"Death is not the enemy. Age is not the enemy. These things are inevitable, they happen to everybody. But what we ought to fear is the kind of death that happens in life. It can happen at any time you're going along, and then, at some point, you congeal. You know like jelly. You're not fluid any more. You solidify at a certain point and from then on your life is doomed to be a repetition of what you have done before. That's the enemy. There are two kind of people walking around on this earth. One kind you can tell just by looking at them at what point they congeal into their final selves. It might be a very nice self, but you know you can expect no more surprises from it. Whereas, the other kind keep moving, changing. With these people, you can never say X stops here, or now I know all there is to know about Y."
--Gail Godwin from The Finishing School.
--Gail Godwin from The Finishing School.
O Ever Changing God
Protect us from congealing.
Plant deep in our hearts an intense desire
to be flexible, bendable
always open to your transforming breath,
ever flowing, flowing, flowing.
Until we flow into the sacred stream
of that Eternal Drink which is You.
Then pour us back into the world
and let the flowing begin
again and again and again.
Amen. Thank you, Macrina.
ReplyDeleteI will never cease to be amazed at the number of people in the world who do NOT believe that people will change. And I believe that changing is all we can really do if we would be happy.
I just came from body prayer with Beth. We've been dipping our toes in that lovely sacred stream. I am feeling so...uncongealed. : )
Love....
hanks for posting this, Macrina. I remember you read this, or something like it, at the retreat in San Damiano, and I was trying to remember it the other day.
ReplyDeleteI love this quote and use it often in writing groups. Here's to more flowing, flowing, flowing in all of our lives! Thanks for the reminder
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