What is the Grille of the Cloistered Heart?

 

The grille is a powerful symbol. I would go so far as to say that, in the cloistered heart way of life I’m describing, it is the important symbol. It is a place of separation and, just as importantly, it is a place of encounter. It is only through the grille that some cloistered individuals (in a number of communities) connect with the world.

Every human being has been given, by God, a way to connect with the world. A way to see situations correctly; a way to interact with others appropriately.

God invites each one of us to view and respond to every person and every circumstance through His will.

We do not have to guess what that will is. God has revealed it to us. Scripture and the authentic teachings of the Church make up the bars of our grille.

Am I facing a hardship? I can face it through the grille.“God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him…” (Romans 8:28).   

“We do not fix our gaze on what is seen but on what is unseen…” (2 Corinthians 4:18).  

Some Scriptures That Form "Bars of My Grille":

"Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God's will, what is good, pleasing and perfect."  (Romans 12:0)

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no fruit, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

"We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his decree." (Romans 8:28)

"...we can even boast of our afflictions! We know that affliction makes for endurance, and endurance for tested virtue, and tested virtue for hope. And this hope will not leave us disappointed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5)

"I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)

"Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)

"No test has been sent you that does not come to all men. Besides, God keeps his promise. He will not let you be tested beyond your strength.  Along with the test he will give you a way out of it so that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

"We have put our hope in him who will never cease to deliver us." (2 Corinthians 1:10)

**This is an excerpt from the CloisteredHeart.org page, "The Grille".

Revisiting the Grille

The grille is a powerful symbol.  In the cloistered heart way of life we describe here, it is the important symbol.  It is a place of separation and, just as importantly, it is a place of encounter.  It is only through the grille that some cloistered individuals connect with the world.

Every human being has been given, by God, a way to connect with the world.  A way to see situations correctly; a way to interact with others appropriately.

God invites each one of us to view and respond to every person and every circumstance through His will.

We do not have to guess what that will is.  God has revealed it to us.  Scripture and the authentic teachings of the Church make up the bars of our grille.

One exercise that I've found helpful over the years is to write scriptures on pictures of grillwork, or sometimes on pieces of plain cardboard on which I've drawn a simple 'grid' of squares. I have gone so far as to cut out the holes on some of these.  It's a simple little 'craft,' but it does help drive the point home for me. I am not so good at remembering to see and respond to people and circumstances 'through the grille,' so I benefit from a stream of tangible reminders.

The important thing, of course, is to become familiar with my 'grillwork.' I have a number of Bibles in my home - do I read them? 

Do I spend time in prayer with Scripture?

Do I allow the Word of God to form my mind and heart, so I can interact with the world as I am called to do?

As I have been writing this, I've been constantly reminded of a television commercial (I think for insurance) in which someone asks about the contents of our wallets. The contents of our minds are obviously of much more importance.  'Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God's will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.'  (Romans 12:0). It is a vital bar of our grille.

The grillwork of God's Word to us is perfect, made-for-us-insurance when we face the world around us.

What's on YOUR grille?

This is a repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'

© 2017 N. Shuman
theCloisteredHeart.org

Revisiting The Grille

The grille is a powerful symbol.  I would go so far as to say that, in the cloistered heart way of life I’m describing, it is the important symbol.  It is a place of separation and, just as importantly, it is a place of encounter.  It is only through the grille that some cloistered individuals (in a number of communities) connect with the world. 

And the truth is: every human being has been given, by God, a way to connect with the world.  A way to see situations correctly; a way to interact with others appropriately.

God invites each one of us to view and respond to every person and every circumstance through His will.

We do not have to guess what that will is.  God has revealed it to us.  Scripture and the authentic teachings of the Church make up the bars of our grille.

Am I facing a hardship?  I can face it through the grille. “God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him…”  (Romans 8:28).   

“We do not fix our gaze on what is seen but on what is unseen…” (2 Corinthians 4:18).  In days to come, may God open us more fully to the grillwork of His will.

This is a repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'

For the past few days, we've been providing links for those who might like to have a look around the archives. Because the symbol of grillwork is central to the Cloistered Heart analogy, I encourage anyone wondering 'what that's all about' to click on the following explanations:

To See or Not to See. The Choice is Mine.

