Maybe an interesting title, maybe not. Carving out the time to see yourself. Carving out the time to know your place in the world. Carving out the time to be with your God as you understand a god. Walking in nature even if within the crowded city. Sleeping in. Taking a nap. Walking for more than an hour, really anywhere.
What do you do to carve out the time? It is vital and we always need reminders.
Happy Carving !!
Yes, gratitude again. The companion to gratitude, I believe, is positive thinking. Now I know that positive thinking has a history and has many good and bad reviews. I want to challenge the contemplative to use the sitting practice to really examine everyday thoughts. What language are you using inside your mind? What kinds of words are most often in your conversations? Words are so very powerful and need to be chosen wisely. The words that are not spoken are just as important. The unspoken words that we speak continually in our minds influence us in very subtle ways. The challenge now is to go deeper into your thoughts during the quiet and examine. Examine those thoughts for the words and patterns that might need adjusting to a more positive position. Turn on the light.
Several years ago I spent a few days at a wilderness monastery. The Brothers ran a thrift store in the town which was about a two hour drive from their community. I was sitting in the library one day as the two Brothers who were to drive into town to staff the store for the day were being briefed on their journey. It was amusing at the time to hear the rules of the road as it were. Looking back I am in a much better place to appreciate the situation.
There are many times when I leave my own house and step out into the world without considering the rules of the road. Leaving my own “monastery” can be quite jolting at times. A good example happened a few nights ago. I decided to go out in the evening for a bite to eat. As I was driving I was thinking about what I had eaten during the day and what I thought my body would need this evening. The Brothers would only eat a very light supper around four in the afternoon. The noon meal was the main meal of the day. I felt very centered and decided that I only really needed a bowl of soup. I went to a local market that has a good café. Coming from my centered and contemplative place I entered and was shocked by the energies of the masses and the loud noises and music. I came to realize that night that I also need rules for the road for leaving my house and the monastery that I have created.
As contemplative people we could most likely all benefit from a set of rules for the road. The shock of moving about our day will be lessened if we keep in mind that the world outside is quite different than the world we have created for ourselves inside and vastly different than our intimate interior worlds.
Remember: Rules for the Road
I had tea yesterday with a cherished long time friend. She introduced me to this wonderful tea shop. As we were sitting there catching up over our pot of tea I was experiencing so many different levels of our fellowship. The tea was wonderful and it reminded me of the calm that is so lacking in our everyday busyness. The tea brings you down, but in a very good way. The taste and the smoothness, the aroma. The subtlety of the small tea cups and the small portion of tea. The “just right” temperature of the water and the “just right” steeping time.
Do we long for “just right”? Can we find that place in our soul that is “just right”? I often see that place as water finding its level. Still water that is disturbed slightly will find its level relatively quickly. In contrast, the oceans after a hurricane are disturbed for a much longer time. We may have to walk through a lot of pain and discomfort to find the “just right” place, but it is there to be found. Pray for patience and perseverance.
And what not to do
How do we know? From where comes the guidance?
Is there a still place in your soul? Do you know? Where is the stillness? Think of a pool of water in an old growth forest. It is completely undisturbed until the rain falls. Drip, drip, drip. The slow falling of the rain. The water being disturbed. Not a downpour really, but just drip, dripping. Perhaps the drips are the inspiration. The inspiration falling gently into the previously undisturbed pool.
Can you be still and notice? Notice the dripping, notice the subtlety.
Be still and know……
My Labyrinth Journey 