Listening And Faith

I felt quite an illumination reading James Woodward's blog this morning. I thought I'd check his site out after keeping it tucked in my Reader for a few days now. He hits my own self musings right on the dot.
If we don’t really know how to attend to the reality that is our own inner turmoil, we shall fail in responding to the needs of someone else. And the desert literature suggests pretty consistently that excessive harshness – readiness to judge and prescribe – normally has its roots in that kind of inattention to ourselves. Abba Joseph responds to the invitation to join in condemning someone by saying, ‘Who am I?’ And the phrase might suggest not just ‘Who am I to be judging?’ but ‘How can I pass judgment when I don’t know the full truth about myself?
For this past year, it has been hard for me to maintain a cheerful and patient disposition. It has not been easy to de-clutter my thoughts because of the numerous issues I'm handling in my own life and the lives of others on a daily basis. But since deciding to pursue the writing life a little bit more seriously, I have given myself more time to be instrospective and actually listen to myself think. This eases the inner turmoil that has been unattended to which has almost been bursting at the seams.

Yesterday, I was listening to spontaneous spirit music which I have not listened to for a while and it reminded me that when my mind can no longer make sense of things and when it seems like an intellectual dead end, there is something more. There is something greater. There is faith.

Comments

  1. hi Kathy! hi. i personally chose your blog and have awarded you with the Versatile Blogger Award. congratulations. check it out at
    http://aobibliosphere.blogspot.com/2010/12/passing-torch.html

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