Grabbing the Grille

We Find the View Through the Grille

Salesmen in the Foyer

Positively, Grillwork

When Light Encounters Darkness 

This and That, as Seen Through the Grille 

Text not in quotes © 2016 Nancy Shuman
thecloisteredheart.org 

To Face the World

Sometimes I want to hide away in a quiet corner, far from news reports, political distresses, moral confusion, celebrations of sin, and input from a world going mad. Sometimes I simply want to close the blinds on windows and grilles.

But Our Lord has not called me to live inside a physical enclosure. In our cloistered heart analogy, the "symbol" is grillwork... not brick walls. 

"The Name of the Lord is a strong tower; the just man runs into it and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10)

What is my strong tower? Not stonework. That would be much too fragile. Stones are subject to crumbling. The Name of the Lord is not.  

I am not called to flee from the world. I'm called to face it, day after day after day, but I do not have to do so unaided. I am called to relate to the world through the will of God. I can pray for the world, and deal with every situation and every person I encounter or even hear of, through the "grillwork" of the will of God.  I can run to Our Lord and I can remain in Him.  

As I cling to Jesus, He gives me all I need to face the world.

"We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his decree." (Romans 8:28)

 
'We are afflicted in every way possible, but we are not crushed; full of doubts, we never despair.  We are persecuted but never abandoned; we are struck down but never destroyed.' (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

'You are my shelter; from distress you keep me.  With safety, You ring me around.' (Psalm 32:7)

'God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Thus we do not fear, though the earth be shaken and the mountains quake to the depths of the sea; though its waters rage and foam and mountains totter at its surging. The Lord of hosts is with us.  Our stronghold is the God of Jacob.' (Psalm 46:2-4)

This is a slightly edited repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled To You and Theology Is A Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'  
 
© N Shuman.
thecloisteredheart.org       

Photo via Pixabay

When Light Encounters Darkness

We live in uncertain times. God is our refuge and safety (we remind ourselves), and if we dwell in Him and in His will we are in the safest place of all.

Yet our feelings may be questioning us on this matter.  Fear can easily disarm us.  We might find ourselves dealing with worry, depression, anxiety, confusion, distress. In the presence of unsettling circumstances, it can be tough to find what we've referred to as 'the view through the grille.'

"I am sometimes afraid to look at the world outside and even at the circumstances in my own life.... there is so much darkness to be found. But if I were to stand in a physical cloister filled with light, would I be afraid to look 'through the grille' for fear that darkness would flood through the grille and turn my light into dark? No, for when darkness and light encounter one another, light is always the winner! Darkness never floods into the light. Instead, light flows into darkness and changes at least a portion of it into light." (NS, 1996)

For personal reflection:

- What situations are uppermost in my mind just now?

-  Is anything worrying or troubling me?

-  Are there particular scriptures "through which I can view and respond to" these situations?

(for an explanation of what we mean by "the grille," click this line)  

(I personally find a concordance useful in looking up scriptures on various topics. Concordances are available for Catholic (in "exhaustive" and "concise" editions) and Protestant Bibles. 


This is a slightly edited repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled To You and Theology Is A Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'  
 
© N Shuman.
thecloisteredheart.org       

Revisiting the Two-Way Grille

I have realized something.

The grille works both ways.

When we speak of seeing and responding to every person and every situation through the "grillwork of the will of God," we're not talking about hiding behind a one-way mirror. Ours is usually hidden "grillwork," yes, and we can love God with all our hearts without calling a lot of attention to that fact.

But the grille works both ways. Not only do we see others through it; they can see us "through it" as well. Oh, they don't see our faces criss-crossed, and we generally look just like everyone else TO everyone else.  But if we're interacting with the world "through the will of God," sooner or later our point of view is going to show.

My realization occurred when I saw (again) the symbol used by some as a sign of solidarity with persecuted Christians. I considered what it would take to boldly proclaim "I am a follower of Jesus Christ" when facing an executioner.  I will not deny Him, I cannot follow other gods, I live for Jesus, I am firmly and forever Christian... could I make such proclamations? I like to think so.

But wait. Do I, in my comfortable everyday life, ever downplay or hide the fact that I'm Christian? Do I sometimes, with some people, feel embarrassed about my love of God / stance on life issues / stance on moral issues? Do I fear ridicule, teasing, arguments, being called a holy roller or a holier-than-thou?  Am I ever hesitant to wear a cross, or to hang a crucifix on the wall of my home? Am I concerned that others will think I'm not politically correct?

