second portal

meghan arrived at bethany just ten minutes before supper

she parked her smart car to the rear of the building
benath one of the flowering willow trees.

she loved willow trees and this place had two
one with white flowers and the other with pink

they were in bloom and she got out of her car and
put her valise on the floor

she stretched her legs
and did a back bend
it was a long drive
and giving herelf a quick physical push was just
what she needed.

she picked up her suitcase and headed for the front of the
building.

the door was unlocked and she let herself in
she stepped into the round foyer and she
could hear voices coming from beyond the second
door.

the message of the house greeted her

"the master is waiting for you."

she just loved that sign

the master of the house
he was always here
you could feel his presence
and he was waiting for me

i wonder what goodies he had in store for her this time

she smiled
and hurriedly ran her finger down the list on the table until
she found her name. room 110.

she made her way down the narrow hallway past 109 108 until
she found 110.

it was a small room with a window
it had a table a chair and a bed
and a reading lamp.

all the comforts of home.

meghan smiled and placed her suitcase on the floor.

she opened the window a smidgen and then turned
and closed the door behind her.

she made her way down the same narrow hallway until she came
to the refrectory as they called the lunchroom and saw her
group waving her on.

there was kathy, and linda and susan
she headed toward their table and was met with a warm hi, hello,
glad you got here.

"i'm so exited, said meghan.
is cynthia here yet.

yes, she is sitting with barbara right behind you.

meghan turned and there was barbara the retretant executor
and sitting next to her was a five foot one woman with short
black hair, dressed in a nondescript pants and shirt.

cathy nudged meghan. I wish she would dress up a little.

she's such a gifted person but she dresses like a ragamuffin.
but she won't change.

cynthia had written a book the wisdom jesus and meghan was
just waiting to hear what cynthia had to say.

meghan was supposed to read the book beforehand but this had
been such a busy few weeks that she hadn't even had time to
buy the book, much less read it.

she had hoped there would be copies at the retreat
with any luck cynthia would have brought some with her
and meghan would buy it and read into the night.

she had found a little bit of an introductory on the nook and
she had read a little bit of what cynthia had written.

imagine if we could all have what christ had
meghan found this exciting
the only way to get what she was looking for was
through silence, everything was through silence
yet she still couldn't put her finger on what this
silence was supposed to be.

sometimes when she did centering prayer
her mind just chatted
and she just said this was god's time
and that was all she could do.

other times physically she could feel a rest going
though her limbs, it was so relaxing.

other times she fell asleep
other times it was just what it was

but always when she came out of it it was black and white
she came out of black and white into color
it was always stark and then it was three dimentional

today she had the thought of i wonder if i can bring the
black and white into the color.
it was only a thought but it was there.
what did it mean she didn't know.
and she didn't care.

today she was going to rest and listen to cynthia
do centering prayer and see where the christ man
would bring her.

the end.