A wonderful evening

Lord, let there be no boasting in this post, save in You.

It was so nice last night to get my wife back home. She and our youngest grandchild had a very nice visit with her parents over the previous week. It's hard to explain how it feels to be apart from her. It isn't that she completes me; only God does that. Yet I think we both have a deep sense of belonging together, and when we're not, we miss one another, yet we know we're still united. I don't think either of us feel an unhealthy pining when we're apart. I had a pretty active week, and was never exactly sad, and yet I missed her, looked forward to being with her again, and now she's home. **Pleasant sigh**

In a normal week, her homecoming might have led me to skip our Tuesday night prayer group. But we didn't meet last week because of a conflicting parish event, and I will miss the next two meetings. Besides, Teri wanted to attend her faith sharing group, as well, so it worked out nicely for both of us. What a wonderful meeting, with a reminder to trust that God's gifts to us are always priceless treasures, even if they are sometimes veiled.

The other reason I might have wanted to skip last night's meeting was the women's basketball final. Nobody picked the Terps to be in that game, and even after beating the concensus best team in the country for the second time (UNC's only two defeats, mind you), no one picked them to win it. We have friends who are Duke alumni, and we put a small wager on the game: a contribution to one another's Easter dinner. Even though the young, inexperienced, underdog Terps won the game - and we won the bet - our friends are going to get a delicious cheesecake from the family recipe anyway. It was an exciting, inspiring overtime victory.

Afterward, and after some quality time during and after the game with the mrs., I could tell that my body still needed some time to relax, to unwind, so I reclined on the sofa to read a little of Saint Teresa. As I sat down, I was immediately aware that, as heart-pounding as the game was, the prayer meeting had been a more wonderful thing. My reunion with my wife, too, far outshone it. And this time I was now spending in the silence, in God's presence reflecting on the words written by this inspired saint - well, if they're not inspired they're not saints, but you know what I mean - was the sumptuous dessert of a splendid banquet of a day. I know that this was another wonderful glimpse of the banquet will never truly end.