A woman entering a fully cloistered monastery gets past these issues. She has to. She will interact with family and friends through the grille for the rest of her life, and she'll always be recognized (instantly) as a follower of Jesus. Those meeting her will not forget that she's a Christian; they'll be reminded every time they see her through the bars. She has decided to live for God and to allow others to see her doing so.

When I stand up for Scripture and authentic Church teaching, I'm allowing myself to be seen as a dedicated follower of Christ. I am standing in genuine solidarity with my Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world. I am saying, in effect, that Jesus is my Lord and Savior, and I'm willing to let the whole wide world know that. I choose to live inside the grillwork of the will of God.

The grille works both ways.


This is a repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday..

© 2014 N Shuman thecloisteredheart.org 

Photo by C Wells

Our Grille

'The Grille of a Cloistered Heart is the will of God.  As some monasteries have grillwork through which those in the cloister interact with the world outside, we can have spiritual 'grillwork.'  We can practice seeing and responding to every person and every situation through God's will as revealed to us in Scripture and the teachings of the Church.' 

 











© Nancy Shuman
thecloisteredheart.org   

Revisiting a Culture Ungrilled

Monastery grilles are normally set into walls, so there is essentially no getting around them. The grille in this photo would have been in such a situation in its original state. As it is now, however, it's on public display to illustrate how the set-up once worked.

As persons who live in the world, we are not enclosed by physical walls and grilles. If we want to respond to all things "through the grillwork of the will of God" (in other words, through Scripture and Church teaching), we must make a conscious effort to "see" that grille before us. Such seeing does not come automatically, and the culture we live in doesn't help us. 

In fact, if we really pay attention to what God says about (insert topic here), we are likely to find a real conflict between God's revealed will and what we're told by the world around. Scripture and Church teaching are clear on how to think according to the basics of God's will, but how often would we rather ignore the clarity? We can find it quite easy to succumb to the murkiness of what is most commonly thought, tolerated, said, believed, done.

It is not difficult to find God's "mind" on a particular subject. We have Scripture, and we've been given the marvelous tool of the Official Catechism of the Catholic Church. There is not much that can't be found therein, and there we can find the basic "bars of the grille."  

I love the photo a friend provided for this post, because I feel it shows our exact situation. We can choose to view and respond to situations through the grillwork of the will of God .... or we can move away at any time. We can simply get up, or lean just a little, and we're suddenly seeing life "un-grilled and raw."  

Thankfully we don't have to stay ungrilled, however. Jesus is always waiting to help us get back to where we belong.
 
We live in the midst of an ungrilled culture. With one click of a TV button or computer mouse, we come face to face with life as it was not intended, by God, to be. 

If we compare what we see around us to what's in Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, how many examples might we find of "a culture ungrilled?" 




This is an edited repost from June, 2012. It is being linked with Theology Is A Verb and Reconciled To You for 'It’s Worth Revisiting Wednesday'   

Text not in quotes © 2015 Nancy Shuman. 
thecloisteredheart.org     

 
(photo by C Wells, at the Carmel of Port Tobacco in La Plata, Maryland, site of the first Carmelite monastery in the USA) 
 

What's Lurking in the Foyer?

I don't like it when ugly, vile, distressing thoughts barge into the 'foyer' of my mind. Because I haven't been called out of the world in a physical sense, these have fairly easy access. At any moment, they might whisper from newspapers, blare from TVs, and sneak in via conversations overheard in checkout lines.

I do have influence over some of what's allowed to enter. I know how to change a television channel.  I do not have to attend movies in which I know there are unacceptable scenes. I can often switch topics if someone's conversation veers into areas of gossip. I realize that once disturbing or sinful thoughts have gained admittance, they often set up camp and yammer at me through the grille for days or weeks to come.  They can cause my mind to wander into areas where I do not want it to go. If entertained, they can lead me right into sin.

I am well advised, therefore, to boot unholy ideas from my mind at the earliest possible moment. Mine is not a wise choice if I spend time with them, entertain them, or invite them in to sit down and present their case. "When an evil thought is presented to the mind," said St. Alphonsus Liguori, "we must immediately endeavour to turn our thoughts to God."

