A Monastery on Wheels

“When you use the analogy of the grille of God’s will and imagine yourself protected by it, you really do see things in a new light. I think a perfect example of this was when I placed myself there on my 40 minute drives back and forth to work, battling very unpleasant traffic. Suddenly it didn’t matter if everyone seemed to try to push me out of the way - I was alone with God and nothing else was of any concern.” (Jane)

Jane's words capture perfectly, I think, the "whereabouts" of heart-cloister.  For each one of us, cloister of the heart is where we happen to be.  I know I say this over and over... because, frankly, I need to be reminded over and over.  

Reading Jane's words tonight, I am struck by the fact that she placed herself behind the grille of God's will.  It was a conscious decision.  Because of this choice, Jane's car became a monastery on wheels.  It was as if grillwork had been stretched across her windshield.  

Through the noise and the bustle and the rush and the traffic, her gaze was set firmly on God.  

"Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, Who inspires and perfects our faith."  (Hebrews 12:2)

Text not in quotes © 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

No Need for Mirrors

Under normal circumstances, there are no mirrors in cloisters.  To me, this makes a great deal of sense and provides rich food for meditation.

The cloister is not a place for self-focus.  One's eyes must begin to turn, there, from self to God.  That is the point.

"This is the aim in religion, for in this consists Christian perfection:  to die to self so perfectly that we can say with the apostle:  'the life I live is not my own; Christ is living in me.' (Galatians 2:20)."  (St. Francis de Sales)

"Fix your eyes on Jesus."  (Hebrews 3:1)



(painting in US public domain)

Heaven in the Midst

I've been doing a lot of work in the "Basics" page above!  But again, I say it is blessed work, and certainly conducive to prayer.  

I would like to share just a bit from today's treasure hunt.  This is a sample of material you can find in the page entitled "quotes," at the top of this screen.  I want to share this right away, right here in a post ... for as a long-time homemaker and now a very busy grandmother, I certainly identify with what follows...

"We must try to converse with God in little ways while we do our work... we should purely and simply reveal our hearts as the words come to us."  (Brother Lawrence)

 

“I find a heaven in the midst of saucepans and brooms.” (St. Stanislaus Kostka)

"For the humble lay brother (Brother Lawrence), prayer was the consciousness of the continual presence of God.  This realization never left him, whether he was cooking eggs in the kitchen or kneeling in the sanctuary.  In order to be with God, he said, it was not necessary to remain constantly in church; man's heart, too, could be his oratory."  (Walter Nigg, Warriors of God, Alfred A. Knopf)

May our hearts continue to be oratories of prayer...  "oases" of praise to our God in offices, traffic jams, subways, carpools, malls, soccer games, grocery lines.  May we be able to find heaven in the midst of saucepans and brooms.  

("The Figurine" painting by W. Paxton, 1921.  Now in US public domain) 

Oasis

Thank you for your generous confirmations that indeed, we do need an "oasis in a world-gone-frantic." These have been an encouragement as I've continued gathering treasures at a sometimes rapid pace.

I must say that the "digs" are personally rewarding. After all, I'm not working in the barren sunbaked desert as I do this.  I don't have to sift through sand to find the treasures we seek.  Oh no.  I am soaking in the life-giving waters of Scripture, basking in the fragrance of Church teaching, being soothed by balms of saintly serenity.

And the best part is:  I get to pass it on! 

One thing I should mention:  if you ever happen to look for one of the titles in the list above and find it seems to disappear for a time - this doesn't mean that one of our trees has gone missing!  It probably means I am working "in that tree" (!) at that moment.   Apparently a "stand alone page" gets pulled from what you can access while I'm writing in it.  It will appear again, once I've finished adding new "finds."

Thank you for sharing this oasis!  May it be a refreshing place of refuge for all of us in the midst of a frenetic, busy, arid, and all-too-often-godless world.

Back to the dig for me.  You're invited to keep checking the titles above (across the page) for ongoing updates. 

(now where did I put that shovel.....?)

Only Willows

"I recommend to you holy simplicity. Look straight in front of you and not at those dangers you see in the distance. As you say, to you they look like armies, but they are only willow branches; and while you are looking at them you may take a false step. Let us be firmly resolved to serve God with our whole heart and life. Beyond that, let us have no care about tomorrow." (St. Francis de Sales)

How often I've been terrified by "willow branches."  Such wispy, tender, fragile things; but when seen across a distance they can loom large and ominous against a shadowed horizon.  They bend and sway in the wind, their leaves rustling against one another.  To an active imaginer, why... they positvely hiss.

My terrifying willows, of course, have never been of the grows-by-a-riverbank variety.  Still, I am often surprised when the armies I see in the distance turn out to be gentle gifts, planted in my "cloister garden" by the generous hand of God.  I've made many missteps trying to avoid the "willows."  You'd think by now I would have learned.

With this in mind, I'm beginning a project of gathering "pieces of grillwork," through which I can learn to keep my focus on God and on His will for TODAY.  I would like to share the fruits of such gatherings with you, and I'm doing so by adding more "stand alone pages" to this website.  It is a project barely begun at this point, but I invite you to check out the start of it (like looking at the plans for a building, perhaps!), and to watch each part as it unfolds.  You can do this by clicking on any one of the topics in the above list lined up across the top of this screen (scriptures, prayers, quotes, etc.).  When you want to come back here to the blog, just click on the word "Home."  I expect to update these areas daily for awhile.

I think we all need a bit of an "oasis" in a world-gone-frantic.  My hope is that this blogsite can be a place of holy rest, where we can focus for a moment on Our Lord in the midst of our busy lives.

Scripture tells us to direct our thoughts to "all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise."  (Philippians 4:8)

With that as a directive, I now go on a joyous hunt for treasures with which to fill our thoughts....