Consolation, Desolation and Parker Palmer

Big Chico Creek-photo by Rich Fife

I took a break from Margaret Silf's Book, Inner Compass, to read some other books. In thinking about her book, what I have read so far, I am reminded of her descriptions of "consolation and desolation." In Ignatian spirituality, these two words describe the process of either moving towards or away from God. My interpretation of that is that with each day and with each thought and act, collectively you are either moving towards becoming the person that God wants you to be or moving away from that concept. You want to be a certain type of person and it follows that because you want that, God wants that too. (Loose interpretation.) It's very easy though to get mired in desolation which is sort of a state of being in a funk. Perhaps you are missing the silver lining in things or are deeply affected by tragedy in the world. Maybe life seems to be full of trouble rather than full of grace. How do you lift yourself out of this funk on any given day? I can't say that I know but at the best of times, when I am running optimally, one small thing can turn the day around. I just have to look for that and embrace it.

I have a link here to a short piece written by Parker Palmer. Parker himself is worth checking out but if you don't have the time for that, this short piece is sure to help lift you out of any kind of funk:)

Libby