Find
the Still Point
“Spirituality
is not to be learned by flight from the world, or by running away from things,
or by turning solitary and going apart from the world. Rather, we must learn an
inner solitude wherever or with whomsoever we may be. We must learn to penetrate
things and find God there.”
Meister
Eckhart
In a
few weeks, I’m going to the North Carolina coast for a silent writer’s retreat.
I will stay at a spiritual retreat center on the outer banks that is right on
the Atlantic Ocean. It’s been at least a decade since I’ve done anything like that,
and I am so excited. Yesterday, I drove my friends Ann and Ellen to the airport
to fly to Florida to visit friends. They were practically giddy. We have all
been confined for so long that going anywhere feels like escaping Alcatraz.
Going
on this silent retreat is not meant to be an escape from the world, but an
escape into the world. Leaving the four walls of home after three years of
pandemic confinement will be like breathing deeply for the first time in ages.
I want to give myself a chance to reboot. Meister Eckhart said, “Stillness
is where creativity and solutions are found.” Let us pray this 13th
century monk knew of what he spoke.
From
time to time, we humans need to try something new. Go somewhere we haven’t been
before. Meet people we haven’t met before. It’s how we shed our old skin and
give ourselves room to grow. It resets our connections, refreshes our mental screen,
and gets our circuits flowing. Meister Eckhart said, “Be willing to be a beginner
every single morning.” Be willing to open the door and walk out into the
day with trust, curiosity, and gratitude. There is nothing so mind numbing as
confinement and nothing so energizing as an adventure.
If you’re
like me, it takes a few days for your busy mind to settle into stillness—to find
the place within where silence dwells. Once there, we can ask the question: “What’s
next?” and expect answers. “And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something
new and trust the magic of beginnings.” (Meister Eckhart)
In
the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment