I can
be glad I have the south porch my mother built onto this house. I go there
in my power chair and sit in the sun and enjoy the sky. There are crowds of
birds and squirrels feasting in the mulberry tree in summer or, later on, from
the bird-feeders in the snow. There is a track of storms coming down across
the northwest or up from the south which keeps us and the trees and the crops
and pastures hydrated. I pray for those suffering in drought, monsoons, floods,
landslides, hurricanes, tidal waves, famine and war. I pray for the people in
ambulances, life flights, hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care, home care and
refugee camps.
I am a Carmelite, a third order religious
sister; prayer is what we do. We recognize God’s power as creator and operator
of this world and that He appreciates the attempts we make at conversation and
in the stories we write and that He uses all we offer of our own suffering. We
have at the center of our lives of prayer that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered
and died on the Cross to teach us that there is life after death and reason to
hope. He even left us His Body and Blood in the transubstantiated bread and
wine by ordained Priests at every Mass to help us follow Him.
This may seem extreme, but Christianity is the
only divine idea extreme enough to surround and contain all of life, including illness.
Best of all, Carmel is extreme even in the Catholic tradition. Carmelite regulars,
the nuns who live in community, are voluntarily confined behind a grille to
eliminate distraction, to protect that pure life of prayer. Sisters in other
orders may become teachers or nurses, also with prayer, but the Carmelite
charism is simply to pray. We like it that Jesus points this out to the sisters
Martha and Mary in Scripture, “Martha, Martha, you are busy about many things,
but Mary has chosen the better way.” Mary’s way was to sit at His knee, listen
and learn what He taught, which was to pray.
Beautifully written.
ReplyDelete