A Week of Musing...

Musing...one of my favorite words. It means to ponder, to think, to meditate...something I have had quite a bit of time to do this past week.
During the season of Lent, I imagine alot of us Catholics spend extra minutes of our time (at least I would hope so) thinking about where we are in our spiritual journey toward the Eternal Good. Thinking about where we are going in the future should be the next logical step; to revert backward would make no sense!
Our Blessed Lady was one to ponder quite a bit during Her own life...and She certainly had much to qualify as fodder for Her thoughts. She must have had something new nearly every day, being the Mother of the Son of God, and what a wondrous life They must have had together!
At every turn of His life, Our Lord must have given His Mother something new to ponder, to muse upon...and the Gospel tells us that She would "keep all these things in Her heart."
I guess we will only know when we reach Heaven everything She must have pondered...but one thing I muse for myself: Do we stop here? Is that all there is? Does He or does He not, give each and every one of us things to ponder, to muse, in our own daily lives?
And here, might I also bring in another meaning to the word "muse" ~ meaning to inspire, to provide ideas for one to follow or to use in a creative manner.
As a freelance Artist, I also have a Muse that I follow, as far as my own work is concerned...to follow my inspirations, and to use them to create my pieces ~ both drawings and other work.
So to me, musing and following a Muse are closely related...there is an end to the means, and to travel along that means is to muse, to follow...and to keep close to one's own heart.
To muse upon what I learn when I read about God and my Faith is a favorite way to hold what He teaches me in the safest place possible ~ my heart. And the fact that Our Lady Herself is fond of keeping things this way only makes me want to do it even more. Also, being older now, I have more time to think about where I've been spiritually, read more and devote more of myself to Faith-related activities, such as extra visits to the Blessed Sacrament, say extra Rosaries, attend an extra Holy Mass when ever possible, etc.
I am going to be laid up with this broken leg for at least two-four months, so I guess I'll have alot of time to do all this musing, and to tell the truth, I really need it.
In God's Providence, I know that things happen to us as He wills them to happen...and the fact that I am laid up again (last September, I had a badly sprained R knee, and spent a couple of months immobile then also) so this sitting and thinking is becoming a way of life for me.
A few months ago in this Blog, I wrote about my Patron, Ven. Matt Talbot. I wondered why he had chosen me and after some thought (some musing) I was able to come to the conclusion that there were some very specific reasons. Another entry, I talked about becoming a member of the Opus Angelorum. As one of the conditions, one must learn to put oneself into the Presence of God, with the accompaniment and help of one's own Angel. This takes an ability of musing, of pondering His will for one's own life...and to be able to come to some conclusions about where in the spiritual life one is at the present time, and also like I said, where one is headed.
To hear God's voice telling us what to do at every moment, to be able to listen to the Angels, to follow the inspiration of a Patron Saint...all of this requires an ability to spend time in quiet rumination ~ or "musing" ~ and to be able to put the results of that thought into practice.
I live in a very busy household ~ my husband Michael is home all day with me, as he is retired. We have our eight children, all grown now, but seven are still living here with us...each with his or her very busy, active schedule. So, the opportunity for peace and quiet, God knows, is sometimes at a premium...but all I have to do is wait for the lull in the storm, or return for some quiet time in our bedroom. And there could be an hour or two in the middle of the day to pray ~ everyone is in school or at work ~ and Mike and I are the only two at home.
So, I must say that I am grateful to Almighty God for this chance to pray, to learn, to "muse" is to put it mildly.
At this present time, I have only been home for five days...a long shot from the projected two months of keeping my leg propped up. There will be time for my drawing, for my reading, for anything else I want to do. But to have this happen to me at the beginning of Lent, the holiest time of the year, the time when we are supposed to be taking stock of our progress anyways, this is a true blessing!
I will probably be posting again about what I've learned about myself as I sit here; I don't intend to waste this time in front of the TV watching mindless reruns or judge shows...this must have been allowed to happen because I needed to do some real "musing"...and I sincerely want to use all the time I can to figure out where my soul is now, and where it is headed for the rest of my life.
I'll let you know where I am when I get it figured out.