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

Living With the Layers

Tracy, CA

It's always such a shock to see the hills turn brown. It's like they are naked or something!

Just a couple of things. While driving home today I came upon two road accidents. The first involved a big rig that had caught fire. The second involved two vehicles that had a bit of a problem sharing the road. All I can say is thank goodness for first responders. I don't know what motivates people to do these sorts of jobs but we should always be mindful and grateful for their efforts. Honestly, for all the things that seem to go wrong there are so many more things that go right and are never talked about.

The second thing involves a post by Parker Palmer. The link is here. Parker's writing is new to me and so far I have enjoyed it. In this piece he references a poem by Stanley Kunitz, who is also new to me. I particularly liked the line in his poem about the "milestones dwindling towards the horizon."  In any case, Parker's piece is a reminder to me that accepting all the facets of who I am is part of becoming closer to God (I hope). Good, bad or indifferent (and I must look at and live with them all)  those things have brought me to the here and now, right now!

Happy Wednesday!

Libby