Freedom in Lent - Day 30

Today

Today I’m flying low and I’m
not saying a word
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.

The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.

But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling
a terrific distance.

Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.

                   Mary Oliver

I have a friend who, when she lived in Victoria and attended St John's, used to remind me repeatedly, "You know, we are human beings, not human doings." And yet so many of us fill our lives with activity, busyness, sound and vision. There are often few times for us to just be, quietly, without filling time one way or another. 

Now I'm not saying that we must all spend hours in silence, or take up a monastic lifestyle, but that we have a constant invitation to slow, to stop, to be. Whether it's sitting quietly with a cup or glass of something, listening to gentle music, meditating, praying, all of this is part of the freedom to slow down, stop doing, and be ourselves. It might take a little discipline to turn off the tv, phone, radio, whatever, but the rewards are worth it as we remind ourselves that we are, indeed, human beings. 

And when Jesus had sent the multitudes away, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.  Now when evening came, he was alone there. Matthew 14.23

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Artwork - Gwen John, A Corner of the artist's room, Paris.  Can be found on WikiArt