Mother Teresa wrote, “We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and
restlessness.
God is the friend of silence. The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we care in our active life. We need silence
to touch souls.”
One of my daughters and I share a habit of introspection; an
analysis of persons, events and things, in relation to self, present, past and
future. The future part is really tough,
“What do you want of me Lord, right now?
What do I want from myself? And the
wrong question to ask some times comes up as well, “What do you want of others?” That question is most often
inappropriate.
That same daughter had an Epiphany, I am so happy she shared it
because it I needed to hear it! She went swimming and in the
silence of her swim, she heard and sensed God working on her whole being. In the rest of the water, she was able to
surrender to His work, in with and throughout her whole person.
I have this same experience when I go floating in the lake. The analytical habit is set aside for the more
effective surrender to God’s will. This
floating becomes time to re-order and re-member God’s infinite love for me, and
His providential care for me! Then, in awe of the sky above and the pine trees
in my peripheral vision, I REmember
my love for God, resting in that knowing. But this can be an every moment experience. Brother Lawrence writes of it in, “Practicing
the Presence” and Thomas Kelly writes
about it in his classic, Testament of Devotion.
Said daughter and I are growing up together. She is far away from home and I have been
withdrawing my presence from friends I have known for years. I quit Face book
during Lent and deleted my account on my Mother’s birthday in the spring as a way to honor her. It has changed my day to day a great
deal. I have silenced a lot of noise in
my head that did not need to be there.
But then why is it so hard to relate to old friends face to face?
Some relationships are like Face book, the good and the bad. Sentimental stroking, a rehashing of news, a bemoaning
of our inability to be “good” and a tirade of what’s wrong with the world and
even me. When the most effective human action might be to shut the mouth, still
the imagination, and the analytical mind and let God re-order and re-member our
beings into the Vine of Eternal Life. God is
in control, He is able to love in with and through us, but He can’t if we
are too busy thinking it is all up to, and about us. The Self Serving, Self Shielding Pride Form*
is the child throwing a tantrum about something the Parent is holding out for the
child’s good. The child is thinking for/in
place of, the parent and has no space to receive the gift that is offered. We need to still the wild imagination of the
child and place The Holy Trinity in that time and space of the mind, going
there regularly to be held and kissed, being reassured of my purpose; to love
God, THAT IS MY PURPOSE, not the fruit of that love! The interior snuggles with the Holy Trinity,
produce peace, gentleness, and the person I was created to be for others, the fruit of my life. When
my love relationship with God is intimate, the
other relationships; with people things and events, will be ordered to His
will. God does not want me to coerce them. Sometimes withdrawing from those
relationships where I am asking “God what do you want of them?” (None of my
business) is the best I can do.
New Dialogue with God: “Do
you love me Lord? Show me again
please. Let me know that your favorite
indoor recreation is to love me as I go about the everyday cleaning and cooking
and being available to the formation field you have gifted me with. Let Your love for myself and others distract me from my grasping coercive habits of the mind a will!”
*Muto, van Kaam term
