A woman was the mother of ten children, the wildest bunch of kids you could imagine.The father traveled a lot in his work, so she was for all practical purposes, raising this wild bunch alone. The poor woman’s life was unbearable.

A nun from the local parish heard of her plight and visited her. Seeing their small house and the behavior of the children, the nun’s heart went out to the poor woman. She tried to provide her what little help and support she could. She offered the woman a playpen that someone had donated to the church. The distracted woman, who had never heard of a playpen, nevertheless welcomed the gift.

Sometime later, sister met the woman at church. With tears in her eyes, the mother thanked her for the gift. “That playpen has saved my life!” she said to sister. “It’s marvelous. Every afternoon at three o’clock, I jump into the playpen with a book and the children can’t get to me.”

Like the poor harassed mother, we all need that “out of the way” place to re-focus our lives. Like Jesus’ rising at dawn and going to a deserted place, we must create our own “out of the way” place in our own schedules: an early morning hour before the rest of the household wakes up, a brief visit to a church during lunch break, the last few minutes each evening before retiring. It can be a time for quiet prayer, for reading the Scriptures, for reflecting on the words and insights of some of the great spiritual writers.

Finding that “out of the way” place or creating within our day that “sacred time” to be alone with God can be the source of insight and grace that will illuminate every place and moment of our life.