Sorry for my silence, it's a busy time of year. I cut this out of the Magnificat for January, and it's on my desk among the various post-it notes and scraps:
When the holy abbot Antony was living in the desert, his soul fell into a weariness and confusion of thought, and he began saying to God, "Lord, I would be made whole and my thoughts will not suffer me. What shall I do in this tribulation, how shall I be whole?"
And in a little while, rising up, he began to walk in the open, and he saw someone, as it might be himself, sitting and working: and then rising from his work and praying: and again sitting down and making a plait of palm-leaves, and then rising once again to prayer.
Now it was an angel of the Lord sent to the reproof and warning of Antony. And he heard the voice of the angel, saying, "This do, and you shall be whole." And hearing it, he took great joy of it and courage. And in so doing, he found the deliverance that he sought.
- Saying of the Fathers, ca 150-400 AD
Ain't that just the feline's nightwear? We are to sit and work, rise and pray, sit and work, rise and pray. It's my only goal right now, and I pray that I and you may reach it.
God bless you. Now, get out of my office.
1 comments:
Once again, I find God getting me in mind of a season before we're in it. This seems Lenten to me -- simplified. focused, humble, willing.
What's hard for me is to give over the work I am not compelled to do. Since I have a multi-tasked schedule, I often can do the work I prefer to do at any particular time - or sluff off without getting caught. I hadn't realized how self-focused that can be.
Thanks, T.
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