"Our thoughts should be wholly directed to all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise."  (Philippians 4:8)

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive, to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5)

"Certain attitudes deriving from the mentality of 'this present world' can penetrate our lives if we are not vigilant."  (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2727)

"Fix your thoughts on Jesus, Whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest." (Hebrews 3:1)

"Close your ears to the whisperings of hell and bravely oppose its onslaughts."  (St. Clare)

"Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God's will, His good, pleasing and perfect will."  (Romans 12:2)

"Disown by a brief and simple act every kind of thought that is contrary to divine love, saying: 'I renounce all thoughts that are not for You, O my God; I disown them and cast them off forever.'  And then when they attack you, you do not have to do anything except to say from time to time: 'O God I have rejected this, You know I have.'" (St. Francis de Sales)

Text not in quotes © 2015 Nancy Shuman thecloisteredheart.org 

A Way Through That Wall

Picture Attribution

I never want to be separated from the love of God. So I'm thankful to have the following as a vital piece of my grillwork:  "I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor powers, neither height nor depth nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

I read these words a second time, and a third, and I let their power wash over me.  Time cannot conquer this astonishing love, death itself cannot separate me from it. No distance anywhere will ever be too far.

However, if I look closely at the "grille" (Scripture and the teachings of the Church), I do find one specific thing that can put a wall between me and the love of God.

"Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become 'like gods,' knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus 'love of oneself even to contempt of God.' In this proud self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation." (Catechism of the Catholic Church n.1850)

"If we say, 'we are free of the guilt of sin,' we deceive ourselves; the truth is not to be found in us. But if we acknowledge our sins, He who is just can be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrong." (1 John 1:8-9)

"If I cannot perceive God because of sin," I wrote here several years ago, "maybe it works both ways. Maybe He can't see ME.  Maybe He'll forget all about me, and then He won't notice that I'm living in sin. Maybe there isn't any such thing as sin; I mean, all I have to do is turn on TV to know that today's 'social norms' do not even seem to recognize its reality. 

"I can do a lot to hide that pesky wall. Add a bright coat of paint, plant some ivy, maybe even put up a hedge so I don't see the wall at all, in time. Sin can be made to look quite attractive and normal.  Just a spray of denial and a dulling of conscience, and I'm all set. 

"Except that I'm not.  I'm not set at all.  I'm walled off from God; and in my moments of honesty, I am miserable.  If I find myself in such a spot, I don't have to stay there.  If I am in serious sin, I daresay I know it. I might have tried fooling myself, playing some 'everybody's doing it' games in my head.  But I know...."

Thank God, there is a way through that wall. "If we confess our sins, He who is just can be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrong."  (1 John 1:9)

Lord Jesus Christ, I confess to You that I am a sinner.  In particular, I ask forgiveness for these  transgressions___________.  I am so sorry.  If my sins have been grave, help me get to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Give me the strength to turn away from sin and temptation, and to avoid occasions that would lead me into sin.  Thank You for Your grace and mercy.  I ask You to break down any walls of sin that keep me from You.  Jesus, I trust in You.  Amen.

Painting: Artgate Fondazione Cariplo - Molteni Giuseppe, La confessione, courtesy of Wikimedia. Click here for link.

THIS Much

"How much does Mommy love you?" I often asked my children when they were toddlers. It was my own variation on the "how big are you?" question, the one asked of little ones who respond with arms held wide as a parent cries: "Sooooo big!!"

"How much does Mommy love you?" I would ask. Oh, how I loved it when a little one threw chubby arms out as far as he could reach, trying to baby-chant along with my joyful proclamation of "Thiiiiis much!!"

I wanted my children to realize how much I loved them. I just wanted them to know.

Such knowledge could provide, I knew, a hedge around those days when these little ones would be tempted to doubt their parents' love, especially when they got old enough to need guidance through discipline. And what about when peers, long in the future, pushed my teens to join in activities of which Mommy and Daddy wouldn't approve?  ("mean old parents, only out to keep us from having fun; everything we want to do they say NO to. They must not care about us at ALL"). As a parent, I wanted them to be well grounded in the security that, even when Mom and Dad said "no," they were loved.

Sometimes I've doubted the love of my own Parent. I've allowed myself dark moments of wondering if my heavenly Father could really love a sinner like me. When such doubts come, I'm vulnerable to a particular kind of peer pressure - the kind that whispers (generally not in words) that my heavenly Father is distant from my little life, that He doesn't really care.

