OASIS OF PEACE!

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Medjugorje is an oasis of peace. Amid the kiosks and taxis, the gypsies and Americans-the restaurants and nightclubs...Medjugorje is a place of peace.

The miracles, the visions, the messages from God caught me off guard and drew me in. I had to go there. I had to see for myself the spiritual fireworks that fueled this mesmerizing mystery.

Somehow I had a feeling that I had been called there. That My yearning within- was heaven sent. That it was time for my life to move to the next level...one step closer to my designed destiny...to the purpose for which I had been picked, pruned and positioned.

Of course, let's face it--we might have a feeling, but we never really see the future...if we did-we'd all run away...rebelling against the ridiculous nature of what we had seen...In fact-I can almost guarantee-I would have bolted for the hills...not of Medjugorje...but Colorado or Austria or anywhere but there.

That in itself shows the unmitigated mercy of my higher power...never gives me more than I can handle...at any one time...though he often piles it on fast and furiously when I drag my heels...and close my heart.

This month is the 22 year anniversary of my professional -turned personal pilgrimage to the foothills of this faraway land. I smile when I remember the innocence of those days-and I smile at how much has happened since then---and how far I've come-- since then. I'm still smiling because despite the rumblings and stumblings and setbacks of the journey that is my life...I am still climbing his majesty's mountain with the vim and vigor of one who knows the score...but who keeps reaching for the stars.

Because that's really what Mary came to Medjugorje to tell us...to reach for the stars, to look skyward-above and beyond our private little world-to seek God in all that we do-so that what we accomplish -is just what he intended.

Pray for peace has been her mantra since the first day...peace in our hearts, in our communities and peace in the rest of the world...Like the waves of color that ripple outward from the center of the miracle of the sun, waves of peace will ripple outward from one individual to the next...transforming the world- one heart at a time.

It's so simple when I think about it...creating an oasis of peace...in Medjugorje, in our hearts, in our world...Think about it...or better yet-pray about it...A little piece of heaven right here on earth!

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