One must strive to exist in the Order of the Present Moment, to go with God's flow.
Am in civilization until another day, on call to help out a person asking assistance. It happens rarely, and yes, it is difficult physically especially when the pain is at the upper echelons. But there is a goodness in making the effort as well as a goodness in being asked. There are physical benefits, as well, such as being able to have a hot shower, a bit of human conversation, as well as being immersed in others' way of life and their perspectives, needs, and environment.
This consecrated Catholic hermit has been so slogged into the temporal dregs of existence and the temporal aspects of pain recently, that friends out there far beyond, have been uplifting the hermit with prayers and words of encouragement in emails. The hermit is reminded just how very much aspects of temporal life, of that which is below, can hinder the mind, heart, and spirit from seeking the things of God and seeing His Beautiful.
The hermit's will is obviously weak, and the physical pain reduces the mind and emotions to lessened ability to perceive what otherwise could be overlooked.
A child mentioned that its two cats that love him dearly, have lately started to ignore him when someone else comes around. The cats, he says, go to the other person rather than loyally sticking by him and playing. So he said he had stopped playing much with his cats, since surely they did not care that much for him anymore....
An adult made some comments that rather wounded the emotions. Then a parent made comments regarding the child, regarding how frustrating, and why does he not just do as asked? Why go against what he is told, when it would be so simple to just do as asked and then have the time to play, and so forth? The child's choices and ploys were getting to the parent, just as some of the adult's comments to the hermit had gotten to the hermit.
Then the reminder came from what the hermit had been reading and realizing as insights from His Real Presence and the Living Word just last week in the daily Gospel readings at Mass. Do not be of earth, or below; seek that which is above, be with God above. And, the hermit remembered what it was already noticing in its own life when the temporal fought for the mind and heart and spirit's attention, sucking it back into the below, into the dragnets of the temporal--and not of that of the temporal which leads and assists us to seek the things of God above and to find God's Beautiful.
So the hermit mentioned to the child that his cats were playing "mind games" with him. "Don't let those two rascal cats get away with it! Just keep playing with and loving them. Don't let them pull this over on you or get you to think they do not love you as much as they always have. They are just being little 'kiddies.'"
Then the hermit mentioned to the adult, the parent, to keep a sense of humor and not let the child play "mind games" with her. Pull the bluff with the child. Pick and choose the issues to confront and the ones of which the child is seeking a childish reaction or attempting to get the parent's "goat."
Then the hermit reminded itself to not let the comments of others to get it down, to pull it back to the temporal and to self, and the self of the temporal aspects that stymie and do not lead the hermit's mind, heart, and spirit to the things of God. And keep trying to not let the temporal pain remain in the temporal aspects that seem hopeless and so ravaging as to deplete the hermit and cause it to let down the armor of His Real Presence.
None of the comments, the bits of "mind games" we human "animals" play even if we do not mean to or realize, or the perceptions we hold from the past, of the temporal, are going to matter much. They are what they are, and we can ask forgiveness for things we have said and done no matter how they were perceived by others. But mostly we just have to keep existing by the grace of God in the Order of the Present Moment and go with God's flow.
Probably the best thing to seek of the things of God and His Beautiful, is His Perspective--His View. And the View of God--God's View--includes very much His View of His Created Temporal as it pertains to being treads and risers on the Stairway to Heaven.
Now, one last evening of civilization and temporal duty calls. The consecrated nothing Catholic hermit will drag its very painful physical body up and out of bed, make some supper for the child, drive him to a baseball game, and painfully sit and stand--down and up and up and down while watching the child play the sport, giving as much full attention in the temporal yet with the fullness of body, mind, heart, and spirit seeking God's View.
The previous baseball game a couple evenings ago featured an unexpected event. A young boy who had been skateboarding in the park nearby, fell and sustained a serious arm break. The bone was broken through the skin and muscle--plenty of blood and excruciating pain--and onlookers galore. Thankfully, a man guided the injured boy to a bench and called paramedics, and then notified the boy's mother. It took quite awhile, with the baseball game getting started amidst the ambulance and fire truck and medics working on the injured child, to get him stabilized in order to place him on a gurney and off to a hospital. A break like that is quite serious, including the shock that occurs. Spirit, emotions, mind...into bodily reactions, and then return through the process: body, mind, heart, spirit.
The consecrated Catholic hermit, a nothing to all but all to God, prayed for the child and watched the ballgame. We are all, always on call.
