Sunburned and Exhausted

I am sunburned and exhausted. I worked out in the lawn today on a project where I procrastinated for over two months. I dislike raking. It is an action that has unnatural strokes to it and pulling seems to be more difficult than pushing. Today, however, I decided to tackle this task. I raked a piece of property where I previously cut down old apple trees and unwanted shrubs. I cleared the area a while ago and mowed the weeds every two weeks. This project meant that I was to rake the many twigs and branches that littered the ground. I also moved rocks and pulled up roots of invasive weeds. Also, large piles of wood chips were once dumped on the property so it meant that I would have to use a pitchfork to move the decaying pile.

The result is beautiful.

Also, I am sunburned on my neck and arms because the UV rays penetrated the haze. Ouch! I know better than that but it was too hot to put on my over-shirt. I was foolish.

I gave a retreatant a tour of the grounds when I found him weeding a flower bed bare-handed. Though he was helpful, he was not wearing gloves in an area where there is a small amount of poison ivy. I'll check on him tomorrow.

I had an encounter with a resident of North Gloucester who parked on our property. He comes to the Retreat House because he wants to bring his boys on the rocks. Fair enough. I let him know that he was parking on private property that is my private residence and he was not welcome to do that. He protested and said he was a Christian. I told him I am as well, but that he was still trespassing on private property and the property is reserved for retreatants. He told me that because he was a Christian he had a right to come onto our property and enjoy it. I asked him to challenge his assumptions. He kept wanting me to solve his problems about where he should park so he could come to the ocean. I reminded him that he lives in North Gloucester and to realize the ocean is all around him. He can go anywhere he likes.

It is a dilemma to offer hospitality to people while they are on retreat. Hospitality is a key Christian virtue, and it is a challenge to set up healthy boundaries. Most laws and rules are created to protect people from the boundary transgressions of other people. What a dilemma - balancing hospitality in your own house while communicating healthy boundaries to others.

Time for bed now that it is midnight.