October 23,

Good afternoon/evening/morning,

We may word things differently, but this perpetual search to know the unknowable is a familiar feeling for many contemplatives. We have an almost ravenous hunger, or some might say a palpable thirst, or a seemingly aimless dull ache that thrums through us. The ache reminds us we are in touch with the suffering of the whole world. All contemplatives, no matter their religion or spirituality, seem to have this in common, and recognizing this makes me feel less alone. 

The contemplative life is not a way of knowing. It is not the path of certitude. In fact, that’s what makes it so alive, so necessarily active. Our glimpses of “arrival” along the way are places we can catch our breath and recall we are moving in the right direction, even if it’s only because it’s exactly where we are. Those times, we remember that the way is not meant to be easy, simple, or comfortable. But these moments only last for a flash in the midst of life because, as the Rev. Dr. Walter Fluker reminds us, “Life will keep going because life itself is alive.” …  from Richard Rohr’s website

I think this describes me. And I am now okay with it ? Believe in the grace of the great Counselor.

I will never arrive at the destination of total communion with the Great One, the Everlasting One, the Holy One, here on earth.

Jesus said that the Kingdom of God has arrived, in his first sermon in his home synagogue in Nazareth. But I have rarely seen it. Am I only faithful a little bit in my life? I do not think so.

I think this means that I am human, and I am on the way to the Spirit of God. I just do not arrive today or next week.

Unfortunately . I have to wait for my death to become a new sense of the Divine. Not quite yet, though.

God, help us to bring peace to Gaza, with children, parents, grandpas, moms, single women, singers whales and trees. AMEN

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025