Am in civilization until another day, on call to help out a person asking assistance. It happens rarely, and yes, it is difficult physically especially when the pain is at the upper echelons. But there is a goodness in making the effort as well as a goodness in being asked. There are physical benefits, as well, such as being able to have a hot shower, a bit of human conversation, as well as being immersed in others' way of life and their perspectives, needs, and environment.
This consecrated Catholic hermit has been so slogged into the temporal dregs of existence and the temporal aspects of pain recently, that friends out there far beyond, have been uplifting the hermit with prayers and words of encouragement in emails. The hermit is reminded just how very much aspects of temporal life, of that which is below, can hinder the mind, heart, and spirit from seeking the things of God and seeing His Beautiful.
The hermit's will is obviously weak, and the physical pain reduces the mind and emotions to lessened ability to perceive what otherwise could be overlooked.
A child mentioned that its two cats that love him dearly, have lately started to ignore him when someone else comes around. The cats, he says, go to the other person rather than loyally sticking by him and playing. So he said he had stopped playing much with his cats, since surely they did not care that much for him anymore....
An adult made some comments that rather wounded the emotions. Then a parent made comments regarding the child, regarding how frustrating, and why does he not just do as asked? Why go against what he is told, when it would be so simple to just do as asked and then have the time to play, and so forth? The child's choices and ploys were getting to the parent, just as some of the adult's comments to the hermit had gotten to the hermit.
Then the reminder came from what the hermit had been reading and realizing as insights from His Real Presence and the Living Word just last week in the daily Gospel readings at Mass. Do not be of earth, or below; seek that which is above, be with God above. And, the hermit remembered what it was already noticing in its own life when the temporal fought for the mind and heart and spirit's attention, sucking it back into the below, into the dragnets of the temporal--and not of that of the temporal which leads and assists us to seek the things of God above and to find God's Beautiful.
So the hermit mentioned to the child that his cats were playing "mind games" with him. "Don't let those two rascal cats get away with it! Just keep playing with and loving them. Don't let them pull this over on you or get you to think they do not love you as much as they always have. They are just being little 'kiddies.'"
Then the hermit mentioned to the adult, the parent, to keep a sense of humor and not let the child play "mind games" with her. Pull the bluff with the child. Pick and choose the issues to confront and the ones of which the child is seeking a childish reaction or attempting to get the parent's "goat."
Then the hermit reminded itself to not let the comments of others to get it down, to pull it back to the temporal and to self, and the self of the temporal aspects that stymie and do not lead the hermit's mind, heart, and spirit to the things of God. And keep trying to not let the temporal pain remain in the temporal aspects that seem hopeless and so ravaging as to deplete the hermit and cause it to let down the armor of His Real Presence.
None of the comments, the bits of "mind games" we human "animals" play even if we do not mean to or realize, or the perceptions we hold from the past, of the temporal, are going to matter much. They are what they are, and we can ask forgiveness for things we have said and done no matter how they were perceived by others. But mostly we just have to keep existing by the grace of God in the Order of the Present Moment and go with God's flow.
Probably the best thing to seek of the things of God and His Beautiful, is His Perspective--His View. And the View of God--God's View--includes very much His View of His Created Temporal as it pertains to being treads and risers on the Stairway to Heaven.
Now, one last evening of civilization and temporal duty calls. The consecrated nothing Catholic hermit will drag its very painful physical body up and out of bed, make some supper for the child, drive him to a baseball game, and painfully sit and stand--down and up and up and down while watching the child play the sport, giving as much full attention in the temporal yet with the fullness of body, mind, heart, and spirit seeking God's View.
The previous baseball game a couple evenings ago featured an unexpected event. A young boy who had been skateboarding in the park nearby, fell and sustained a serious arm break. The bone was broken through the skin and muscle--plenty of blood and excruciating pain--and onlookers galore. Thankfully, a man guided the injured boy to a bench and called paramedics, and then notified the boy's mother. It took quite awhile, with the baseball game getting started amidst the ambulance and fire truck and medics working on the injured child, to get him stabilized in order to place him on a gurney and off to a hospital. A break like that is quite serious, including the shock that occurs. Spirit, emotions, mind...into bodily reactions, and then return through the process: body, mind, heart, spirit.
The consecrated Catholic hermit, a nothing to all but all to God, prayed for the child and watched the ballgame. We are all, always on call.
No comments:
Post a Comment