The Adoration Chapel Was Dark

Yeh!  It rained at my house!

These are the railroad ties which were by my curb, holding in the mulch which used to be around the flowers planted there.

 These are the kids swimming in the street.

And this is the last car which made it down the street (the little mini stalled out)

And this is the yard where I won’t have to water, for a long while

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And as I drove up at 1AM, the adoration chapel was dark.

The waters had dropped on my neighborhood streets, but obviously impacts remained elsewhere.  I saw a couple of cars in the parking lot, and then the few candles in the chapel.  Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was continuing; God waited for me in the darkness.

I was alone with God for my hour.  I took the candle which had stood at the sign-in book and held it as I prayed the rosary, reading and meditating on the Joyful Mystery meditations I had written.  In the darkness, it was one of the most enlightening adoration hours I had ever spent.

In the quiet, which seemed even quieter in the darkness, the presence of God felt so much more real, and the mysteries I meditated upon seemed almost like a movie playing in a darkened theater.  It all made so much sense; it all was so beautiful, and I was part of it all.  I had numerous great insights, as I reflected on the Joyful events.  Like, did you ever think about the Birth of Jesus, and what Mary was thinking and doing?  I felt that she, like many faithful --- and scared --- first-time mothers, must have been crying out, in pain and in prayer:  “Oh Lord!  Be with me!!!”

And then for her, like no one else ever, He was.

How neat was that!?

I laughed aloud at that insight, even as I thought on Mary’s pains --- and I knew she would understand.  I thought a lot about good things, and painful things this night, as God and I discussed things, as I prayed aloud to Him my thoughts.  And I knew He was there with me, even as He was presented in the Temple that first time to His Father, and then later as a youth, when He went to be about His Father’s business.

It really was a surprise to me when I saw the lights light up the chapel altar and chairs, as a car slowly toured the parking lot, its lights pointing toward me.  My hour was over, and a couple were entering the parking lot wondering, as I had:  “Is anyone there?”

I had barely begun that last Joyful Mystery when they softly tapped on the chapel door to be let in.

I stayed and finished that rosary, that time alone with God, in the darkness.  I felt wide awake, refreshed.

For that night, I had seen a great light.