Monday Meditation

seeing what is hidden

I spent last week in Costa Rica, looking for birds and other wild creatures in that country of such marvels. It was not intended as an “escape” from reality. I wanted to be differently immersed in reality to gain a perspective on the turbulence of our nation. I want to be more responsive and less reactive. In his Atlantic review of a new book on Saint Francis, James Parker, writes: We are caught between phases of consciousness, between the ruins of one world and the unknown shape of the next. In such a time, it’s necessary to see what is hidden in ordinary events. And, he continues:

Right now, we need Saint Francis. Now that kindness is counter-cultural, we need his extremes of wild charity to us back toward it. And we need his asceticism: His self-denial, his merry disdain of health and comfort and security, is a rebuke to our obsession with self-care. There are no safe spaces, and no guarantees—-the only stability is the bottomlessness of divine love. The trapdoor held open by grace. So we take the hand of Francis, and down we go.

I have not the words to understand, much less explain, the present disturbance in our nation. I do have enough sense to learn from others wiser than I am. The ones who help us gain a perspective on how to respond wisely and with kindness. Discernment is an act of listening carefully for the next right step, walking slowly, fully awake. What else? Be kind, says Parker. Take the hand of Francis. 

What to do? All I know is to do what is mine to do. Be Less reactive, more responsive. I will lead my Sunday School class exploring the Sermon on the Mount, learning the practices of Jesus’ and hope to follow them, with whatever faith and courage is necessary. I will listen to my neighbors and offer my hand to them. I will listen to the wise ones, whose voices we need now. That includes the contemplatives who help us see the same thing differently. It was Thomas Morton’s birthday last Friday. It called to mind this guidance from him: 

You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.

The Yellow-eared Toucan in the rain fully awake and aware of this present moment.