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Contents
1. Wisdom Saying~Thomas Merton
2. Comments
3. Guidelines on Habitual Retreat
4. Spiritual Exercise
Wisdom Saying
The great thing is prayer. Prayer itself. If you want a life of prayer, the way to get it is by praying. We were indoctrinated so much into means and ends that we don't realize that there is a different dimension in the life of prayer. In technology you have this horizontal progress, where you must start at one part and move to another and then another. But that is not the way to build a life of prayer. In prayer we discover what we already have. You start where you are and you deepen what you already have. And you realize that you are already there.
*Thomas Merton (1915-1968), Seeds, Ed. Robert Inchausti; original in M. Basil Pennington, Centering Prayer.
Scripture~Luke 5.12-16 (ESV)
12While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." 13And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him. 14And he charged him to tell no one, but "go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them." 15But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
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Comments
Would Jesus turn away from helping persons? It depends on what you mean by "helping persons."
Jesus, in our scripture today, heals a man with a skin disease. That sounds like Jesus, does it not? We are not surprised that Jesus would proceed to heal the man.
After that, news of Jesus spread even more. And "great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed...." What did the loving Jesus do, the Jesus who came to serve persons?
The scripture, next, may surprise us. It does not say what we would likely expect. It does not read alike, "So, Jesus, having compassion on the people, stayed and healed all coming for help." What does the scripture relate? "But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray."
Jesus knew the importance of ceasing to say "yes" to others, in order to find solitude to pray. "Deserted places" indicates he wanted quietness and a place no one would bother him.
To serve other persons in ardent devotion demands much energy. Especially persons who are in the helping professions seem to have much difficulty saying "no" and giving themselves time to retreat away from the demands on their energy and time.
God did not create us to continue to give and give to others, while neglecting ourselves. Our bodies and minds, and spirits, wind down and lose efficiency if not replenished continually.
Recently, in a meeting on clergy self-care, the presenter talked about spirit fatigue. Here, the person feels sluggish and maybe even burn out. This bone tiredness is a spiritual issue, in its root cause. However, the spirit screams through the symptoms of mind, or emotional, and body, or physical. Symptoms of spirit fatigue include classic symptoms of burn-out: quick temper, distaste for work and people one once enjoyed, inability to feel rested even after rest or recreation, and depression.
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