If that happens, I know where to turn.  To (of course) the grillwork. To what God Himself assures me in Scripture and Church teaching.  He loves me, and He loves you: that is the truth.

How much does He love us?

This much.....

"Love, then, consists in this: not that we have loved God, but that He has loved us and has sent His Son as an offering for our sins." (1 John 4:10)

"It is precisely in this that God proves His love for us:  that while we were still sinners. Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

"He who obeys the commandments he has from Me is the man who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I too will love him and reveal Myself to him." (John 14:21)
 
"By embracing in His human heart the Father's love for men, Jesus 'loved them to the end,' for 'greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' In suffering and death, his humanity became the free and perfect instrument of divine love which desires the salvation of men. Indeed, out of love for his Father and for men, whom the Father wants to save, Jesus freely accepted His Passion and death." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 609)

"St. John goes even further when he affirms that 'God is love.' God's very being is love. By sending His only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." (Catechism no. 221)

"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us." (St. Augustine)

"Our Lord loves you and loves you tenderly." (St. Pio)




Text not in quotes© 2015 Nancy Shuman. 
thecloisteredheart.org    



Painting at top: Sir William Quiller Orchardson, Master Baby (detail)
Crucifix photo from Pixabay

Eye Has Not Seen...

"Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)

It is Easter, and thoughts have turned toward heavenly things. Dark has been overcome by Light. Life has conquered death. Truth has shattered lies.

Looking around the world in which we live, however, we might be starting to wonder. We see so much darkness. Death appears to win more battles than we care to think about. Shoving truth aside, lies strut around proud and haughty and apparently triumphant. Just imagine there's no heaven, we were told in song forty years ago; imagine no hell. And that, it seems, is precisely what the world has been doing - imagining that this life is all there is.

I would like to spend the next few weeks looking through the grillwork, considering how various ideas do or do not line up with what is "on our grille."  I find the world's current view of eternity (for instance) quite obvious. It's hard to miss that view if we have read a newspaper lately, or turned on a TV.  The world, as a whole, appears to be imagining that there are no consequences whatsoever for the choices we make.

But what do Scripture and Church teaching have to say on the matter?

It is only through reading the Bible and authentic teachings of the Church that we shall ever find the "view through the grille."

"Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself." (Philippians 3:20-21)

"Blest are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of slander against you because of Me. Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven." (Matthew 5:10-11)

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father Who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21

"Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."  Matthew 10:28

"By virtue of our apostolic authority, we define the following: According to the general disposition of God the souls of all the saints... and other faithful who died after receiving Christ's holy Baptism... already before they take up their bodies again and before the general judgement... have been, are and will be in heaven, in the heavenly Kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1023)

"Let us never forget the sublime end of man, which is to be happy forever in a blessed eternity." (St. John Bosco)


Text not in quotes© 2015 Nancy Shuman. 
thecloisteredheart.org     

Painting: Louis Janmot, Poème de l'âme, in US public domain due to age {PD-US}

And Our Grille is...

Sometimes I look at the world and feel unsettled.  Perhaps that’s why I’m so grateful to have grillwork. I am glad to be able to respond to world situations, the media, and various circumstances of life “through the grillwork of the will of God."  

I do not have to guess what that will is. God has revealed it.  Scripture and the authentic teachings of the Church make up the bars of my "grille."

I compare this way of seeing to the view a nun might have of someone in her foyer.  Sister stands at the grille, looking out at whoever stands before her.  The foyer is a public part of the monastery, accessible to almost anyone.  In my monastery, I see the "foyer" as my mind.  I invite thoughts there by what I see and hear, but I have little control over what might come in uninvited.  If I turn on TV or walk into a store, all sorts of things push in.  Some are like salesmen in a monastery foyer, displaying catalogs of their wares.  “Have you worried about this today?” the thoughts ask. “Look at this new line of fears - tailor made just for YOU!”  

"God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)  I ask God to impress this truth upon me.

“But consider the pain you’ve been feeling!!” the thoughts insist.
"I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18).  I recite this bar of my grille over and over.

“…But look at you!  You are weak and helpless!”   
“In Him Who is the source of my strength I have strength for everything.” (Philippians 4:13).

