Washing Dishes
April 14, 2008
Christ learned about his mission while he
was cutting wood and making chairs, beds, and
cabinets. He came as a carpenter to show us
that - no matter what we do - everything can
lead us to the experience of God's love.
Paulo Coelho
If only life were more like this, you will
think, as you and the dogs traipse up to bed,
and then you realize with a start that this
is life. Abigail Thomas
One does not find oneself by pursuing
one's self, but on the contrary by pursuing
something else and learning through
discipline or routine-even the routine of
making beds-who one is and wants to be.
May Sarton
My friend Tim Hansel wrote a book on
parenting. He asked his young sons, "Boys,
how do you know Dad loves you?"
He figured that they would say, "Daaaad, remember when you took us to Disneyworld, like for 10 days!" They didn't say that, so he knew he wasted all that money.
He figured they'd say, "Daaaad, remember Christmas and you bought us all that great stuff!"
They didn't say that. They said, "Dad, we know you love us, when you wrestle with us."
He remembered two times. He had come home, hungry, tired, late, and he didn't care. But these urchins were yanking on his pant leg. "So I rolled with them on the floor. Toward the kitchen." He said, "just to get them out of my way."
And then it hit him. In the middle of that very ordinary, boring, mundane, commonplace event, real life was happening. Unfeigned joy, love, intimacy, connection, grace, sacrament. . .all woven into the commonplace. "But," Tim laments, "I missed it. Because I was only tuned into Disneyworld and Christmas."
There is nothing wrong with Disneyworld or Christmas. But they have meaning, only because of the sacred in the ordinary. Because of the wrestling times.
In the Bible, God is real in small gifts and simple pleasures. God is present in the commonplace, the weak, the flawed, the compromised. The profane is not the antithesis of the sacred, but the bearer of it.
We are so bent on removing ourselves from the mundane, that we miss miracles. Not surprisingly, once we see it, we do our best to turn it into a project: five steps to creating wrestling times. We do not rest in the solace that God is present, having nothing to do with our faith, or our effort to invest the moment with meaning.
In other words, there is freedom in this gift of wrestling times.
I don't need to craft the moment, I can live it.
I don't need to read-into the moment, I can receive it.
I don't need to find closure with the moment, I can let it be.
A monk once came to Joshu (Chinese Zen Master) at breakfast time and said, "I have just entered this monastery to learn about God. Please teach me."
"Have you eaten you porridge yet," asked Joshu.
"Yes, I have," replied the monk.
"Then you had better wash your bowl," said Joshu.
"Everything has already been given.
What we need is to live into it."
Thomas Merton
He figured that they would say, "Daaaad, remember when you took us to Disneyworld, like for 10 days!" They didn't say that, so he knew he wasted all that money.
He figured they'd say, "Daaaad, remember Christmas and you bought us all that great stuff!"
They didn't say that. They said, "Dad, we know you love us, when you wrestle with us."
He remembered two times. He had come home, hungry, tired, late, and he didn't care. But these urchins were yanking on his pant leg. "So I rolled with them on the floor. Toward the kitchen." He said, "just to get them out of my way."
And then it hit him. In the middle of that very ordinary, boring, mundane, commonplace event, real life was happening. Unfeigned joy, love, intimacy, connection, grace, sacrament. . .all woven into the commonplace. "But," Tim laments, "I missed it. Because I was only tuned into Disneyworld and Christmas."
There is nothing wrong with Disneyworld or Christmas. But they have meaning, only because of the sacred in the ordinary. Because of the wrestling times.
In the Bible, God is real in small gifts and simple pleasures. God is present in the commonplace, the weak, the flawed, the compromised. The profane is not the antithesis of the sacred, but the bearer of it.
We are so bent on removing ourselves from the mundane, that we miss miracles. Not surprisingly, once we see it, we do our best to turn it into a project: five steps to creating wrestling times. We do not rest in the solace that God is present, having nothing to do with our faith, or our effort to invest the moment with meaning.
In other words, there is freedom in this gift of wrestling times.
I don't need to craft the moment, I can live it.
I don't need to read-into the moment, I can receive it.
I don't need to find closure with the moment, I can let it be.
A monk once came to Joshu (Chinese Zen Master) at breakfast time and said, "I have just entered this monastery to learn about God. Please teach me."
"Have you eaten you porridge yet," asked Joshu.
"Yes, I have," replied the monk.
"Then you had better wash your bowl," said Joshu.
"Everything has already been given.
What we need is to live into it."
Thomas Merton
Poems / Prayers
Breathing Lessons
Let it in, let it all in
Let it all in to your heart
All that is, all that is gift
You don't have to take it apart
Everything we do is like breathing
We've been holding our breath for too long
Could you trust your life to the seasons and let the wind take you along
Let it out let it all out
Let it all out of your mind
Let it go, we don't have to know
The answers to all that you find
There's an emptiness that comes from having too much
Too much without any soul
Let out the lifeless the stale and the stuck
And let in what makes you more whole
Let in what makes you more whole
Charles Gaby
Lord,
How silently,
How silently
The wondrous gift is given.
I would be silent now,
Lord,
And expectant. . .
That I may receive
The gift I need,
So I may become the gifts others need.
Amen.
(Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace)
Let out the lifeless the stale and the stuck
And let in what makes you more whole
Let in what makes you more whole
Charles Gaby
Lord,
How silently,
How silently
The wondrous gift is given.
I would be silent now,
Lord,
And expectant. . .
That I may receive
The gift I need,
So I may become the gifts others need.
Amen.
(Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace)
Peace,
Terry Hershey
