Sunday November 29: In A Garment of Silence

[link to full email]: https://mailchi.mp/coutreach/word-of-the-week-nov29

[link to email excerpt]:  “Do we understand at last that action must be born in silence and abide in silence, and issue in silence, and that its power must be an emanation and the radiation of silence, since its sole aim is to make men capable of hearing the Word that silently reverberates in their souls?” – Maurice Zundel, Our Lady of Wisdom

 To Practice: A powerful way of embodying truth is by affirmation. In this way, what is outward and external as an idea becomes real and living, connected with inner spirit and conveying meaning. After reading from this day’s meditations, you may wish to choose a word or phrase as an affirmation and carry it with you throughout the coming Advent days.

This year the Advent Wreath sits around a Christmas cactus yet to bloom.  It will, in due course.  Who knows, maybe the warmth of the candle light will accelerate it.

As I begin this season, my current thought is to retain my prayer mantras as they are slowly becoming more and more invasive … a part of me off and on throughout the day.  Simply, they are YOU ARE!, which reminds me that the Divine Three are near, with and in me; Open My Heart, so I am more emotionally present and Love Flows (in and out) so I am aware of the Spirit’s grace and my role to bring it into the world.

This season, may you find quiet and know God’s presence, Christ’s healing powers and the Spirit’s grace.

I am a California native. In addition, I spent 8 years in Florida. So, winters in Albany, New York seemed much longer and darker than any other winters I had experienced.

 

It seemed that dusk began at 3 PM and then, ever so slowly, moved into darkness. It was the expectation of darkness, not the  darkness itself, that was foreboding. I often went inside at the beginning of the dusk and stayed there until it was fully dark. No matter the temperature, no matter my mood, dusk always brought chills. The physical shivers as the sun moved lower in the sky and the temperature dropped. But it was the inner chills that were filled with the dread of the unknown, the resistance to the impending  coldness of soul. It was those chills that I could never quite accept or trust. I am back in California now, but I often think of that northeastern dusk as our days get shorter. I realize now that the dusk was an invitation into a deeper part of me and of God.  Perhaps during this  Advent, I will be able to touch that dusky place and learn from it.

In Stillness

In stillness
when I decide
attempt
to usher in
quiet
and to listen
noticing as
my heart beat
gently vibrates somewhere
below my shoulder blades
left hand side
pulses a rhythm
a life-force
a gift
a pleasure
I am almost always too busy to notice.

In stillness
when awareness awakens me
to this music,
once in a while
I remember
to just enjoy this affirmation.

In stillness
waiting
and filled up with distractions
wondering,
I might ask a question
or two
like
who am I
or
why am I here
or
in utter boldness and curiosity,
who are YOU
the great I AM?

In stillness
I wait
and listen.

Charlie Kasch 2020

Charlie, Susan and Friend:  Your posts uplift me and provide an infusion of Beauty and remembrance, in-between answering emails and moving through a long list of to-do’s.  Each of you are a radiation of Silence and Being.  Deep bow.

i feel”over the moon” about the reflection and postings so far.  (grin). i sense that we are all speaking the same language…. without  words! weirdly, it isnt about hope for me even. it is about threadingthe needle of the present moment, between despair and hope. this morning i woke up in a state of anxiety about an up oming surgery for my husband in syracuse, 250 miles away. after staying hoome these many months, what are we to do? stay the night before  in a hotel and will i stay over  or drive home and back the next day?

i go and sit. silence calms. my mind stops and when my thinking resumes, it is slow. this stopping to  go into  silence makes these days a blessing.

meister eckhart says that multiplicity is our greatest attachment.

i was raised in syracuse and for 40 years have been near the canadian border. i actually like the darkness (although have needed a lamp for more light at times)., the worse the weather the more i want to go out in it. the other day i rode my bike by a hugr being next to the dirt path i was on. stopping, a snowy owl and i gazed in others eyes  for many minutes until a woman with a dog approached. as he took off over the st lawrence  river with his huge wing span dominating my view.

 

doesnt that just sum up this magical journdy we are on? endless mystery and beauty for those grAnted vision.

 

thank you all. kathy

roger housdden provided the image of “threading the needle of the present  moment”.

Sunday November 29: In A Garment of Silence

My mantra for this year is quite apt for Advent. It is four words I say on two breaths, as follows:

Inhale: Cease. Stop worry, frets, concerns before they can gain a toehold.

Exhale: Release. Breath those concerns out to God’s hands.

Inhale: Heal. Breathe in the calm of the Spirit’s healing.

Exhale: Peace. Send waves of the peace that passes understanding back into the world.

For Advent, I will focus on one word each week, taking it deeper into prayer. <3 linda

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