Try Living the First Principle and Foundation 

This beautiful shrine is where I did my silent retreat a few weeks ago. I love going to this place because it offers Perpetual Adoration and we have access to this chapel at all times. The retreat is the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in a condensed form. St. Ignatius begins his Exercises by telling the retreatent about the First Principle and Foundation, which explains the reason why we were created and what we should do about it.  Learning about it is easy, living it out is hard. I got a special lesson in how hard it is when I landed in the hospital the last day of the retreat.

I thought I'd put the full text of his First Principle and Foundation in here so you knew what it said. It's a good reminder for me, too. I've been through this talk a lot of times, so sometimes I think I just gloss over it. Not a good idea when you're on retreat and really seeking to do God's will!

This is the first talk we have on retreat. I listened and took my notes and did my meditation, but nothing much stood out.

A Retreat Unlike any Other

I've been on this retreat over 10 times. While sometimes it has been harder than other times, I've never gotten sick.  

The third day of the retreat I woke up feeling nauseous. Before I left, my son had had a bought of stomach issues, so I figured I was lucky and getting the same thing. I just prayed that I wouldn't have to throw up.

That night I was up frequently running to the bathroom with issues not to be mentioned. Hey, but at least I hadn't thrown up.

The next morning I got myself out of bed and made it through the rest of the talks. As the day wore on, there was a pain in my stomach that was getting increasingly more painful. I continued to pray not to throw up.

I decided to leave about an hour or so before the retreat ended so that I wouldn't get stuck in traffic. Ha. Traffic was terrible and it took me two hours to get home. The whole time I drove as hunched over as I could because the pain was just getting worse.

Finally Home. Or was I?

I finally made it home and collapsed on the couch. Or at least tried to until a bird flew into the house through the garage, causing me to leap up in pain and head to the door. 

Okay, once settled, my husband came home and voiced concern over my level of pain. He suggested we go to the ER in case it was my appendix. Glad he was thinking more clearly than I was.

After about three hours, I was diagnosed with a bowel obstruction. What?? My first response was, "I don't have time for this!" My husband knew I was going to say that. LOL!

PSA - If you've ever had abdominal surgery, you, too, are at risk for a bowel obstruction! Yes, scar tissue from your surgery, at any point in the future, can snag your intestine and cause it to twist, forming an obstruction.

The good news is, most of the time it resolves on its own. I'm still not sure how that works. What I do know is that it is very painful and it makes you feel very nauseous - seriously wishing you could throw up even though you've prayed for 24 hours not to! Pain meds and anti-nausea meds get you through it, as does no food or drink until it seems to be resolving.

The Key Thing I Was Missing

Fortunately, I avoided surgery (done if starving you doesn't work)and it resolved on its own in a few days. In the meantime, I had a lot of time to think.

It hit me pretty early on that my first reaction was that this stint in the hospital was a huge inconvenience and I simply did not have time in my schedule for it. Didn't God know that the following week was full of appointments and running around? There was just no way I could be stuck there past Sunday, or at the very latest, Monday.

Then I remembered that line from the Principle and Foundation. "Accordingly, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty..." Blech. Had I remembered nothing from my retreat? God's Will be done, not mine. Not my schedule's will be done, either. I was created to praise, reverence and serve God, even from a hospital bed.

Isn't it funny how fast we can forget these things? I had just spent 3 wonderful days in God's presence, yet I immediately felt inconvenienced and miffed that I was now parking my butt in the hospital.

The Good Lord is Merciful!

Thankfully God is merciful and I was able to come home Sunday afternoon. I know He doesn't expect perfection (ALLELUIA TO THAT!!) but wants us to just keep trying to be holy. There are always plenty of opportunities to practice this, isn't there? 

Well, yes. Not two days later, I was given another chance to temper my knee-jerk reaction to complain when the temps hit 90+ and our air conditioning went out. The repairman couldn't make it out till Friday, so we had a few days to praise God in the heat!

I'm sure St. Ignatius would agree. We should not prefer heat to cold, or hospital to home, just praise God wherever we are and thank Him for his mercy!

It took me all last week to catch up and get my bearings, but I'm back and anxious to get back to blogging and creating!