Nov 2016 The Road to Daybreak A Spiritual Journey by Henri J M Nouwen

(Continue from) On the Balcony   After meeting with the assistants of Daybreak, we celebrated a quiet and prayerful Eucharist together. Soon after the conclusion of the Euchatist, Sue Mosteller drove me to the Toronto airport, where I caught a plane to San Francisco to visit my friend Don McNeill. Don is a Holy Cross priest and director of the Centre for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame. We have been close friends since 1966, when I went to Notre Dame as a visiting professor. Last year Don was suddenly hit by brachial plexus neuropathy, a muscular disease that has seriously affected his physical movements. Doctors expect that he will need at least two years before he will regain his full strength. Don himself has some real doubts about whether he will ever again be the agile, fast-moving man he was before the disease hit him. Presently he is spending a year at one of the Holy Cross houses in Berkeley to have the rest and space needed for his recovery. I decided to spend a few days with him, to offer him some courage and confidence in this trying time in his life and to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of our friendship. We are now sitting on the balcony of the Holy Cross house in Berkeley. It must be one of the most beautiful spots in the world. I am looking out over San Francisco Bay. In the far distance I recognize the lighthouse of Alcatraz Island, and behind it the outline of the Golden Gate Bridge. As the darkness slowly covers the bay area, the view is gradually transformed by a myriad of lights telling me of all the different people living around the water. It is very quiet on the balcony - the city is too far away to hear its sounds. The air is gentle and warm, full of scents coming from the blooming trees.

- To Be Continued - © Copyright Shalom 2016. All rights reserved.