Listeningpoint

Hold pattern.

I'm going to put the Listening Post blog on hold for a little longer. Frankly, over the summer a lot of my thoughts about contemplative life changed. I haven't sorted it all out yet but it did have me deleting many of the contemplative blogs and links that I usually visit. Just a bit of morphing and I need a little more time to sort it all through.

Listening to Listening Point.

K. from Onehouse writes:

Hello everyone. I think we're going to put this fairly new group blog into hiatus until Fall. It seems that summer is not necessarily more busy for those interested in contemplative concerns but it is different. Less holing up with books and blogs and for some, more outside pursuits far away from the computer. I am all for that.

As for myself, I have another magazine to finish and print money to raise. I'll be travelling from Dubai home next week and jumping back into a pile of mail and appointments and from what I hear, a very weed-infested garden.

It takes time to encourage people to develop group efforts and I'm all for waiting until fall to jump back in again. In the meantime, please keep sending us your reading recommendations, listening points, thoughts and reflections.

I would be very interested in hearing about your practices. Sometimes we forget that many of us are still very new to these things and it would be helpful to hear people articulate a few things. Not too much. I mean we wouln't want to become tooo chatty would we? Bad contemplative. Bad.

So have a good summer. Keep sending things in and I shall stow them away like so many good nuts ready for the onset of fall and winter.

Lost

Christine of Abbey of the Arts:

Photo near Cong Abbey, Ireland. Taken by Christine.

This is one of my favorite poems:

Lost

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

-David Wagoner

This Week's Reading: Orion Magazine

A reader of Listening Post recommends this week's reading. Instead of choosing a book, she has chosen a magazine and as a magazine publisher myself, I shout a little "Hoorah!" and salute the beautiful portable magazine format. She wrote:

I was going to try to work this into a piece for Listening Point in response to your request for submissions about books that help us live the contemplative life, but it's not a book...on the other hand, this publication (magazine), which I started reading 7 years ago, helped me listen deeply and reflect and examine myself and relationship with creation (all of it) before I knew there was such a thing as the contemplative life.

I'm referring to Orion magazine, both the print and online versions.

I'm going to list a few essays from the online version I've read during the past few days:

• Window of Possibility
• What Fundamentalists Need for their Salvation
• To Remake the World

We don't believe you.

I wrote this post a few years ago for Onehouse and I realized I am still wondering what people do, what practices do they cultivate to say to the lies, "We don't believe you anymore."

I enjoyed re-reading this article on parallel cultures (PDF). I haven't done it in a while and author Mary Jo Leddy has had a profound effect on my thinking.

So Havel and other dissidents began to ask, "How can we live the truth in a culture based on a fundamental lie, especially since the lie is in our heads?  How can we begin to live into the truth?  We desire so much more than just things.  We want something to hope in, a reason to believe."
     So in his country, as in other iron-curtain countries, people began to set up what he called "parallel cultures." They had underground study groups.  They studied Plato.  They had drama.  They had music groups.  They wrote novels and poetry, and published them underground.  He called this a "parallel culture." It was not a counter-culture because, he said, it was impossible for us to live totally outside the system.  You cannot live outside a culture.  But you can create within it zones and spaces, where you can become who you really are.  It is in such places that one can speak the truth, where one can gather with others who share that truth.
     This went on for years, not without difficulties, but for years.  Over time, the truth became stronger and stronger, and at a certain point people began to walk in the streets and to say to the system, "We don't believe you anymore." And the system fell.  It fell, not because of the power of Western nuclear equipment, but because the people said within the system, "We don't believe you anymore." It was a vision that had been nourished within those parallel cultures.

This article is from five years ago and still challenges. I miss this kind of discussion that goes to the fundamental questions. Five years and it's still about music and what kind of couches to put in buildings. I would love to have pub nights around these questions.

What are the fundamental lies of our culture? Is it that you can be anything you want to be? Is it that you can have anything you want to have and therein lies happiness? Is it that everything has a number - a buy and sell price or growth number? Or is that you must fear because there will never be enough for you? How do we foster a culture of enough? How do we live out of love and embrace rather than fear and exclusion?

