Silence, Mountains, Strolling

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Below, from Fr. Richard Rohr’s meditation for today (my italics)…

“The ego uses words to get what it wants. When we are in an argument with our family, friends, or colleagues, that is what we do. We pull out the words that give us power, make us look right or superior, and help us win the argument. But words at that level are rather useless and even dishonest and destructive. The soul does not use words. It surrounds words with space, and that is what I mean by silence. Silence is a kind of wholeness. It can absorb contraries, paradoxes, and contradictions. Maybe that is why we do not like silence. There is nothing to argue about in true inner silence, and the mind likes to argue. It gives us something to do. The ego loves something it can take sides on. Yet true interior silence does not allow you to take sides. That is one reason contemplation is so liberating and calming. There are no sides to take and only a wholeness to rest in—which frees us to act on behalf of love.”

— from Richard Rohr, Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation (Franciscan Media: 2014), 4-7.

My poem for today (first draft), 8:30 a.m:

ON THE DAY OF YOUR APPOINTMENT
(title taken from a letter from a physician’s office)

On the day of your appointment,
which is every day,
prepare yourself to send out light,
and be sure to let little waves
roll through all the mighty minutes.
Stand like mountains stand*,
and ask the breezes and shadows
special questions.
Be quiet and careful
because the universe
is quiet and careful.
And please be on time for each appointment,
which is all the time.

* Below … “stand like mountains stand” …