Good morning,
I have been thinking more about what I wrote yesterday (thank you Katie, Elisabeth and Catherine for nurturing this). Perhaps what is not explicit in what I wrote is that by calling for each of us to be attentive to how we operate in the world I was not suggesting we get out a stick and judge ourselves for our lack of skill. I am just a beginner here, but what I think we are called to do first is to just observe ourselves, to watch how an angry thought is born and how we deal with it. Do we throw it outside ourselves and litter our home? What happens to those around us? Do they respond in kind? What about feelings of self-rejection? What do these thoughts look like? What happens to our bodies when we are in an interior battle of low self-esteem? How does the world start to mirror our thoughts? We start by being attentive and non-judgemental.
One of the inspirations for this meditation on being human began with a talk with my wise friend Sue. We were talking over dinner and I said: “What is amazing is how transformation is only a second away.” I was thinking about how in some ways living in the Truth is always available to us. It is just a matter of adjusting our posture. “Are you kidding me?” she exclaimed loudly. “It is not only not a second away it is a complicated, messy, really hard, and rarely long-lasting. Relationships get in the way.”
I immediately knew she was right (though I am right too – at all times we are all loved and held by an eternal Presence, as Therese de Liseux wrote: All is well and all manner of things shall be well). But what of the thicket of living in the world? How can our lives be for good? How can we be the peace the world so desperately needs? For example, how do I respond to feelings of sadness that continue to pull me down? How do I interact with Don when I feel this way? My friend who I spoke to yesterday might ask “How do I tell my brother he can’t come to my house anymore if he is going to drink?” Can she do this in a way that leads to peace? Or will it lead to long-term alienation? Every thought, word, action we make we can ask the question: will it bring life or does it oppress it?
Freedom. I think this is another sign of a fully realized human being. Each day we are faced with innumerable chances to act compulsively or to act with freedom from compulsions. How much do our compulsions hold us back from full realization of our possibility? For example, how does childhood trauma express itself in our capacity to love? How does perception of our identify (as created by others) affect our actions and thoughts?
And as we do this we must remember to be gentle with ourselves if we stumble or fail. As Sue says: “It is not easy! It is not easy at all!”
Peace,
Gabrielle
Gabrielle,
I like it! Thanks.
And:
Was it Therese of Liseaux or Julian of Norwich who spoke about all things being well?
Keep writing!
Sue