And on it goes.  Finding the view is not easy.  I try every day; I fail every day.  But with every “success,” it seems the grillwork grows stronger before me.  It is how God invites me to meet the world.  

"During this changeable life, one must preserve a steady and imperturbable evenness of spirit.  Although everything may change around us, we must keep the serene glance of our soul constantly turned to God. ” (St. Francis de Sales)

(the above is comprised of several posts from our archives)


© Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org     

N Shuman photo

Grabbing the Grille

'The person going into full physical enclosure,' I wrote some years ago, 'has a certain advantage. Grillwork is planted firmly in her walls. Once she enters the cloister, her entire outer environment is suddenly changed.

I, however, make the decision to cloister my heart, and the walls around my body are just the same as they were before the decision was made.

So mine is a challenging enclosure, and while I do not say it's any more difficult (certainly) than physically cloistered life, I do say it presents challenges. I get up in the morning and am not automatically reminded by my surroundings of the choice I've made to live for God. I see the same people and find no grillwork before them, so I must be reminded to relate to them as God asks me to do.'

A person with perfect vision pops out of bed each day and sees across the room with no problem. For some of us, this is not the case. I, for instance, inherited nearsightedness from my father. In order to see the world around me, I must begin my day by grabbing my glasses and placing them before my eyes. 

Having inherited original sin from my earliest father, I cannot see life correctly without help. In order to see through the 'grillwork' of Scripture and authentic Church teaching, I must know this 'grillwork' and I must practice living 'through' it.
 
God has given the perfect prescription for seeing clearly. But in order for the clarity to happen, I must accept the prescription, use it, and keep it ever before my eyes. 

I need to grab the Bible, every day. I need to grab it and hold onto it for dear, eternal life.

'The natural man does not accept what is taught by the Spirit of God. For him, that is absurdity.  He cannot come to know such teaching because it must be appraised in a spiritual way.' (1 Corinthians 2:14) 


Grillwork photo © C Wells
Glasses photo from public domain; digitally altered 
Text not in quotes © 2015 Nancy Shuman. 
thecloisteredheart.org     

To Face the World

Cloister of the heart is a place of refuge. It is a place inviolate, where I can remain with Jesus in a traffic jam, a restaurant, a mall.  "The heart is the dwelling place where I am, where I live," states the Catechism." ... the heart is the place 'to which I withdraw.'  The heart is our hidden center,  beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2563) 

Sometimes I want to hide deep within this refuge, in a quiet corner far from news reports, rumors of wars, political distresses, moral confusion, fears of illness, celebrations of sin, and input from a world going mad. Sometimes I simply want to close the blinds on windows and grilles.

But Our Lord has not called me to live inside a physical enclosure. In our cloistered heart analogy, the "symbol" is grillwork... not brick walls. 

"The Name of the Lord is a strong tower; the just man runs into it and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10)

What is my strong tower? Not stonework. That would be much too fragile. 

Stones are subject to crumbling. The Name of the Lord is not.  

I am not called to flee from the world. I'm called to face it, day after day after day, but I do not have to do so unaided. I am called to relate to the world through the will of God. I can pray for the world - and deal with every situation and every person I encounter or even hear of - through the "grillwork" of the will of God.  I can run to Our Lord and I can remain in Him.  

As I cling to Jesus, He gives me all I need to face the world.

"We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his decree." (Romans 8:28)

"I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)

"God keeps his promise. He will not let you be tested beyond your strength.  Along with the test he will give you a way out of it so that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

 
'Even though I walk through a dark valley, I fear no evil, for You are at my side.' (Psalm 23:4)

'Be firm and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.' (Joshua 1:9)

'We are afflicted in every way possible, but we are not crushed; full of doubts, we never despair.  We are persecuted but never abandoned; we are struck down but never destroyed.' (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is my life's refuge; of whom should I be afraid?' (Psalm 27:1)

'You are my shelter; from distress you keep me.  With safety, You ring me around.' (Psalm 32:7)

'God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Thus we do not fear, though the earth be shaken and the mountains quake to the depths of the sea; though its waters rage and foam and mountains totter at its surging. The Lord of hosts is with us.  Our stronghold is the God of Jacob.' (Psalm 46:2-4)

'Though my flesh and heart fail, God is the rock of my heart; my portion forever.' (Psalm 73:26)

'Our help is in the Name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.' (Psalm 124:8)

The Grille Works Both Ways

I realized something today.

