The discipline of community makes us persons; that is, people who are sounding through to each other (the Latin personare means “sounding through”) a truth, a beauty, and a love that is greater, fuller, and richer than we ourselves can grasp. In true community we are windows constantly offering each other new views on the mystery of God’s presence in our lives. Thus the discipline of community is a true discipline of prayer. It makes us alert to the presence of the Spirit who cries out “Abba,” Father, among us and thus prays from the center of our common life. Community thus is obedience practiced together. The question is not simply “Where does God lead me as an individual person who tried to do his will?” More basic and more significant is the question “Where does God lead us as a people?”
Today I was reading a reflection written by Christine Valters Paintner, the online Abbess of the virtual monastery and global community Abbey of the Arts. In her reflection on hospitality she shared a quote from one of my spiritual mentors, Rev, Dr Howard Thurman. The quote that she shared invited me to return to Thurman’s book, Meditations of the Heart in order to simply reflect on this particular meditation.
“Drop Thy still dews of quietness Till all our strivings cease.”
‘Still dews of quietness’ is a happy phrase which suggests a mood, an atmosphere, rather than an idea or a concept. It is a feeling tone of peace, tranquility, that settles down over one’s spirit. It is the thing that can happen only when one somehow manages to stay put for a spell. How wonderful to sit alone, with one’s own life parts gathered together, and sense the whole of one’s interior landscape being invaded by a blanket of calm ~ by the still dews of quietness. This I must cultivate more and more and with ever greater frequency.
‘Till all our strivings cease.’ How deep and often bitter are the strivings within me! The conflicts of indecision, the conflicts of loyalty, the struggle between good and evil courses of conduct, all this and much more makes of my spirit a battle ground, a citadel of tempests raging. All of this is a part of me; all of this must be stilled – must be settled. Oh, how my soul cries out for moments when the battle does not rage, when I hear the whisper of the still small voice giving me reassurance and renewal. After which I can go forward without fear but with confidence that the way I take is The Way for me.
“Drop Thy still dews of quietness Till all our strivings cease.” — Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart, pp. 172-173)
My prayer for you, dear reader, is that you too can hear the whisper of the still small voice giving [you] reassurance and renewal.
Verse of the day
But let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
– Amos 5:24
Voice of the day
But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it.
– Penelope’s mother (the Naiad) in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad (2005)
Prayer of the day
Remind us that nothing can stand against your justice and righteousness, Holy God
The people who know God well — mystics, hermits, prayerful people, those who risk everything to find God — always meet a lover, not a dictator. — Richard Rohr (Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer, p. 131)
Verse of the day
And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city.”
– Joshua 6:16
Voice of the day
Our masters have not heard the people’s voice for generations … and it is much, much louder than they care to remember.
– Alan Moore, “V for Vendetta” (1982)
Prayer of the day
With the power of our voices, we can bring justice and revolution. Be with us when we shout.
I seek the enlargement of my heart that there may be room for Peace. Already there is room enough for chaos. — Howard Thurman (Meditations of the Heart, p. 143)
When I bring myself into the presence of God, I imagine him in many ways: as a loving father, a supporting sister, a caring mother, a severe teacher, an honest judge, a fellow traveler, an intimate friend, a gentle healer, a challenging leader, a demanding taskmaster. All these “personalities” create images in my mind that affect not only what I think, but also what I actually experience myself. I believe that true prayer makes us into what we imagine. To pray to God leads to becoming like God. . . .
The more we come to depend on the images offered to us by those who try to distract us, entertain us, use us for their purposes, and make us conform to the demands of a consumer society, the easier it is for us to lose our identity. These imposed images actually make us into the world that they represent, a world of hatred, violence, lust, greed, manipulations, and oppression. But when we believe that we are created in the image of God himself and come to realize that Christ came to let us reimagine this, then meditation and prayer can lead us to our true identity.
Verse of the day
“Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now rise up,” says the Lord; “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
– Psalm 12:5
Voice of the day
They got money for wars, but can’t feed the poor.
– Tupac Shakur, ‘Keep Ya Head Up’ (1993)
Prayer of the day
Lord, we pray that our leaders hear the cries of the poor and marginalized. May we rise up to bring safety to those our leaders endanger.
It’s been almost four years since Denise and I left our beautiful mountain community of Estes Park, Colorado. There was something magical about the Rocky Mountain National Park which was literally in our backyard. There was something mystical and breathtaking about getting to know our neighbors like the fellow above who spent a lot of time in our condo complex. He recognized us by sight and by our scent… we recognized him by his unique set of antlers. Mature bulls are easily distinguished by the number and placement of the “points” on their rack. Such awe and wonder were almost a daily occurrence for us and included an official excuse to be late for a meeting. An elk jam as the herd crosses the church parking lot and street as they made their way from the golf course to Fish Creek was my excuse, along with half of our session (church governing body), for being late to my first session meeting!
After we left Presbyterian Community Church of the Rockies in August of 2020, I served two more Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations in a specialized capacity as both a Designated Minister and Interim Minister. Now we are settling into our new home here in Alabama as we try our hand at retirement.
Even though we live in the midst of the city of Mobile (in the Midtown neighborhood) we are finding wonder, magic, and beauty as we walk quiet streets of our neighborhood where Southern live oaks and magnolia trees are all around us. While some might believe that it is more difficult to find the same sort of quiet and silence here that we had in Estes Park, we have found spaces of silence and quiet in Mobile that brings a similar sense of awe and wonder.
During some study and reflection this morning, I re-discovered this March, 1952 journal entry written by Thomas Merton:
When your tongue is silent, you can rest in the silence of the forest. When your imagination is silent, the forest speaks to you, tells you of its unreality and of the Reality of God. But when your mind is silent, then the forest becomes magnificently real and blazes transparently with the Reality of God. — Thomas Merton (Journal entry, March 17, 1952) A Year with Thomas Merton: Daily Meditations from His Journals
As Denise and I begin this next chapter in our journey and as we gradually unpack and make our new house our home, I am finding more time for reading, reflection, and silence. And we will continue to explore our new home and neighborhood, looking forward to experiencing what Merton calls “the Reality of God” here in this place.
The inspiration for this reflection came from day one of the self-study retreat, Monk in the World, offered by the “Abbey of the Arts” and led by our online Abbess Christine Valters Paintner. For more information about the Abbey and other course offerings, I invite you to click on this link and begin to explore what it means to be a monk in the world.
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