Idleness
December 07, 2007
He loses much who has no aptitude for
idleness
Louise Beebe Wilder
And
Mary
kept all these things and pondered them in her
heart. Gospel of Luke
In the movie Smoke, smoke shop owner
Auggie considers himself an amateur photographer.
In one scene, Auggie is showing regular customer
Paul - a young writer suffering writer's block - his prize
photo album. Auggie is proud of his photos, a series
of pictures of the same street corner, each taken at the
same time (8 a.m.) from the same angle, every
morning. As Paul flips through the photo album, he
says finally, with an edge, "But I don't get it, they're all
the same."
And Auggie replies, "You'll never get it, if you don't slow down."
My son Zach loves the Far Side, so he tries his hand at his own comic creations. He said to the other day, "Dad, if you want to be a good cartoonist, you have to daydream a lot."
I know that Advent Season is for shopping and presents and family gatherings and good tidings and Nativity-sets-on-the-lawn and Handel's Messiah and Christmas letters touting better- than-average children and the permission to ignore our diets.
It is also a time . . . for pondering. And you can't ponder unless you sit still. Here's what I know for sure: When I'm in a car, at a certain speed the landscape blurs, and everything looks eerily similar. When I slow down, I can distinguish. I see line, shadow, nuance, peculiarity, the exquisite, the weird and wonderful. It is no different with my inner life.
During this Advent season, have you given yourself time to ponder?
The hours are appointed and named: they are the Lord's. Life's fretfulness is transcended. The different and the novel are sweet, but regularity and repetition are also teachers . . . Divine attentiveness cannot be kept casually, or visited only in season, like Venice or Switzerland . . . the patterns of our life reveal us. Our habits measure us. Mary Oliver
And Auggie replies, "You'll never get it, if you don't slow down."
My son Zach loves the Far Side, so he tries his hand at his own comic creations. He said to the other day, "Dad, if you want to be a good cartoonist, you have to daydream a lot."
I know that Advent Season is for shopping and presents and family gatherings and good tidings and Nativity-sets-on-the-lawn and Handel's Messiah and Christmas letters touting better- than-average children and the permission to ignore our diets.
It is also a time . . . for pondering. And you can't ponder unless you sit still. Here's what I know for sure: When I'm in a car, at a certain speed the landscape blurs, and everything looks eerily similar. When I slow down, I can distinguish. I see line, shadow, nuance, peculiarity, the exquisite, the weird and wonderful. It is no different with my inner life.
During this Advent season, have you given yourself time to ponder?
The hours are appointed and named: they are the Lord's. Life's fretfulness is transcended. The different and the novel are sweet, but regularity and repetition are also teachers . . . Divine attentiveness cannot be kept casually, or visited only in season, like Venice or Switzerland . . . the patterns of our life reveal us. Our habits measure us. Mary Oliver
Poems / Prayers
Poem
Silent Night
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Words by Joseph Mohr / Melody by Franz X. Gruber
Prayer
God help us live slowly
To move simply
To look softly
To allow emptiness
To let the heart create for us.
Amen.
Silent Night
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Words by Joseph Mohr / Melody by Franz X. Gruber
Prayer
God help us live slowly
To move simply
To look softly
To allow emptiness
To let the heart create for us.
Amen.
Peace,
Terry Hershey