The grille works both ways.

When we speak of seeing and responding to every person and every situation through the "grillwork of the will of God," we're not talking about hiding behind a one-way mirror. Ours is usually hidden "grillwork," yes, and we can love God with all our hearts without calling a lot of attention to that fact.

But the grille works both ways. Not only do we see others through it; they can see us "through it" as well. Oh, they don't see our faces criss-crossed, and we generally look just like everyone else TO everyone else.  But if we're interacting with the world "through the will of God," sooner or later our point of view is going to show.

My realization occurred when I saw (again) the symbol now being used by some as a sign of solidarity with persecuted Christians. I considered what it would take to boldly proclaim "I am a follower of Jesus Christ" when facing an executioner.  I will not deny Him, I cannot follow other gods, I live for Jesus, I am firmly and forever Christian... could I make such proclamations? I like to think so.

But wait. Do I, in my comfortable everyday life, ever downplay or hide the fact that I'm Christian? Do I sometimes, with some people, feel embarrassed about my love of God / stance on life issues / stance on moral issues? Do I fear ridicule, teasing, arguments, being called a holy roller or a holier-than-thou?  Am I ever hesitant to wear a cross, or to hang a crucifix on the wall of my home? Am I concerned that others will think I'm not politically correct?

A woman entering a fully cloistered monastery gets past these issues. She has to. She will interact with family and friends through the grille for the rest of her life, and she'll always be recognized (instantly) as a follower of Jesus. Those meeting her will not forget that she's a Christian; they'll be reminded every time they see her through the bars. She has decided to live for God and to allow others to see her doing so.

When I stand up for Scripture and authentic Church teaching, I'm allowing myself to be seen as a dedicated follower of Christ. I am standing in genuine solidarity with my Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world. I am saying, in effect, that Jesus is my Lord and Savior, and I'm willing to let the whole wide world know that. I choose to live inside the grillwork of the will of God.

The grille works both ways.  


Photo: Klausurgitter der Visitandinnen, in US public domain due to age. Digitally altered for color.

To See or Not to See. The Choice is Mine.

I was sixteen when I learned that trees had individual leaves; at least, ones visible from more than a few feet away. I literally gasped in wonder when I put on my first pair of glasses and watched wide blobs of green become defined, distinct, individual shapes that waved and fluttered in the wind.  Having been nearsighted since childhood, I'd grown up unaware that the world was anything other than one huge, smeary blur.  

In an instant my faulty perception changed, and suddenly houses had windows, teachers had faces, and almost everyone I knew had strands of hair. My whole way of seeing was altered. I was able to see things as they really were - not merely as I’d imagined them.

In spite of such sudden clarity, however, I did not wear my new glasses regularly.  Having glimpsed the marvels of clocks with numbers and billboards with words, I usually found myself choosing the same old blurry life I’d become accustomed to over the years.  Why?

Mostly because I was concerned with “what people would think.” Allowing myself to be seen in spectacles?  It wasn't a pleasant prospect. I let vanity and self-concern keep me from interacting with life as it really was.

In addition, some part of me was simply comfortable with the same old blur. “The blur” was all I'd known. To realize that things were not actually as I’d perceived them was an adjustment. 

Besides: if I saw the time on a clock, I would have no excuse if I were late for class. If I could read what Mr. Miller wrote on the blackboard, my conscience might nudge me to tackle an Algebra problem. In a very real way, I didn't want to handle too much reality, too fast. 

Learning to see as God wants us to see is, in effect, like putting on a pair of glasses. The lenses of Scripture and Church teaching bring into focus the reality of things as they are.  They correct misconceptions we might have held, perhaps for so many years that we hadn't realized they even were misconceptions.  They challenge us to "not worry"… "love your enemies"…. "sin no more"...."do not lay up for yourselves an earthly treasure"……

I find myself faced with a choice as I write this. Will I put on the lenses God has prescribed for me..... or not? Maybe I'm willing to look at a few things through them, but what about some of those "tougher" issues. 

Am I so comfortable with the same old blurry way of looking at things that I find Our Lord’s words threatening?  

Am I so concerned about “what people think” that I'm reluctant to be seen as someone who takes Scripture and Church teaching seriously?