And where are the zones and spaces where we can gather with others who share the truth? How do we say to the lies "We don't believe you anymore"?

Everything that is.

Heather sends in these poems:

By Wendell Berry in "Given"

From Sabbaths 1999

VI

We travelers, walking to the sun, can't see

Ahead, but looking back the very light

That blinded us shows us the way we came,

Along which blessings now appear, risen

As if from sightlessness to sight, and we,

By blessing brightly lit, keep going toward

That blessed light that yet to us is dark.

IX

The incarnate Word is with us,

is still speaking, is present

always, yet leaves no sign

but everything that is.

Contemplating contemplation

Tess of Anchors and Masts writes:

We know that contemplative living is not to do with sitting in the lotus position on a mountainside all day meditating upon the wonders of creation. And we know that it is all to do with living everyday life in a state of awareness. (Something I tend to think of as "the Zen of washing dishes".) But what else is it?

It suddenly struck me while looking at the actual word contemplate that it ends in template.

Now templates are used extensively in the building trade, the computer industry and so forth, but the word is also defined as "anything that determines or serves as a pattern, a model".

So this immediately gives us a clue to living a contemplative life. We are following a pattern. Awareness lights up the pattern for us.

I'm reminded of the patterns created by light and shadow, and the game we played as children: don't step on the cracks.

What patterns of behaviour are revealed to us by living in a contemplative way? Do we deliberately avoid the shadow? Or do we sometimes hide in the shadow, fearing to come out into the light?

Although the pattern will waver in and out of focus, we can follow it by taking a contemplative approach to our lives. And with awareness, we can get glimpses of the whole thing.

Listening Point: Rich of Pilgrim path

Rich of Pilgrim Path writes:

HIGH DESERT MORNING CALL TO WORSHIP

The sound of wild geese honking 
resounds from the Chama River,
reminding me of the ever presence
of all things holy given freely
by a generous and humble God.

Skittery long-eared, cotton-tailed rabbits
deliberately chewing their breakfast greens,
now take the time to lead us onward
on the hidden path to truth.

Nature seduces a ready heart
longing to be one with life
lived abundantly and bravely confident
in God's sure and raucous love.

This Week's Book: The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages

Karen at Onehouse writes:

Do you have a suggestion for a book that helped you with living the contemplative life? Well, c'mon down and recommend it. Don't be shy. Yes, there may be ONE perfect book out there and you may NOT have it but you might be close to it. Maybe? Perhaps that book is The Complete Calvin and Hobbes which I happen to own in all of its multi-pound glory. It comes pretty close to perfection I tell you.

One of the books that helped me when I was first starting to explore contemplative life was Joan Chittister's The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages. I was most interested in the Benedictines (pronounced Benedict -inns as NWC reminds me...) for some reason and I was really lost as to where to begin. There wasn't much on the internet and what was there seemed to be for people who already understood everything. Like the subculture I had just left, there was an inside language using words like "hours" and "rule" and "practice" and pithy latin phrases. I was pretty confused and didn't quite know where to begin. This thing was not novice friendly. There were a lot of experiential stories but not a lot of people talking about what practice meant and how to implement it outside of a structured community. This is a place where many of my friends found ourselves -interested but definitely outside and more than a little frustrated.

After quite a bit of bumbling around, I stumbled onto the online version of Insights for the Ages which is provided by the Benedictine Sisters of Erie. They have divided up Chittister's commentary on Benedict's Rule into sections so it can be read through daily up to three times a year. I found it really helpful and have returned to it again and again. It doesn't so much contemporize Benedict (something I'm not fond of - hey kids it's groovy Benedict and his kickass rule for life!) and his rule as provide, as the title suggests, insights as to why these things were important then and where they might speak to a community and individual centuries removed in time and space.

I've taken a break from reading this online but I miss Chittister's warm and welcoming voice and may include it my morning routine once again. I am especially fond of the chapter on humility which I summarized here for my own use.

(Tired of hearing from me yet? Send in your book suggestion for next week.)

