Wood has Hope

I said to the almond tree, speak to me of God,

and the almond tree blossomed.

-Nikos Kazantzakis

It happens every Spring and I am always in awe. An old gnarled tree, twisted, and crooked stands like a sentinel on our monastery grounds. It looks as though nothing living could possibly emerge from its dead wood. And then suddenly there are blossoms! I am always a little fearful that this might be the year it will not blossom; yet it never disappoints. It is a flowering almond tree. Since the blossoms do not last long I try to spend as much time with it as possible in the blossoming season.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In this new spring season, while reflecting on the tree, I was given the insight that perhaps I need to also spend time with it, in its dormant season. "Wood hath hope" the Jesuits sing in one of their old songs. Then I remember the wonderful quote from Job 14:7 about the miraculous power of life in what seems to be dead wood.

There is hope for a felled tree, it can always start its life again.

The roots may have grown old, the stump may be rotting in the ground

but with the first scent of water hope can return;

it still has power to put forth green shoots. And sometimes it does!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wood Hath Hope! Let's try to remember that on the gloomy days when we can't find spring in our bones; when it appears that life has dried up, that hope is gone. The return of blossoms is such a good metaphor for our spiritual lives. One of the things I 've noticed about our Flowering Almond is that many of the blossoms emerge right out of the trunk, not on the branches. it is as though the blossom can't wait to arrive. No time to grow a branch? Just come right on out of the wood! Sometimes life can't wait! Your life is waiting!

DEAD LINES

If you are wondering about this photo,

It is a deadline

or, maybe a dead line

since it doesn't seem to be breathing.

Oh Happy Day!

I just sent in a manuscript to Liturgical Press

for my latest book entitled,

ABIDE: keeping vigil with the Word

It is such a wonderful feeling to have the burden of a deadline lifted. Deadline! Now that is a funny word, I've intended to google it to search out its orgin but have not yet done so. What is a deadline anyway? Does it mean that you are dead when you arrive at the due-date because you have worked obsessively? Or, you will be dead if you don't make it on time. Or, perhaps the project will be dead because you are so sick of it or you have over-edited it.


I recently posted a question on my facebook asking, What's a deadline? One of my FB friends suggested it was a line that has stopped breathing. That answer provided me with much meditation material. A line that has stopped breathing is certainly dead. Of course I could call it a time-line or a due-date -- whatever you call it, a deadline has the ability to cause stress, obsession, irritability, panic and anxiety.


In praying about my deadline (and I do pray about such things) I decided that it can take the light out of my life only if I allow it to do this. It can cause me to live DEAD only if I give it permission to do this. At times like this I am always amazed at how I tend to give my power and my life away. I don't have to give my life away but sometimes I do.


Rethinking all this I have decided that a 'deadline' could be called a 'lifeline' -- Schedules are good for me and staying on task is important; however if I allow any project to take the joy out of my life or if it is detrimental to my peace and presence to other people, then it has stopped breathing. If I look at it as a lifeline, I can be aware of the life we are giving each other along the way. I give life to my work-project and it gives life to me. We bless each other!


Here is my Lifeline! Watch it blossom! I am taking a new vow! No longer will I write to publish! I will write for joy! If I publish, that is wonderful; if I don't, that's ok too.

No deadlines; Only lifelines.

I want to know the sweet joy of my work

becoming my 'love made visible'

as the poet, Kahlil Gibran

so beautifully puts it.

LIFE-LINE

Consider yourself hugged

Friendship is a special Gift

Today is Valentine day and friends come easily to mind. Some of you are personal friends and some of you I have never met but I like to think we all have a universal heart filled with yearnings and dreams, joy and sorrow, loves and fears.

And so, I want to tell you

(whoever you are) that

"You are Dear!"

It is a blessing beyond telling

to know that there is someone

"dear" out there,

someone with whom we can connect:

in frantic, disheartening, confusing moments

in joyful, grateful, enchanting, creative moments.

Thanks for being so dear

as to step into the pages of my life!

CONSIDER YOURSELF HUGGED!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Below you will find some HAIKU

that I lifted out of the softwhare of my heart!

O friend of my heart

Mysterious Loveliness

What Heaven have you come from?

Memory of You

in my crankiest of moods

Still mellows my heart.

In the bagel shop

Over steaming cups of coffee

Sharing our hearts out.

~~~~~~~~~

Like fresh air in life

Oh, you are necessity

More than luxury.

Do you remember

the carefee moments

of our younger years?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In my book of life

I slowly turn over a page

and you are waiting.

TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON

IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD!

~~Les Miserables

Be Patient With Me

Be patient with me

I really am coming back.

And obviously

I'm not sitting

under the sycamore tree

these days.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Whatever you do

have compassion on yourself

when you can't keep

all of your promises.

I apologized to my journal

this morning,

all decorated and lovely

waiting for my words.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SILENCE INSTEAD

and that's not so bad either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have mercy on all within you

that needs your mercy!

One in the light

As the sun rose, it filled me

until I thought I was all light

and there was nothing left

of what I once called me.

Then suddenly I saw below

at the water's edge another sister of light.

My light streamed out to her.

Her light flowed back to me

and we were one in the light.

copyright Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB

Lift your face to the daystar now

Experience the coming of dawn.

bathed in morning light, pray

that the lantern of your life

move gently this day

into all those places

where light is needed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB

from The Circle of Life

Carry the lantern of your life

into all those places where light is needed!

Wishing you a week full of lighted life!

Deep Stillness Blossoms

I write this on the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus

the last day of the Christmas season.

This "deep stillness" card fell out of an old book I am re-reading. Thus it became part of my Christmas altar. I still "sort of" celebrate Christmas (in my own way) until February 2, which is the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Candlemas Day). I am no longer in touch with Reid, the friend who created this card so long ago. I love it when "old things" show up in my life.

Along with Reid's "deep stillness" design I chose one of my favorite Christmas cards of a modern day Madonna. It, too, is a card from the past sent to me by a long lasting though seldom seen friend, Nicholas. I often save a few cards for my treasure chest. I love finding old memories tucked away in special places. Every Christmas I pull out a few old memories; people from my past return and spend time on my holiday and holy day altar.

This Advent I spent hours dwelling on the quote, "DEEP STILLNESS BLOSSOMS." Perhaps it is because I have such an intense longing for stillness. Actually, with practice, the stillness can be found everywhere and anywhere, even in the midst of a busy mall or a flock of magpies, although that is not my favorite place to practice stillness. The deeper the stillness, the greater the possibility of the blossoming. The blossoms come later--often, after one has almost forgotten the deep stillness. You wake up some morning and you are greeted by a new blossom.

The blossoming seems to be the fruit of the stillness.

The "deep stillness" is a kind of womb we cannot live without.

As we grow further away from our mother's womb

we find new wombs to hold us.

~~new wombs to sustain and nurture us~~

Haunting memories lead us toward a depth we once enjoyed.

Deep Stillness infuses us and the blossoms become visible.

An inquisitive mind, an open heart,

a childlike trust, a yearning for the Divine:

all of these are like fertilizer for the waiting blossoms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are reading this and don't quite understand what I am trying to say, try saying it in your own words and you will fathom the depths of these simple words.

Mystical Morning

How could anyone sleep on a morning like this?

You are beholding one of our retreatants saying,

"Hola" to the new day.

Or, perhaps she is saying NADA!

How much we need such moments!

How much we need such mornings!

Drink in the wondrous inheritance of being!

Sip the nectar of morning!

O dear medicinal morning!

Awaken the mystic in me!

Awaken the poet and the monk!

How could anyone sleep on a morning like this?