These will be a few suggestions, fragments of advice, from myself to myself that I jotted down for myself. They do not imply some universal wisdom applicable to all in all situations. Also, at the end I will include some “guest suggestions” from some folks who have helped me to see things more clearly. Good to share these things.
- Go out into the wilderness, the forest, the mountains, the desert, without any projects or plans or “things to do”…..and learn to listen to the silence…the deep silence….and learn what it teaches you without any trace of your world of words.
- You, your existence, your life, is a question. And this question, like every question, is seeking an answer. Don’t struggle for this “answer.” It cannot be extracted, like gold from the ground, from any “something” out there, like philosophy, literature, theology, science, politics, another person, your own thinking, etc. You can only wait…. And this waiting, as T. S. Eliot reminds us, is sometimes called faith, hope, and love….
- From a Christian perspective, God is more me than I am me. Now if you want to know what this reality we call “God” is, we need to look at Jesus. And then if you want to know who you really are, again look at Jesus. That is, in brief, what it means to be a Christian. But….this “looking” will take a lifetime…and more…and the horizons of this looking will be constantly expanding…unless you get lost in your own or someone else’s fantasies. To be sure, somewhere along the line you will not recognize this Jesus who was so clear to you on the first day. The real journey, the real work will then begin. Begin the real beginning by looking into the mirror of your deep poverty.
- There is a difference between a path and a trail. A path is well-established, well-marked. Usually plenty of signs, or at least very well known. A path can be found in a garden, a park, etc. A trail is always in some kind of wilderness. A path is rationally constructed with clear objectives; a trail, much, much less so. In ancient times early humans followed deer trails through mountain passes…. A trail can start out being clear, then become almost undiscernible…. Most spiritual traditions use the metaphor of “path,” and that is good and helpful; but sometimes “trail” would be better. Sometimes you lose sight of that “trail” and wonder where you are….
- Life is messy, very messy. Reality is messy. Don’t use “spirituality” to manipulate this into some comfortable niche of unreality. Don’t escape into some fantasy life. Drop anchor in what is real. Or, as Abba Moses put it, “Stay in your cell and your cell will teach you everything.” True spirituality will take you out of your comfort zone…at first…until it unconceals the Paradise of your heart. Staretz Silouan of Mt. Athos heard the interior voice of the Lord say to him, “Keep your mind in hell and despair not.”
Guest Suggestions:
Wendell Berry: “I am a pilgrim, but my pilgrimage has been wandering and unmarked. Often what has looked like a straight line to me has been a circling or a doubling back. I have been in the Dark Wood of Error any number of times. I have known something of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, but not always in that order. The names of many snares and dangers have been made known to me, but I have seen them only in looking back. Often I have not known where I was going until I was already there. I have had my share of desires and goals, but my life has come to me or I have gone to it mainly by way of mistakes and surprises. Often I have received better than I deserved. Often my fairest hopes have rested on bad mistakes. I am an ignorant pilgrim, crossing a dark valley. And yet for a long time, looking back, I have been unable to shake off the feeling that I have been led – make of that what you will.”
Wendell Berry: “So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute…Give your approval to all you cannot understand…Ask the questions that have no answers. Put your faith in two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years…Laugh. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts….Practice resurrection.”
Karl Rahner: “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or he/she will not exist at all.”
Andre Louf: “What is a monk?
A monk is someone who every day asks:
‘What is a monk?’”
Sufi saying: “It is one thing to see God when the veil is lifted; it is quite another to see God in the veil.”
Zhuangzi: “Where can I find the man who has forgotten words so I can speak with him?”