Listening Point: Heather (who is part of Onehouse)

This is one of my listening places. In some ways it's probably more contemplative than my ones of river and woods. I have to really listen to all those that come into this place and it's the place that I find myself feeling most satisfied and yet most tried. I need patience when I have too many patient's ! I need wisdom to know how best to respond/care for those that come in. And I sense God's grace most often when I/we here need it most. Being a Nurse is truly a contemplative experience for me.

 

You can see some other pictures of Heather's from another northern assignment here.

Muddled.

K.onehouse writes:

I've been a little muddled with time and light and weather here in Dubai which is why posting has been light. A number of you have sent in posts and I will get them up. And those of you lurking or who have other posts, please keep sending them. A few of you have said you will send in your listening points. You know who you are. Yes, you!

But if you are not in plus 40 C or minus 40 C, it's probably a good time to be away from the computer anyway storing up those little listening nuggets for the upcoming long winter. I noticed this blog, The Edible Balcony Garden. I liked the reference  Treehugger's How to Green your Gardening which is something I've been working on over the last few years.

Messenger

A reader responds to yesterday's poem:

Messenger

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird --
   equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? is My coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
   keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
   astonished . . .

These are the opening lines of the first poem in Mary Oliver's latest book, Thirst.

Sunday poem

Flathead Lake, Montana

"Christ plays in ten thousand places"—G. M. Hopkins

Lying here on the short grass, I am
a bowl for sunlight.

Silence. A bee. The lip of water
over stones. The swish and slap, hollow

under the dock. Down-shore
a man sawing wood.

Christ in the sunshine laughing
through the green translucent wings

of maple seeds. A bird
resting its song on two notes.

Luci Shaw
From the book Green Earth

Crowd of thoughts.

Amma Syncletica said,

"There are many who live in the mountains and behave as if they were in the town, and they are wasting their time. It is possible to be a solitary in one's mind while living in a crowd, and it is possible for one who is a solitary to live in the crowd of his own thoughts."

A reader's thoughts

One of our readers responds to some recent posts:

I struggle with two things that don't come naturally but I'd like to do well, or at least more easily: writing and contemplation. I am practicing both.

*****

I keep waiting for things to settle down in the rest of my life so I can study and practice contemplation. Maybe I need to reverse this: study and practice contemplation so that the rest of my life will fall into their correct priority and balance.

*****

Am I an urban contemplative? I live pretty much in the centre of a large city in the midst of the pre-Olympic construction insanity. I can't walk more than a block before being confronted by traffic barricades, detours, congestion, impatience, noise and frustration. The photos on Listening Point so far mostly have been of quiet, calm, natural places. Yet, in these types of settings, my mind wanders back to the world, or at least, my narrow worldly worries. Funny thing, when I am walking at a brisk pace in the middle of all the noisy traffic or running along the seawall I can completely tune out the environment and focus on what I call "God-stuff." One of my best listening points and times is the 5-minute walk across the Cambie Street bridge.

*****

The garden is where I don't think about anything at all. Gardening is a completely sensory, physical, in-the-moment experience for me. I don't analyze. The critical commentary in my brain shuts off.  In my garden, any garden, I am content.

The Simple Way

Dear Friends, family and conspirators,

I know some of you know our friends from the Simple Way in Philadelphia. Some of you have conspired with Shane for a new world and many have been inspired by his book, The Irresistable Revolution, and the example and life of the Simple Way. Following is an update about a fire that just happened this morning in their neighborhood, destroying some of their places of ministry and community and leaving neighbors without a place to be.

This is a time to show our love and connection by praying and supporting them through this time. There is a site for donations and more information. Ck their website for more updates - www.thesimpleway.org

Peace, Eliacin

From The Simple Way 6/20/07 12:30PM

This morning, a 7-alarm fire consumed an abandoned warehouse in our Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia. The Simple Way Community Center at 3200 Potter Street was destroyed as well as at least eight of our neighbors' homes. Over 100 people were evacuated from their homes, and 400 families are currently without power. Despite this developing tragedy, we are incredibly thankful to share that all of our community members and every one of our neighbors is safely out of harm's way.

This fire will forever change the fabric of our community. Eight families are currently homeless, and in many cases have lost their vehicles as well as their homes. One of our neighbors, the Mahaias Family, lost their three cars as well as the equipment one family member uses for her massage therapy business. Teenager Brian Mahaias is devastated not because he has lost his belongings, but because he fears that this fire will force him to move away from this neighborhood that is his family as well as his home.

The Simple Way has lost a community center that was home to our Yes! And… afterschool program, community arts center, and Cottage Printworks t-shirt micro-business as well as to two of our community members. Community members Shane Claiborne and Jesce Walz have lost all of their belongings, Yes! And…'s after school studio and library were ruined, and community member Justin Donner's Cottage Printworks equipment and t-shirts were destroyed.

We are thankful that we are able to help each other during this time of need, and we will continue to keep your informed about today's events.

We have established funds to support the families who have lost their homes, the Yes! And… afterschool program, and the Simple Way community. A fund to support the families has been established through a partner organization, EAPE. Tax-deductible donations can be made at https://www.tonycampolo.org/online_donation.php . Please make sure to put "Kensington Families Fund " in the memo section. Donations to the Rebuilding Fund can be made via PayPal to contribute@awip.us.

-The Simple Way Community

Gardening for God

Diamonds in the Sky with Lucy writes:

Whenever I hear someone make the statement, “There is no proof that God exists,” I am immediately drawn to the image of a newborn babe.  Particularly from a mother’s point of view (someone who has carried the little bundle inside her body for nine months), I cannot fathom how someone could believe that birth “just happens.”

As my children have grown older and I fortunately am not yet to the grandparent stage, my point of reference as shifted to images of the garden.  As I sit outside after a good day of digging, mulching and pruning, I am in awe of the glory that surrounds me.  While I am proud of my own handiwork that is not to what I refer.

There is so much rhythm in the garden even during this time of quiet.Bees work busily to re-pollinate the catmint I trimmed yesterday.  A tiny spider spins a minute web between two flower stems.  An ink black crow slowly strolls across the green grass looking for an afternoon snack.  My golden dog sniffs with nose in air and ears pricked high for smells and sounds I cannot fathom.  The water in my fountain gently trickles in the background and I find myself renewed, refreshed and grateful to be alive.

My muscles are tired, my hair needs a shampoo and my limbs are slightly more tan than they were a few days ago. The garden glows in the afternoon sun.<>How can one imagine that all these things “just happen”?  It has become clear to me this spring that when I am frustrated with the world around me (even cynical as I have been called of late) all I need do is walk out my door and witness the abundance that awaits me in the garden. 

A gentle breeze whispers “Amen” in response.

From This Week's Book.

From A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly:

"I have in mind something deeper than the simplification of our external programs, our absurdly crowded calendars of appointments through which so many pantingly and frantically gasp. These do become simplified in holy obedience, and the poise and peace we have been missing can really be found. But there is a deeper, an internal simplification of the whole of one's personality, stilled, tranquil, in childlike trust listening ever to Eternity's whisper, walking with a smile into the dark."

Taking it all in stride.

Greetings from Dubai. My body is slowly figuring out night and day and I will try to get caught up here. There goes the call to prayer from the tiny mosque across the street. This guy is tone deaf and if this is the only call you had experienced, you would wonder why anyone would want to pray after such a call. Just goes to prove, there are bad preachers everywhere.

Tuesday evening and the new moon is rising. I'm listening to Emmylou Harris' Angel Band and I'm not sure when this will post at your house. Here are a few links from the last few days of listening post-ers.

• Christine Sine of Godspace makes us aware of a Celtic retreat in on August and has posted a meditation video.
• NWC has some honest thoughts on hospitality.
• Miss Eagle recommends this week's book, A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly. More on the life of Kelly.

And finally, I am talking many things desert over at Onehouse.

There are quite a few visitors at this little listening point. Feel free to participate. Send in something old or new from your own blog or thoughts. Recommend a book or resource. Show us your own listening point.

Emmylou is singing, "But I will walk this road awhile/And I will walk it with a smile/I will take it in my stride/Someday I'll be satisfied.."

Listening Point: Eliacin

Eliacin writes: I took this photo at a local beach. I printed and I have a copy at my desk at work, to remind me of the importance of balance at in life.