Trust the "Reshaping"

Tim and I are blessed with many opportunities for prayer and reflection. Each week there is Sunday Mass in the big hall at the St. Francis Care Center. And on Thursdays and Fridays there is Mass at the Chapel at the Center. And the chapel is always open for private prayer and visits.

Yesterday Tim and I went to a day of recollection at the Cathedral in Johannesburg. The day was led by a Dominican Sister and was for caregivers of AIDS patients at various locations in the diocese. There were about 25 of us present.

The theme was Trust in God. There was a power point presentation, sharing among the large group, meeting in small groups with one or two others, meeting in groups of six, sharing the small group material with the large group, music at appropriate times throughout the day, and finally a meditative use of clay to be molded by each of us.

The theme of the day was coordinated with Sunday’s scripture readings with the theme that God will never forget us. So the theme of trust was emphasized with scripture and song and peoples’ shared experiences. The images were of  God as Abba or Father. And we as the clay to be molded. And this much was not new for me.

But the idea that struck me was that God not only shaped us, but he reshapes us. And we must trust Him in this process. Wow! What if we have gotten used to how we are after many years of life? What if we take our abilities of thought, memory, decision making, personality, physical well-being, general functioning and skills for granted? What if the reshaping  means that we have to accept many fewer gifts?

So as we age, the qualities that make up who we are will gradually change, likely they will diminish. But we need to trust God in this new, reshaped, person that we become? Scary? Is this where the “acceptance” comes in after the “denial”? And for the AIDS patients or anyone with a life threatening illness, this diminishing of abilites comes at all ages, some quite young.


Here are a couple of quotes that we were given and I am presently considering: “Your part is to trust God no matter what happens. God’s part is to take what happens and to turn it into something good.”

Another thought is “Thank God for what you have. Trust God for what you need.

I will be giving this thought:  Trust God in the Reshaping  in the weeks to come.

I hope that you have a good month of March.

Cecilia