Wisdom from John Main OSB

This wisdom from John Main OSB is offered to a gathering of monks at Gethsemani Abby. When he says ‘all of us’ it is addressed to those who have dedicated themselves to the contemplative life. That being said, ’all of us’, it seems to me, applies to anyone who is thirsting for a deeper life in God:

”But at the centre of our being I think all of us know the truth of what Jesus means when he invites us to lose our lives so that we may find them. At this same centre we, all of us, feel the need for a radical simplicity, a moving beyond all our activities to the unitary principle of activity itself: the cause and end of movement. In other words, we all know the need we have to rejoice in our being at its simplest, where it simply exists with no reason for its existence other than that it gives glory to God who created it, who loves it, and who sustains it in being. And it is in prayer that we experience the sheer joy that there is in simple being”.

- John Main OSB

Lockdown

Lockdown is a heavy word.

We feel the weight of the powers that govern us in these decrees, and recognize that we are small and subject to authority. That being said, many welcome the restrictions because the intent is to protect our society, especially those most vulnerable.

We as a church believe most emphatically in the practices of honouring and serving our neighbours, so, we are on board with living responsibly and respectfully of laws that do not contradict the reign of Christ. We might also welcome them because Jesus teaches us that smallness and constraint are not things to be feared, but embraced when it comes to cultivating wisdom and maturity in our lives. Experience has taught that it is exactly within these places of being humbled that fruit is produced which may surprise us.

I look forward to sharing amongst ourselves what those surprises may be. GS