Mission Mission

AS I have been to San Antonio several times in the past, my mission for this trip was to visit the missions. I learned on the internet that there was a string of five missions running from south to north that culminated at the Alamo. I was determined to see the four missions I had not seen previously. I achieved my mission on the first day of the conference. There was a morning session whose speaker I had heard before and whose topic was not news - the perfect session to skip - followed by a lunch break. That gave me time to head south. I decided to hit the farthest mission first -a good move because the missions are in various states of disrepair - the farthest being the oldest and the least preserved or restored and the closest - the Alamo - being the best preserved. Each mission to the north became better preserved and more complete. I visited the four missions and got back to my conference just tastefully late for my afternoon session. My first mission ever was San Diego and ever since then, I've been smitten. So each time I go to the southwest, I look to head out to a mission. When I visited Los Angeles, I got to see San Juan Capistrano the day BEFORE the swallows returned. But there were beautiful flowers. There are always beautiful flowers - probably another reason I enjoy visiting the missions. They are always good places to pray. You know people have prayed at these places for hundreds of years. You can't help feel that they are indeed sacred spaces. Though you have to wonder why people would call a sacred space San Francisco de la Espada - Saint Francis of the Sword??? I know Saint Francis was a soldier before he became a famous monk and hermit. Who knows what those Spaniards were thinking in 1731? My thoughts were prayerful and awe inspired.