The Inward Sea - Howard Thurman

 

Howard Thurman.....photo from Scurlock Studio, Washington, DC. 

Heard this for the first time this past week.  So thankful for the powerful imagery.  God bless you, Howard Thurman!

Solitude or Isolation?

 There is a difference between solitude and isolation. One continuing impact of covid is that many of us remain isolated - disconnected or only tangentially related to the living breathing community of "our" people.  Solitude is a blessing.  Isolation can make us ill.

                                        Photo: © Ann Cahill  -  County Clare, Ireland - 2007   

From Blessed John O'Donohue....

Solitude is one of the most precious things in the human spirit. It is different from loneliness. When you are lonely, you become acutely conscious of your own separation. Solitude can be a homecoming to your own deepest belonging. One of the lovely things about us as individuals is the incommensurable in us. In each person, there is a point of absolute nonconnection with everything else and with everyone. This is fascinating and frightening. It means that we cannot continue to seek outside ourselves for things we need from within. The blessings for which we hunger are not to be found in other places or people. These gifts can only be given to you by yourself. They are at home at the hearth of your soul.

Excerpt from his book, Anam Cara, 25th Anniversary Edition.  Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/anam-cara

A Blessed Pentecost to You !

Icon by Kelly Latimore

 

Annual Clergy Retreat - The Episcopal Diocese of SC

 

Just returned from our annual Clergy Retreat and it was a fine time.  The average age of our clergy is decreasing and the joy among us is increasing.  TBTG!

Thou knowest, Lord.

 

A perfect anthem for Lent from Henry Purcell.. the text from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, Burial Office, Rite One.  

The text is one of the Anglican funeral sentences from the Book of Common Prayer. Early versions began possibly in 1672 and were revised twice before 1680. Purcell composed his last version, in a different style, for the 1695 Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary II.   From HERE

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts;

shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer;

but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty,

O holy and merciful Savior,

thou most worthy Judge eternal.

Suffer us not, at our last hour,

through any pains of death, to fall from thee.

The Feast Day of George Herbert -February 27.

 

Today is the feast day of George Herbert - 1593-1633 - one of my favorite poets.  At the link is a good write up about him.  His poem Unkindness is one that convicts me every single time I read and ponder it..

More about George Herbert

Unkindnesse

Lord, make me coy and tender to offend:

In friendship, first I think, if that agree,

Which I intend,

Unto my friends intent and end.

I would not use a friend, as I use Thee.

If any touch my friend, or his good name,

It is my honour and my love to free

His blasted fame

From the least spot or thought of blame.

I could not use a friend, as I use Thee.

My friend may spit upon my curious floor:

Would he have gold? I lend it instantly;

But let the poore,

And thou within them, starve at doore.

I cannot use a friend, as I use Thee.

When that my friend pretendeth to a place,

I quit my interest, and leave it free:

But when thy grace

Sues for my heart, I thee displace,

Nor would I use a friend, as I use Thee.

Yet can a friend what thou hast done fulfill?

O write in brasse, My God upon a tree

His bloud did spill

Onely to purchase my good-will.

Yet use I not my foes, as I use Thee.

This Demented Inn

 

                                                                Art: Fritz Eichenberg

"Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with those others who do not belong, who are rejected by power, because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world."  -  Thomas Merton

Post is from here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/thomasmertonpropheticwitness