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The Cooling Shade
The
members of the Region of Mary of St. Peter’s
Kudat made
a visit
to Pantai Kelombong Beach
, one day , last year .
We set out after the
Sunday Holy Mass , as it was easy for all of
us to gather
together for the outing .
The
day was hot and the car journey took us almost half an
hour to
reach the Beach . We
brought along with us our picnic baskets
as
it was not likely
to find any food for sale there. When we reached the
beach , we got
down from our vehicles to stretch our legs ..and
breathe in the fresh
sea air .
What
a change from our dull daily life here at the beach
seeing the
sea water merged with
the sky in the distance !
It made us feel
nearer to God, our
creator .
We looked around us and
found the grass of the beach , which was
once been green
and lush , had withered due to weeks without rain .
As our group
walked across it, the brown and tan blades
crunched
under our feet .
We got into our
favorite groups and
started activities such as
chatting , photo
taking and walking around to look for sea-shells.
The day was hot
, Soon we reached for our water
bottles to quench our
thirst .
When
it was noon , so we looked for a
shady tree to have our lunch.
However , there
wasn’t any big one around
to give shade enough
for all of us .
Then we saw it , a
little distance from the path , a huge casurina
tree ; just what we
wanted . We walked to the shade and huddled
there as we cooled off
.
That day we enjoyed
ourselves very much ! We went
home in
the afternoon .
Just like the tree in
the middle of a parched field , God gives us
shade ; those cool
places in our day that let us catch our breath
.
The shade might be in
the form of a
picnic after a hectic
life style ; or
it might be
a funny comic strip just when you need
a good laugh . It
might be some well meant compliments when
we have worked
long and hard at a piece of work we created.
Above all we have our
Mother Mary there to console us in the hours
of our need . That is
why we say the Rosary ; a prayer to
our Mother
Mary in the month
of May and now October. In the month of October ,
we go from house
to house to
spread the joy that only Rosary can bring .
God loves us more than
you ever know. He knows you need a break.
Let Him help you to
slow down and rest in his cooling shade.
Agatha Lai 2001
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