Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth
My choice from among the versions of the Aramaic translation by Neil Douglass- Klotz from Blessings of the Cosmos
Healthy are those who have softened what is rigid within; they shall receive physical vigor and strength from the universe
In the Lectio Divina, the last practice is not contemplation as we normally think of it, but rather a type of listening ....with an inner ear. I think of this as the suspension of thinking about the verse rather than an active type of thinking. Listening for a confirmation of the Lectio, or a deeper insight from the Meditatio or an answer of the Oratio, these three other ways to engage one verse, culminate in a process of “NOT doing.”
It is very difficult to “not” be doing something every waking moment of the day. Even when it looks like I am still, my mind is whirling. It has taken years of practice to learn to turn down the volume and I have trouble doing that if there are any distractions. Today, I noticed that I was able to NOT do…but just for a moment.
I had back to back meetings all day and one was with an important administrator. When I reached his office he was not there. I stood outside his door for a few moments. I was doing. I was waiting…and thinking that I must have gotten the time wrong…maybe I’m early…maybe he forgot….maybe something came up. Then I took a seat and got out my planner. Saw that I wasn’t late. Then I started to go over my upcoming appointments. I was doing, again. I was time-managing. Finally, when he didn’t come, I closed my planner and sat in the quiet and tried to NOT do. It took some effort to not listen to the copy machine sounds or the person on the phone in the next office or the far away sounds of doors closing but I did manage to capture a single precious moment of NOT doing…and then he came.
I noticed when we began the meeting that I wasn’t nervous about this meeting with an important person, like I thought I would be. Even when he gave me some disappointing news, I was able to see some benefit in the situation almost immediately. I felt like I was more focused during our meeting and able to listen better. I wanted to listen deeply so that I could really understand what he was saying. It was far easier to listen deeply after NOT doing than it would have been in my normal rushed and pre-occupied state.
Today’s Contemplatio provided me a lesson in softening my inner voice, the voice in my head. It is not rigid but it is often loud and overbearing and needs to be softened some time so that I can hear when the “Universe” attempts to give me my “physical vigor and strength”.
Healthy are those who have softened what is rigid within; they shall receive physical vigor and strength from the universe
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Try to NOT do for a couple of minutes. If your mind needs something to do in order to NOT do, try counting your breath on the inhale- 1,2,3,4,5 and repeat. Notice what there is to listen to. Notice how hard it is to NOT think. Notice how you feel.
If this is something that you would like to learn more about, make a note of that in your Notebook. If you found it very difficult and would rather not do the NOT do, make a note in your Notebook.
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