{"id":45182,"date":"2014-03-27T11:52:49","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T16:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=45182"},"modified":"2014-03-27T11:52:49","modified_gmt":"2014-03-27T16:52:49","slug":"rose-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/rose-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"A Rose in the Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"desert<\/a><\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Photo credit: \u00a0Desert Rose<\/a><\/div>\n
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 <\/p>\n

When I first mustered the courage to introduce myself to Shawn Chapman, the Holy Spirit brought me out of a desert and began to breathe new life into me.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>There was something so refreshingly authentic about her.\u00a0I had first seen her in the adoration chapel when I took my Mother in law’s hour which overlapped with\u00a0Shawn’s (later I would come to learn that\u00a0Shawn\u00a0had been friends with my husband’s eldest sister years and years ago). I eventually found out more about her life through mutual acquaintances, and learned of the deep sorrows and joys which have made her such an inspiring soul.<\/p>\n

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I had true admiration for Shawn. The fact that she wore a sari and had a nose ring but bore no apparent Indian descent was fascinating to me. Without knowing very much about her, I loved how she dwelt in such purpose wherever I saw her. As an Extraordinary Eucharistic minister at Mass, as an adorer in the chapel, a youthful mother of teenaged girls,\u00a0a true friend of chickens. \u00a0To see her reverently lying prostrate on the ground in front of the exposed Blessed Sacrament (when no one else is in the chapel), and then another day discover her blowing bubbles in a crowd of people or “planking” in her backyard with one of her chickens on her back, one might\u00a0begin to fathom the wonderful depths of mystery that is\u00a0Shawn\u00a0Chapman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
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(For those who have read her work here on ACNM, you\u00a0know\u00a0<\/i>what I mean. \u00a0The fact that I am even attempting to put this into words is ludicrous).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0Feeling at the height of awkward weirdness, I wrote to her “would you be willing to correspond with me, like a pen pal, as a sort of spiritual director?” \u00a0Shawn\u00a0had recently suffered the loss of two very important people in her life, but she took a chance on me for some reason. “I haven’t done this formally,” she responded “but yes, I’d be glad to talk with you. You’ll be appalled, and I’ll be edified,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0She would bring me a flower each time we met, oftentimes a rose. I remember as I talked to her, I felt I was in the presence of a mystic. Her body would be beside me, but her soul was on a mountaintop, touching the very heart of God. \u00a0As a Secular member of the Carmelite order, she helped me learn how to guard my spiritual life as a mother of young children, she encouraged me to delve more deeply into my favorite forms of prayer, and to bring Jesus into the midst of my day – to my inner chapel. \u00a0She helped me see the labor-intensive, and insanely repetitive tasks of child-rearing through the lens of the corporal works of mercy.\u00a0\u00a0She helped me see that I don’t have to fit a mold. She inspired me in her generous acts of love, in taking in a family to care for them in a time of need. I said “you are amazing!” and she replied “Jesus just wouldn’t let me say ‘no.'”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0In our correspondences, with eloquence that only the Holy Spirit can inspire, she might introduce me to what St. Teresa described as “the room of self knowledge” or the “royal road” and in the same sentence, she might say brassily “now write me a letter, you punk!”\u00a0We would pray for one another, and share challenges throughout the week. \u00a0While she was already an accomplished writer (in fact she was in the middle of writing a book) I encouraged her to start blogging. \u00a0I wasn’t alone in knowing that if just one person could benefit from her spirituality as I had, that the world would be forever changed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

When I think of deep suffering, and steadfast faith…. when I think of the wisdom of the saints and sacrifice made willingly… when I see beauty and dignity in unexpected places….when I think of joy and hope persevering… when I linger in the fragrance of a rose… I see Shawn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0When I see\u00a0Shawn, I so clearly behold my Friend, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And because of all of that, I hope she won’t be too mad at me for writing this down and sharing it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
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“You do a lot for me. A lot of this is even just that you are such an exemplary Catholic I can’t figure out why you want me to do anything for you. And I have just had the feeling that this is the Holy Spirit since the beginning. So it’s helping me too. I’m honored you have felt drawn to me and it gives me hope the Christ really does continue to work in me even though I have felt so disoriented vocation wise. Your inspiration shows he still has things he wants me to do like help this special soul of his in whatever way he shows me. Sometimes it’s hard to obey Jesus but this time is easy and fun.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

grace and peace,<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Shawn”<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Photo credit: \u00a0Desert Rose   When I first mustered the courage to introduce myself to Shawn Chapman, the Holy Spirit brought me out of a desert and began to breathe new life into me. \u00a0There… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[172,983],"class_list":{"0":"post-45182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"tag-friendship","8":"tag-spiritual-direction","9":"entry","10":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":221461,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/a-message-in-the-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":45182,"position":0},"title":"A Message in the Desert","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"March 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When your heart says to God, \"you have cut off my life like a weaver severs the last thread, \" when you're alone in the desert on a cold night with no fire, and you've never known such emptiness or alienation and you say in your alarm,\u00a0\"no man can can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"desert","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_0392-2-550x587.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_0392-2-550x587.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_0392-2-550x587.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":365517,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/a-lent-of-luminous-darkness-and-wild-seeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":45182,"position":1},"title":"A Lent of Luminous Darkness and Wild Seeds","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"February 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I love Lent. I am always happy to hear that I am dust, and that to dust I shall return. When I close my eyes to pray, I can really tell I am dust. In here where I live, it's quiet and dark. Simple. Nothing to it. \u00a0Who am I?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/maxresdefault-332x187.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":49974,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/the-communion-of-saints-and-the-life-of-heaven-a-bed-time-story-in-rose\/","url_meta":{"origin":45182,"position":2},"title":"The Communion of Saints and the Life of Heaven: A Bed Time Story in Rose","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"July 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Once upon a time, a time called \"forever now,\" there were some beautiful old roses that could talk in beautiful ways through a special root system they had underground. They looked as if they were planted far apart but really under the soil their roots were intertwined and they heard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"26078_1421742028017_2905090_n","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/26078_1421742028017_2905090_n-285x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45337,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/04\/among-lilies\/","url_meta":{"origin":45182,"position":3},"title":"Miriam Among the Lilies: A Poem for Easter","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"April 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0All night ... I looked\u00a0\u00a0for the one my soul loves;\u00a0 I looked for him but did not find him.\u00a0 I will go through the streets of the city,\u00a0 I will search for him my soul loves.\u00a0 The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. I asked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Taken at Mt. 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