Like No Other Parlor

As parlors go, it is certainly unique.  It's a little gathering room, now hammered into place and painted and outfitted, ready for you to come visit if you wish.

Having been glad to hear from some of you during our recent Visiting Day, I've now opened a special (sit down for this one...) "parlor blog."  Surely something unique in the blogosphere!!  I already had a hidden-away blog where I could go now and then to experiment with various "mechanical" aspects of things (a kind of blog tutorial).  So now that is open, with a little link to it on our sidebar here, so you can go leave a comment there should you wish.  I'm putting a link on this post as well.   

This way, the cloistered heart blog can remain a quiet spot.  But those who might want to say hello or leave a comment can pop over and do so now and then.  There is a click-on link, there in "the parlor," that will bring us right back here to this blog.

Unique?  SURE.

But I can't think about that right now.  I'm too busy pouring tea.

If you have a chance, come say hello at The Parlor.

Everyday Through the Grille

Yesterday I received the following from someone who has spent time trying to live "through the grille."  I think this makes such an important point that I asked permission to share it with you.... 

"Some sections of my grille seem to be growing stronger.  These sections are those that deal with world issues, politics, even criticisms and crises in the Church.  It used to be that such issues as these reached through my grille and almost strangled me.  I do not ignore these situations but now I seem to be better able to turn them over to God.  If there is an action to take, I take that action with prayer.  Otherwise, I pray for Gods mercy and then I surrender it to God's will... 

"The area of my grille that seems weakest is the section dealing with the world closest to me, that is, my family.  There is always someone or some situation reaching through my grille.  My grille is worn thin.  Some bars are splintered.  My grille often seems to be stretched and misshapen so that I no longer recognize those little crosses that are supposed to be holding my grille together.  It feels like hands, arms and legs are reaching through the grille tangling with each other while trying to entrap me... 

"The point is: it is easier for me to surrender to God the earth-shaking issues of the world than it is for me to surrender the simple, everyday issues of my family life..."

All I can say to my friend, and to anyone reading this, is:  OH, HOW I IDENTIFY.  I have faced some fierce challenges in my life, and while those have been tough to deal with, I've generally recognized and accepted the graces supplied to meet them.

But let me have an allergy attack?  Car trouble?  A kink in one of my well-ordered plans?  I can be found grumbling and grrring with the worst of them....

May we recognize and accept God's graces to live our everyday lives "through the grille."

"Lifting our hearts up to God is sufficient.  Remembering Him briefly or praising Him even in the midst of battle is very pleasing to God."  (Brother Lawrence)

"Count it pure joy when you are involved in every sort of trial.  Realize that when your faith is tested, this makes for endurance.  Let endurance come to its perfection so that you may be fully mature and lacking in nothing."  (James 1:2-4)

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

The Mother of our Hearts

"O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee..."

(Virgin and Lamb painting by William Adolphe Bouguereau.  In US public domain)

Half Seeing, We are Seen

"Truly, God's love is seated within the Savior's heart as on a royal throne.  He beholds through the cleft of His pierced side all the hearts of the children of men.  His heart is King of hearts and He keeps His eyes fixed on our hearts.  Just as those who peer through a lattice see clearly while they themselves are only half seen, so too the divine love within that Heart, or rather that Heart of divine love, always clearly sees our hearts and looks on them with eyes of love, while we do not see Him, but only half see Him.  If we could see Him as He is, O God, since we are mortals we would die for love of Him..."  (St. Francis de Sales)

"Now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror; Then we shall see face to face"  (1 Corinthians 13:12)

The Practice of Grillwork

I know we seem to spend a lot of time at "the grille."  That's because the thought of a grille (made up of Scripture and Church teaching) is, for me at least, an analogy that truly works.  I have spent over twenty years trying to "see and respond to all persons and circumstances through the will of God," and somehow the mental image of each situation criss-crossed just, well....  helps.   

I have gone so far as to do a bit of cloistered heart crafting.  I've made little cardboard "grilles," cut holes in them, and then written Scriptures on the remaining "bars."  (yes, I need all the help I can get...)

The idea of the grille reminds me that I'm not called to flee from circumstances, hiding myself  behind high walls.  Life with its joys and challenges IS going to come to me, ringing for my attention.  Part of living within the will of God is meeting life daily, face-to-face.

And so I practice "finding the view through the grille." Like one learning to play piano, I take it note by note, chord by chord, and I practice.  Practice.  Practice.  Practice.  I hit sour notes, try again, do a little better, learn Row Row Row Your Boat, mess up a chord, feel discouraged, think I will NEVER get this, and somehow try again and again and again.

I know I've probably used these exact scriptures before (I do have my favorite bars of the girlle), but for me it goes something like this....

Maybe I don't feel so good.. I'm facing a physical problem.  Not an easy thing, but I am helped by dealing with it through the grille.  "I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us."  (Romans 8:18).  "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)

Maybe I just learned someone has gossiped about me.  Laughed at me behind my back, called me a name, said I was a goody two-shoes.  Why I'll show HER!  I'll tell the neighbors about the time she and that guy went to (do I hear a sour note?... oh, it won't hurt to ignore it just this once...) the park together ummm and then (a bar of the grille seems to pop up in my mind)..... "Do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you and pray for those who maltreat you."  (Luke 6:27)...

That one was almost an oops, but by the grace of God I pulled out of it, because I've been practicing for years and years.  I pray for the person, keep my mouth shut, and it's as if I hear echoes of "Row Row Row Your Boat" sung by a great chorus of golden voiced witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), who've been watching my recital from the balcony, unseen.

What about you?   Are there particular scriptures that help you, challenge you, enourage and srengthen you in various situations?

There are so many things we each face, daily. How I thank God that He has given us Scripture and Church teaching to form the "bars of our grille!"

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