Stepping Outside the Frame

Quoting (as nearly as I can remember) one of our wise Dominican Brothers, “Sometimes we can’t see the picture when we’re standing inside the frame.”

I experienced that the afternoon of the 2nd full day of our annual Community Days gathering of 400+ Sisters and Associates.  As uplifting and hopeful as the days were for me, (and they were,) I found myself caught up in the machinations – the nuts and bolts - of issues about which conversations were taking place, and which were very necessary.  I looked around me, watching everyone hunched over, heads together, the buzz of conversation filling the air, and wondered, “What am I doing here? Why, again, did I leave my family, my friends, my job, my house, my car?”

At that point, I stepped outside the frame and surveyed the scene through a different lens.  And I quickly remembered.  I remembered that what I left for was Mission… to work with like-minded women and men who wanted to fulfill God’s Mission, to bring about the Kingdom of heaven among all of God’s people.  And it just so happens that we each responded to that call in the context of Dominican life, in living shared Dominican values, as followers of Dominic and our founder, Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, as servants of God.  We are family and we are so blessed!

Sometimes when I find myself in the midst of a picture, especially a noisy, colorful, abstract one, it’s helpful to venture outside the frame.  Fresh perspective often brings clarity… clarity of purpose, clarity of life, clarity of Mission.

Sr. Kathy Flynn
Sinsinawa, WI


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