking down the street.  One was pushing a bicycle and had a suitcase on the bike.  The second man was carrying a smaller suitcase.  The third man was just walking.  I wondered where they were going and what there life was about.  

Afterwards I went to my Carmelite meeting.  It lasted four and a half hours.  I was asked if I wanted to stay longer but I was so tired (I didn't get enough sleep last night - I was doing too many things) that I told the president that I had to go home and do some things (which I did need to do). 

At the meeting we had private meditation, vocal prayer, a Scripture study (a LONG Scripture study, lol), a business meeting, lunch, and then formation meeting.  During the formation meeting we went over the homework we had been studying all month, from the books we had been reading.  Mine was from a work from St. John of the Cross, the group I am fascilitating (leading). 

In one way the session I fascilitated was very exciting, in another way it was VERY frustrating.  Everybody had read the material so we had a great discussion.  Well I say everybody had read it, well not everyone.  There was one person who joined our group on the spur of the moment who was sitting in on it who had not read the material.  She was just sitting in on the class.  When people would ask questions she would answer half the time and would be wrong.  And she was making major mistakes.  It was making me very frustrated.  When I would say something she would correct me.  What is the point of me being the leader if she is going to tell the people the wrong answers?  And then at the end of the whole session, she summed up the entire day's work by telling everybody the exact opposite of what the whole thing meant.  I was horrified.  Of course I said gently that the opposite was true, but I don't know what everybody believed.  The point is this person is someone in great authority in the community and everybody probably believed what she said.  Oh well.  It was very frustrating.  She should at least read the writings if she is going to make comments.  It was about 50 or more pagesof work we did.  I hope she chooses to be in somebody else's group next month or at least reads the material if she is going to be in our group...

I am thinking a little bit about Valerie today and am concerned about her.  Her surgery is definitely July 7th and she doesn't seem to be having much chance to rest up for it.  There is so many things she has had to do the last few days.  I hope she has a chance to rest before her surgery. 

If you have a chance, please pray for her, and pray for my family also, that they not be under stress.  Thanks.  :-)