As my day begins, I set aside a quiet moment to breathe, feel the silence and read a meditation for the day, usually written by Thomas Merton or Henri Nouwen, or St. Augustine, and lately, the writings of St. Terese of Lisieux, who preached doing good in the little ways.
This was the meditation of hers I read this morning. She wrote it in her autobiography, The Story Of A Soul.
“I can prove my love only by scattering flowers, that is to say, by never letting slip a single little sacrifice, a single glance, a single word; by making a profit of the very smallest actions, by doing them for love.”
I embrace and love the idea of little ways of love, the small acts of great kindness; I suspect I first heard of it in her writings, although I can’t remember.
It is something I can do to be grounded and stay grounded and keep my soul from the world’s discord.
We sometimes think doing good can only happen with money, with billions of dollars. But anyone can do good in a little way, money or not, every day.
And I often think they do the most good.
I do not begin my day with the news or end it with information from the outside world.
I don’t follow hate and rage into my head when I get up or end the day or practice it when I am in control and do my spiritual work.
My meditations in the morning set the tone for the day; they are selected to give a spiritual focus, a spiritual center for the day. I read slowly, very slowly, and then reread it.
I end the day in the same way. I find a quiet place and quiet my soul and my sometimes troubled spirit. I end the day in peace, no matter what is happening on the outside.
We live in uncertain and angry and sometimes frightening times; we are leaving the familiar behind and heading to a different place; I won’t succumb to it, join in with it, or permit it to overcome me and dominate my thoughts.
I will accept what I can’t control and go inward and work on myself so that I can do better with and for other people. That’s my spiritual goal.
I find a quiet place and breathe deeply.
You know the story – inhale, exhale – slowly and deliberately, as often as it takes to feel my body let go of the tension and worry of the world, which surrounds us and pursues like an owl after a mouse.
I am seeking and have found small groups of people to find support and deepen my spiritual life and commitment to humanity. Being human is the answer for me.
Most recently, I have also been ending my day in meditation, especially one written by Merton, my longtime spiritual inspiration and guide. Medicine for the time:
“A person who is not at peace with himself projects his internal fighting into the society of those he lives with…We must withdraw from effects beyond our control and be content with the goodwill and the world that are the quiet expressions of our inner life…We must be content to live without watching ourselves live, to work without expecting an immediate reward…”
I can’t control or understand or predict the world. I can’t tell other people what to do or feel.
I can only try to be as good as I can be.
“If every flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness,”….so despite my littleness, I can hope to be a saint.”
—St Terese