I can look at life as the secular world tells me to, or I can use the prescription God has clearly written out for me. 

Rx: "Grille Eyes."  The corrective lenses of Scripture and the teachings of the Church.  

To see or not to see. The choice is mine.

Georgios Jakobides painting, digitally altered

Today, We Need the Grille

Anyone who has seen the news lately knows that we live in uncertain times. God is our refuge and safety (we remind ourselves), and if we dwell in Him and in His will we are in the safest place of all.

Yet our feelings may be questioning us on this matter.  Fear can easily disarm us.  We might find ourselves dealing with worry, depression, anxiety, confusion, distress. In the presence of unsettling circumstances, it can be tough to find what we've referred to as "the view through the grille."

"I am sometimes afraid to look at the world outside and even at the circumstances in my own life.... there is so much darkness to be found. But if I were to stand in a physical cloister filled with light, would I be afraid to look 'through the grille' for fear that darkness would flood through the grille and turn my light into dark? No, for when darkness and light encounter one another, light is always the winner! Darkness never floods into the light. Instead, light flows into darkness and changes at least a portion of it into light." (from book The Cloistered Heart)

I ask myself:  what situations are uppermost in my mind just now? Is anything worrying or troubling me?  If so, perhaps particular scriptures can be helpful, especially if I think of those as "bars of my grille."  A concordance is (for me) pretty indispensible in finding particular passages, and in fact I just went searching for an online version. This link, which I have not really used but have just discovered, seems promising: https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/  It offers various Protestant Bible translations, but there is also a Douay-Rheims.

Thank you also to the commenter who suggested this link:  http://www.catholiccrossreference.com/bible/nab-search.cgi  This one looks quite helpful, so I came back to include it here.

In addition, I hope to share (in the following days) some "bars of the grille" that have helped me as I've have faced particular situations. I have been busy gathering those lately, so if you hear hammering echoing through these hallways, that might just be me... nailing together a few panels of grille....

(for an explanation of what we mean by "the grille," click this line) 

We Find the View Through the Grille

It takes practice to find the "view through the grille." We often simply forget to look at situations through it, because such envisioning is far from automatic.

As we know, we think of the grille being the will of God as this is revealed to us through Scripture and the teachings of the Church.  We strive to look at and respond to all circumstances through the will of God and thus through God Himself; and we can place the focus either on the circumstance or on the 'grille' of God's will.

In today's first photo, the focus is upon what is outside the grille - the "circumstance."  This is the way a Christian may often look at things in life.  We might have the will of God IN the picture, but when our focus is totally on the situation, then how God asks us to respond to that situation may be fuzzy and unclear.

We can so easily place our focus on temptations, illnesses, memories, circumstances; and when our focus is on these things, God and His truth and His will become fuzzy.

In the second picture, the grille is the focus.  We still see the situations, but our eyes do not dwell there.  We see circumstances and we deal with them, but we do so with our focus on the will of God.  As we go through the world, God remains dominant in our heart and thoughts and decisions. This is what we aim for; this is the ideal "view through the grille."

Distracting, troubling, difficult situations will be encountered by each of us.  Our goal is to become so focused upon God's word, God's will - in short, on God Himself - that He is the focal point of everything.  He is our focus. 

It takes time and practice to view life through the grille.  I practiced such "viewing" just recently.

I awoke that day feeling vaguely depressed.  I was achy, my (aging) joints were complaining, and I'd gone to sleep reading a book that for some reason was pulling me down.  Not a bad book by any means... but just not one that appeals much to me (I won't be finishing it).

Then I remembered words of scripture:  "put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61:3).

Ah HA!  I decided to sing hymns of praise.  I decided to utter a few (inner) spontaneous prayers.  

And yes, it genuinely "worked."  Even if I'd continued to feel low as the day went along, however, I could still keep choosing to praise God.  I don't have to "feel good" in order to praise Him.  He is good and holy and worthy of praise, and how I may or may not feel does nothing at all to change that reality.

In days to come, I'd like to explore more examples of finding the view through the grille.  If you would like to share a few of your own, I invite you to do so in the comments (yes, they're open here again).

Maybe it's time we practice, together, finding the view through the grille.....

© 2014 Nancy Shuman.
thecloisteredheart.org    

Photos on this post © N. Shuman 


For more about the cloistered heart grille, click this line