The Secret Behind Ironing

From a letter from our friend Rose:

'Ironing is the chore that always makes me feel closest to God. When I've done prayerful writing lately, it has been as a result of my reflections while I was ironing in front of my big windows, looking out over the fields behind our house.

My mother loved to iron. There were five of us little girls, all in a row, and my mother took great delight in ironing our little dresses with all the frills and lace and trim.

It wasn't until I had my own family that I discovered the secret behind ironing. It's a chore that must be done, yet it frees the mind to tend to things of the heart and soul while the hands keep busy.

I wonder if this is why my mother always seemed to smile while she ironed.....'


'We must try to converse with God in little ways while we do our work.' (Brother Lawrence) 

Painting: Edgar Degas

Still Carrying The Fire?

Some years ago, it occurred to me that a person desiring to live totally for God might feel like someone standing with a candle in an artificially lighted room. We have found, in Scripture and Holy Mother Church, the fire of God's love.  Holding in our hearts this genuine, precious Light of truth, often we find ourselves in the presence of something that appears to be light, but that is no more fire than a light bulb is fire.  

We have all experienced "artificial light."  We live surrounded by it. The world is drowning in it. It is the "light" that says we're doing just fine without God. It's the "light" that, if it credits God for even existing, shoves Him to the periphery and makes its own way without Him. It reminds us, in one way after another, that we are now "enlightened." We have harnessed electricity, been to the moon, decided when life is valuable enough (to us) to be born and when it's useless enough (to us) to end. It's quite convenient and tidy, this artificial light. It reveals the ingenuity of mankind, and it's more appealing than a messy candle that burns to a nub as it carries the flame. It is today's light, self-sufficient and broad-minded, and certainly more sophisticated than the humble flame once carried by John, Peter, Paul, Benedict, Francis, Therese. 

I suppose we would feel quite foolish if we were to stand around in electrically lighted rooms holding candles. We would know people were talking about us behind their hands, probably snickering, perhaps feeling sorry for someone so silly as to stand with an old fashioned candle in a lighted room. 

But what if there were a storm, a lightning strike, a downed power line?  What if the room suddenly fell into darkness?  It's at such times that people dash about in search of candles. 

Storms come to everyone, at some time or other. The artificial light reaches only so far. Regardless of how bathed in self-sufficiency a person may be, eventually there is sickness, there are crises, there are times when darkness falls and the lights we've relied upon all of our lives flicker out. We've all heard of churches filling up after widespread disasters, for it is often during times of storm when people go in search of Real Light.  It is then that they look for those who carry it. 

As ones who live for God in the midst of the world, we are surrounded by light that is no light - or at best is temporary "this-world-light."  We might feel different from our neighbors if we're seen to be carrying the Real Thing.  We may be known as ones who don't hold the "popular" opinion, ones who live as if God actually exists, ones who go so far as to live as Jesus said to live.

If so, we can know we are not alone.  We can remember that God is with us, that the saints dealt with the very same thing, and that there are "carriers of the fire" all around the world, in this very age of the Church.

We can also know that God has us where He wants us, in our neighborhoods and workplaces and families. All around, there are people searching (whether they realize it or not) for living, breathing examples of the Real Thing.

When storms come to their lives, such persons might be relieved to find those who are still there, still standing firm, still caring. Still giving example. Still carrying the Flame. 

"Your light must shine before men so that they may see goodness in your acts and give praise to your heavenly Father."  (Matthew 5:16)

© 2012 and 2015 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org    

This was originally published in 2012. It is being linked with Theology Is A Verb and Reconciled To You for 'It’s Worth Revisiting Wednesday'  
 
Painting: Marianne Stokes, A Rumanian Bridesmaid 
Photo of candle via Pixabay 

Cloistered in Any Place

'How seldom do I remember 

that at any time, in any place,

I can find You, commune with You, 

by simply turning towards You 

the eyes of my soul.'

By 'A Religious,' LISTENING TO THE INDWELLING PRESENCE, Pellegrini, Sydney, 1940,  p. 55

Before the Great and Glorious Day

"When the day of Pentecost came, it found them gathered in one place. Suddenly from up in the sky there came a noise like a strong, driving wind which was heard all through the house where they were seated. Tongues as of fire appeared, which parted and came to rest on each of them. All were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to express themselves in foreign tongues and make bold proclamation as the Spirit prompted them.... Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them...

'It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out a portion of My Spirit on all mankind: your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Yes, even on My servants and handmaids I will pour out a portion of My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. I will work wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below: blood, fire, and a cloud of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of that great and glorious day of the Lord. Then shall everyone be saved who calls on the Name of the Lord.'"

                         Acts 2:1-4 and 2:14-21


Painting of Pentecost: Botticelli
Painting of Eclipse: Howard Russell Butler, in US public domain due to age

Revisiting the Choir Stall of My Heart

"I will sing and chant praise…" (Psalm 57:8)

It is morning in the monastery. Sister silently enters the chapel and takes her place in a choir stall, a chair made exclusively to be a place of prayer. 

As the hours move on, Sister will come back and back to the choir stall.  Mid-morning, afternoon, evening, just before bedtime:  here she returns to chant praise, participate in Mass, pray with Scripture, meet hour after hour with God. Sister begins and continues and ends her day here. She answers the bell’s call to prayer when she feels great and when she has a headache. She comes to the choir stall when she feels close to God, when she's distracted, and when her spiritual life seems barren and dry. 

I have learned that, in the cloister of my heart, I, too, have a "choir stall."  Mine is a portable place of prayer, traveling with me to supermarket, airplane, mall.  I can "sit down" in this prayer-chair regardless of surroundings, seeking God's touch upon my life and on the lives of those around me.

There are no bells to call me to the choir stall. I must build reminders into my own life. For me, discipline is quite difficult; therefore, I find the following practices helpful. Actually, I find them personally necessary if I hope to keep my life focused and on track:

Upon awakening in the morning, I can enter my choir stall by beginning my day with a prayer.  This is the framework upon which the rest of the day will be woven. 

At some point during the day, I try to set aside a block of time to spend with God. I spend time in prayer with Scripture. It may also be possible for me to go to Mass or Adoration. "Even if your daily life in the service of mankind is overburdened with work, it has to include time devoted to silence and to prayer…. Learn to pray!"  (Pope John Paul II) 

Throughout the morning, afternoon, and evening, I use brief prayers to return me to my choir stall.  I turn my heart to God with inward phrases of prayer, no matter what I am doing or where I happen to be.  "Jesus, I trust in You…"  "Holy Spirit, be my guide…."

As I begin various activities, I can enter the choir stall by offering my actions to God and imploring His aid.  "O you who fear the Lord, praise Him in the places where you are now. Change of place does not affect any drawing nearer to God, but wherever you may be, God will come to you." (Gregory of Nyssa).

As I retire, I close the day in my choir stall.  "Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in His peace."  (From Liturgy of the Hours, Night Prayer).

Lord Jesus Christ, I ask You to form in me a habit of prayer.
Draw me to meet with You day after day,
no matter what my circumstances,
in the choir stall of my heart.

Text not in quotes © 2011 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org     

This post was originally published in 2011. It is being linked with Theology Is A Verb and Reconciled To You for 'It’s Worth Revisiting Wednesday'