It is a very good thing, as we said yesterday, that we aren’t in a hurry here in Cor Unum. I must say, that is one of the best parts, to me. I like to get where I am going, and sometimes I like to hurry, but it is always nice to know that if we dawdle, if we make unscheduled stops, we will still arrive.
More to the point, here in this Abbey, what we do ever so slowly is more than we could accomplish with tremendous flux and flurry. We’ve been those nine ladies dancing, whirling, trying to catch every star, but now we rejoice for the One who dances over us (Zephaniah 3:17.) That, my dear friends, is real progress, and it came about more through the minutes that we seized than the hours we could never discover.
We are trying to find and to claim more minutes … may God grant you lots of them over these next days of the first weekend of the New Year.
Here is this year’s fist abbatial assignment, for those who wish to give it a try. Some time before Monday, take a sheet of paper and find twenty minutes or so alone, and draw a tree with three big branches at the top. (How I would love to see your trees, some of them stick figures and some looking like photo reproductions, I’m sure. Mine falls into the first category.)
Now, take time to pray and ask the Lord to give you three areas of focus for the first quarter of the year. That will take us through the Lenten season. These may be areas in your life that need spiritual tweaking, in keeping with those forty days when they roll around, but let Him decide.
Now, pencil in a weekly appointment with God, perhaps every Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon, and check in to see how you’re doing in those three all-important areas. (All important, because the Lord highlighted them.) Are you keeping your heart peaceful? Are you remembering a neighbor who lost his job? Am I becoming a better listener?
Even if we dawdle a bit over the next three months, we will surely be surprised at how much more skillful our dance has become, because now we are at the barre.
Edgar Degas, public domain
Ballet Class