April 20, 2022 Anyone who knows me knows my mouth sometimes gets ahead of my brain. It was one of those moments. A couple colleagues and I were talking about what we were doing after work on Monday. “I’m going to chill with Jesus and chill with a friend after.” A good friend and I have a tradition of signing up for an hour of Adoration on Mondays during Lent. We’ve done it for years now. In fact, we used to do Monday and Friday, but I bailed on the Fridays as part of my efforts to reduce commitments that take me away from my husband and son. After Adoration, this friend and I planned to go for a walk together. “I’m going to chill with Jesus and chill with a friend after.” After I said that sentence, I batted it around in my head for a while. “That didn’t seem very reverent,” I thought. But sitting with what I had said, it was actually pretty accurate. To me, “chilling” with my friends means spending time together with nothing to accomplish except enjoying one another’s company. When I join my friends for a theater show or sporting event, to tackle a craft project or plan an event, that’s not “chilling.” “Chilling” is sitting in the living room chatting. “Chilling” is talking over an appetizer buffet a local eatery. “Chilling” is going walking and talking with no destination. It’s just an opportunity to connect with one another and deepen our relationship. While I have certain prayers I like to say while I’m sitting with our Lord in Adoration, and I’ll sometimes journal or pray about a specific intention, I tend to spend the bulk of my time with Jesus just listening to what he has to say to me and enjoying being in his presence. It’s an opportunity for me to connect with our Lord and deepen my relationship with him. It sounds an awful lot like “chilling” to me. I guess my mouth gets it right once in a while when it gets ahead of my brain. |
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