A dear friend of my wife and mine is Sister Jane Marie (a Franciscan Sister we came to know and love through her Franciscan Health ministry).

Sister received a national award from the National Catholic Bioethics Center last Saturday for her leadership in Catholic Ethics. The award was given at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington DC, and I was humbled to have been given the privilege of being invited to that award ceremony.

Sister deserved the recognition for her unwavering leadership in healthcare and support of Catholic Church teaching, especially in the area of Medical Ethics. I have learned a lot about Jesus and spirituality from Sister and she was one of the people that helped nurture my calling to the diaconate.

As I was flying to Washington DC on Saturday, our plane ran into some turbulence from the remnants of Hurricane Nicole, which is still having a minor impact on the east coast.

I do not like air turbulence, I feel very vulnerable when I encounter it. I pray pretty hard for it to be over when encountering it on a plane.

As I thought about it though, it is the turbulence that we experience in life that reminds us of our need for and dependence on God. In understanding such experiences from this perspective, turbulence can be a blessing.

We know our journey in life is full of some bumps and bruises. Isn’t it in those experiences we are reminded that our current lives are not in themselves our ultimate reality or destination? Our life journeys are the steppingstones to meeting our loving Lord in heaven. I find that thought comforting. I also find comforting the knowledge that Jesus is always there when we encounter turbulence (whether on a plane or through the twists and turns of daily existence), awaiting our request to invite Him in to help us. We are so blessed indeed!

Thank you, dear Jesus, for being so good to us.

The noun, rumination, means a deep considered thought about something.

-By Deacon Tom Gryzbek