Once upon a time a disciple asked the elder, "How shall I experience my oneness with creation?"
And the elder answered, "By listening."
The disciple pressed the point: "But how am I to listen?"
And the elder taught, "Become an ear that pays attention to every single thing the universe is saying. The moment you hear something you yourself are saying, stop."
found in Joan Chittister, The Rule of Benedict
Too often I mistake holiness. I see the glistening surface and conjure up a plethora of wise insights. I might think I have been given such treasures, but I’ve seen nothing yet.
Too often I forget the most basic rule of any spirituality: a beginner’s mind. Too often I ignore or don’t even hear God’s prompt to come into God’s Presence as a child.
Only then will I be given the spade to dig in and start the real work of awareness. Only then will the keys of the treasure house be given to me.
We seldom notice how each day is a holy place
Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,
Transforming our broken fragments
Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.
Somewhere in us a dignity presides
That is more gracious than the smallness
That fuels us with fear and force,
A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.
So at the end of this day, we give thanks
For being betrothed to the unknown
And for the secret work
Through which the mind of the day
And wisdom of the soul become one.
from 'The Inner History of a Day’, John O’Donohue, Benedictus
beginner’s mind. Canon 7D. f11. 1/400. ISO 100.
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