“When you get into a tight place, and everything goes against you till it seems as if you couldn’t hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that’s just the place and time that the tide’ll turn.”—Harriet Beecher Stowe
“The desert monks tried to practice what the Buddhists call ‘beginner’s mind.’. . . Remembering this, we are less likely to get caught up in our own hubris about the spiritual life. The desert monks invite us again and again to commit to our spiritual practice and path.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated and Explained
When was the last time you gave yourself permission to ‘begin again’ without self-recrimination?
Gentle whistles of a bluebird and, in the mist, a SAC plane swoops huge and low over the ridges where Edelin’s valley is and where the final hermitages are to be. I wonder if it carries bombs. Most probably. They all do, I am told. The technological society! I will go out and split some logs and gather a basket of pinecones. (October 30, 1964 – Thomas Merton’s Journals: Dancing in the Waters of Life)
My first summer as a Chaplain Candidate, Second Lieutenant in the USAF (1985) I was assigned to a Strategic Air Command base (Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, TX) as a part of my introduction to the Air Force Chaplain Corps while I was in seminary. I can tell Fr. Louis (Thomas Merton’s name which he took as he professed his final vows as a Monk and then as a priest at The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani) that they most likely carried nuclear warheads on most missions and may have carried them on that mission. The insanity of the Cold War still sends chills down my spine and deep into my soul.
Fr. Louis, i am with you… find something down to earth such as splitting wood and gathering pinecones as you contemplate the fragility of life on this planet and humankind’s inhumanly towards humankind… pray for us, Fr. Louis as we continue to make so many missteps on this road called life. Dona Nobis Pacem, Grant Us Peace…
Verse of the day
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
– Amos 5:24
Voice of the day
You are moving in the direction of freedom and the function of freedom is to free somebody else.
– Toni Morrison, Barnard College commencement speech (1979)
Prayer of the day Reveal to us the threads that weave all of humanity together in pursuit of true justice.
“How are we to train individuals or communities in this difficult art of nonviolence? There is no royal road, except through living the creed in your life which must be a living sermon.”—Mohandas K. Gandhi
To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone and everything is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation in violence. The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his work for peace. It destroys his own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful. — Thomas Merton in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander
I would say that Merton is speaking to more than the activists. It has always been tempting as a pastor and retired military chaplain to overcommit and to stretch myself too thin. This isn’t necessarily the purview of those who are religious leaders. It is the purview of every one of us. In our efforts to prove that we are valuable and indispensable, we run the risk of damaging our heart and our soul.
Lord, help me to take sacred pauses throughout the day. May I take moments to simply be still in your presence. This is my own prayer and my prayer for you, dear reader.
Verse of the day
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
– Matthew 5:6
Voice of the day
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
– Elie Wiesel
Prayer of the day Increase this hunger and thirst for justice within me.
“Building Beloved Community isn’t just about loving the people who are easy to love. Friends, family, community, those with similar value systems, similar cultural or political perspectives. No love is ALWAYS easy, but if we’re not struggling to hold love for those that are different than us, those that we don’t hang out with, don’t work with, don’t see eye-to-eye with, then we’re not doing the work of building Beloved Community.”—Kazu Haga
“There is a yearning in the heart for peace. Because of the wounds and rejections we have received in past relationships, we are frightened by the risks. In our fear, we discount the dream of authentic community as merely visionary. But there are rules by which people can come back together, by which the old wounds can be healed. The purpose of Community Building is to teach these rules—to make hope real again—and to make the vision actually manifest in a world which has almost forgotten the glory of what it means to be human.”—M. Scott Peck, MD
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
What an amazing day with family
To celebrate the union of two beloved individuals
So much love and laughter
Such deep connections
So many blessings
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
