WORK. PRAYER. (through a sister, and brothers, our brother taught us)

As with all of life, it is a rhythm:

tension, release, tension, release. Oh

work, discipline, obedience, do them!

Pull the bow string taut then let it go.

But it must be done daily*; today!

“Taking up my cross” is not just once.

He has led the way into the fray;

yet, so I would follow (though a dunce)!

It’s not so much my understanding

He looks for, though that still gains response;

More the vote of death to de-man-ding

self-willed zombie-life, that is a “ponce”!

Nothing short of “world dom-in-a-tion”

will satis-fy this puny weakling,

yet it whines and moans with inflation,

won’t listen to another speaking!

Don’t give air, food, or water to it.

Don’t give air-play to it’s voice inside.

Deny the rights it claims, just do it!

B’cause this one should simply be denied!

But to whom will I give allegiance?

Who will I say “Yes!” to; try to hear,

Then act to follow as my regent?

There is only one who wins it clear!

I am sure. Yeah sure! That’s the One.

Our brother taught us by following,

How to follow through (Love’s Joy; not Fun)

Hell & high waters! Makes fellows sing!

Through sister Madeleine*:

“The balance of tension & release is somewhat like that of a violin; the strings must be taut before they will play, but if they are not released, they will break.”


Through brother David^:

Lord, I have given up my pride
    and turned away from my arrogance.
I am not concerned with great matters
    or with subjects too difficult for me.
² Instead, I am content and at peace.
As a child lies quietly in its mother's arms,
    so my heart is quiet within me.
³ Israel, trust in the Lord
    now and forever!

Through brother Richard#:

To hold the full mystery of life is always to endure it's other half, which is the equal mystery of death, and doubt. To know anything fully, is always to hold that part of it which is still mysterious, and unknowable. ... 

I now hope & believe that a kind of second simplicity is the very goal of mature adulthood and mature religion. Although we often used it in a derogatory way, I wonder if this was not our intuition when we spoke of older people as in "a second childhood". Maybe that is where we are supposed to go. Maybe that is what several poets meant when they said "the child is father of the man". ... Wisdom happily lives with mystery, doubt, and unknowing, and in such living, ironically resolves that mystery to some degree. ... 
It takes a lot of learning to finally learn ignorance. ... 
The great irony is that you must go through a necessary complexity (perhaps another word for necessary suffering) to return to any second simplicity. ... 
Our mature years are characterized by a kind of bright sadness, and a sober happiness. ... 


There is still darkness in the second half of life, .. maybe even more, but there is now a changed capacity to hold it creatively, and with less anxiety.

* pp 150f, of Walking on water. Reflections on faith & art. by Madeleine L’engle, North Point Press, NY, 1980)
^  Psalm 131(GNB)

#  Falling upward by Richard Rohr, CD4, tracks 9-11.

(Brother Tortoise)