on accompaniment, attentiveness, and contribution
It’s a ridiculous idea, right?
The whole point of a poem is to slow down, savor the beauty of the words, and allow the meaning to emerge.
And yet, are we not often guilty of “speed reading” the best part of our lives? The people we have been given to love. The wonder of the natural world. The delightful complexity of our interior lives and our walk with God.
Let’s pray for the grace to read slowly.
The easy problems are all taken. That leaves the hard ones.
What an opportunity!
So, yes, the solution to the hard problem you have taken on is not immediately in sight.
But what is the next move? And once you move there, what can you see now that you could not see before?
Clarity may come once you move into the possibility adjacent to your current position.
Have you heard “You Can’t Make Old Friends” lately? The journey that the first two lines can take us on is worth the click.
Maybe I love the song because an old friend of mine loves it, but I think there is something more.
I think it represents one of the gentlest memento mori moments around, reminding us to consider what is most valuable to us and that we do not get forever to cultivate and delight in those relationships.
Happy (belated!) Feast of St. Ignatius!
Recently, to celebrate the feast day, I had the pleasure of joining a Loyola Press webinar on the “Audacity of Ignatian Spirituality.” Here it is! (Thanks to Joe and Denise for the helpful bookmarks throughout the recording.)
(And – hey – the name of that webinar reminds me of a cool little book!)
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