Oblates of St. Benedict » Instruction

Wisdom and Society

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:41:37 +0000

Our technological society has no longer any place in it for wisdom that seeks truth for its own sake, that seeks the fullness of being, that seeks to rest in an intuition of the very ground of all being. Without wisdom, the apparent opposition of action and contemplation, of work and rest, of involvement and detachment, can never be resolved.

Thomas Merton

Taken away

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:38:24 +0000

I think most people come to a place in their lives when things are taken away from them. Not so much by other people, but simply by the aging process. Driving is more difficult, energy levels drop, perhaps it is noting that the mind works differently and on some occasions not very well. It is really impossible to cling, because it is gone (whatever it is) before it is noticed. Attitude towards this development is important and I would suppose ones view of life also helps how old age is either embraced or resented. I am of course writing about myself, it is beginning for me, old age, though I have been at this point for perhaps three or four years. Health problems are increasing and it is a wonder how easy it is to get sick! To fight, or to let go, or not the only two options. Perhaps to accept and to do what can be done gently is the best way, or perhaps it is the best way for me. Faith is not about 'pie in the sky', no, it is about understanding that there is one life and what we do here is in some way a preparation for what is to come. So the pains and frustrations of aging can be a spur to patience, leading to making conscious choices about letting go of ways of doing and being that did not work in the past, and will certainly not work now.

Br. Mark Dohle, OSCO

Know how to meditate

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:02:13 +0000

Learn how to meditate on paper. Drawing and writing are forms of meditation. Learn how to contemplate works of art. Learn how to pray in the streets or in the country. Know how to meditate not only when you have a book in your hand but when you are waiting for a bus or riding in a train.

Thomas Merton

Faith

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:56:11 +0000

We too often forget that faith is a matter of questioning and struggle before it becomes one of certitude and peace. You have to doubt and reject everything else in order to believe firmly in Christ, and after you have begun to believe, your faith itself must be tested and purified. Christianity is not merely a set of forgone conclusions. Faith tends to be defeated by the burning presence of God in mystery, and seeks refuge from him, flying to comfortable social forms and safe convictions in which purification is no longer an inner battle but a matter of outward gesture.

Thomas Merton

Moving toward a low-impact environment

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:21:10 +0000

Large numbers of people are staying away from mainline church services precisely because they do not want to be put to sleep; much organized religion is seen as all too boring. The absence of religion does not necessarily make them more socially aware. An alternative source of desensitization has emerged. Our excitement-prone generation is looking for entertainment, something to distract from the tedium of daily living. Everything has to be presented in an entertaining way: the news, the liturgy, even school textbooks. I suppose you won't continue reading these reflections unless you find them at least dimly entertaining. Furthermore, in a context of spectacular images, loud music, and chemical stimulation there is little scope to be touched either by our neighbor's need or by the promptings of conscience. By creating a miasma of sensory fireworks we effectively block out anything beyond what is sensate: any spiritual perceptiveness, any attention to interiority. Our conscience is deadened by sensory overload and we are little aware of the possibilities that are open to us to create a better world.

Becoming more spiritually aware means moving toward a low-impact environment. The voice of conscience and the words of the Gospel are but a still, small voice in our noisy universe. They are further overpowered by the interior fantasies that form from the residual memories of sensory experience. A lively imagination stirs up the emotions and keeps us from attaining that level of inner tranquility that enables us to attend to the promptings of conscience and to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit. The result is that we are so awake on one level that there is no room for a more interior awakening. Most of us cannot truly listen to another speaking if we are simultaneously watching television, texting on our cell phone, and internally fretting about some imagined grievance. In the same way, we cannot be spiritually aware without turning down the volume of other voices.

Micahel Casey, OSCO
The Road to Eternal Life, p. 33.