I have been doing some very serious, heavy soul writing for three days. Nothing that I will share at this time. What is important today, on this Wednesday of Holy Week, is that at 5:00 p.m. we will join the silence that we will keep with the monks till Easter Sunday morning. It is a serious time of inner calm and Presence. This is the reason that I came here for Holy Week and I look forward to this time.
After this post I will not post until Easter.
Keeping the Sacred Silence.
??????Are there old, maybe even very old, ancient memories that are surfacing?
What is the learning for you?
Will you shove them down and do your best not to remember? or will you welcome and dance with the difficult in search of resolution and newly birthed peace in the safety of Silence?
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Today I went to the store for a new mountain walking stick. The one I was using that is actually an infirmary cane, was reclaimed by its owner. Now I have purchased a sturdy hiking stick, intended for these mountains. I purchased one when I visited last fall. It journeyed from Loyola to Manresa and back to Montserrat with me. It made its Atlantic crossing with me in November 2018. Now it lives with me in Ohio and no overseas trips are foreseen for its future. Remember the Airlines and their weapons policy.
This new stick looks much like the one I carried home last Fall. I will leave it here at Montserrat, in Father Sergi’s office at his suggestion. When I visit, it will be an old friend to walk with in the mountains. I am sure that it will be a welcomed helper to other Monastery visitors.
???????Do you have old friends who willingly and supportively make the journey with you?
My walking sticks are some of those old friends.
Do you ever long to visit a familiar place where you have enjoyed the loving companionship of an old friend?
Do you sometimes long to visit for the purpose of simply recalling and remembering?
What is an important time in your life that you have not thought about in a very long time?
or are your feelings welling up in your heart asking to be remembered? Go there. Now!
Create time to write, journal, do some simple art, take some photos, write a poem, do something that reconnects your heart to that moment in time.
Give yourself the sacred gift of Holy Leisure.
Forbid your EGO to rush your heart!
You will not be more important or earn a special honor if you continue your running here and there, becoming more and more.
Sometimes ALL that is required, is TOTAL PRESENCE!
Come away. Sit awhile.
The Sacred holds you gently.
Don’t be a nervous seeker.
Learn to rest, to be still.
"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10,
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14
How do you handle this important task: Being Still?
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At lunch, it was wonderful to see a group of Montserrat Oblates join me for the noon meal that we eat at 1:30. This group was here last Fall when the monks helped me in preparations to journey 434 km (270 mi) Camino Ignaciano from Loyola to Manresa.
It is wonderful, to see each other, to remember, to rejoice. Although there are few words we can say with our voices, it is the HOLA of our hearts that reconnects us. One of the Women whose name is Serafina did a couple of internships years ago in psychiatric hospitals in New York.
Her 1960’s English helps all of us to communicate.
Today much of the talk is about the awful fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. There is worry about so many of the ancient churches that are monuments to the past and have not been well cared for over the centuries.
Interesting how these National treasures are used and expected to lure tourists and finances into a country that takes no responsibility for their preservation.
???????I wonder if there is a country that supports the religious/spiritual edifices and institutions that support it?
Is it possible to truly separate church and state?
Is that similar to attempting to separate soul and body?
What are you invested in keeping separate?
How does separation serve?
Does it serve to keep my conscious awareness separate from painful memories?
Is that useful, meaningful service?
Lots to think about here.
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One of the ladies that I met for the first time today after lunch, explained that she watches Internet TV streaming of the monks’ prayers - the Liturgy of the Hours which includes Laudes at 7:30 a.m. and Vespres 6:45 p.m. (18:45), the 11:00 Mass is also streamed. She was excited to tell me she recognized me from the videos. It’s my hair. I cannot hide. It is like wearing a Silver Flag. I was not aware that I was being streamed all over the world.
??????? Another lesson about how we show up and if one is ALWAYS comfortable with being SEEN no matter when, where, or what one is doing.
Huge lessons here!
Watch out!
You never know when you are on Candid Camera?
Is there anything you want or feel the need to hide? to keep out of public view? Bad hair day? Clothes you are or are not wearing?
Is there something you want everyone to know?
Is it an ego surge? Is it a humbling moment?
I am thinking about my comfort level.
Maybe I will sit in the last pew tomorrow?
What about you?
What do you want people to know about you?
What do you want to keep personal?
Are there times, when hiding is all you can think about?
I’m pondering, this new realization.
I fly thousands of miles away and am more accessible than if I lived next door.
What is your accessibility?
Is connection something you avoid - go away - hide from?
I just wonder a lot about a lot of things.
Don’t you?
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SILENCE - NO PICTURES TODAY!
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