Shoveling to make more space for God

Since last July, I have spent one Saturday morning each month with the alpacas at White Violet Farm Alpacas at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Alpacas are wonderful animals, known for their curiosity and friendliness, their intelligence and grace.

White Violet Farm Alpacas at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind.

 On “Alpaca Saturday,” though, my primary interaction with the alpacas involves a shovel and rake. It is not glamorous work, but it’s good work, and I have learned a great deal in the alpaca barns and pastures.

Last summer, I worked for a week with Madeleine Little, an intern who spent the summer here before entering veterinary school and who introduced me to what she called the “Zen” of pasture work.

“It’s easy to do this work and think about something else,” she told me. “So I try to think about what I need to ‘shovel’ out of my life, and what needs to take its place.”

Former White Violet Farm
Alpacas intern, Madeleine
Little, rakes in the pasture.
She introduced Sister Lisa to
the "Zen" of pasture work.

That’s been a helpful question for me on Alpaca Saturdays and a helpful reflection for these middle-of-Lent days: Indeed, what do I need to shovel out of my life? How can I give God more space?

Granted, not everyone has the luxury of turning to an alpaca herd as a springboard for spiritual reflection. But Spring holds many opportunities for such reflection. Clearing flower beds, removing dead leaves and stalks from perennials, raking leaves, limbs and pine cones from lawns, removing winter’s grime from the patio furniture, rearranging closets and cupboards — all can be activities that free us to think about the “stuff” that clutters our hearts and minds and spirits. And all can lead us to consider how to give God more space this spring, this Lent and beyond.

What can you shovel out of your life? How can you give God more space? Please comment below.