Sep 01 2008
Sacred Silence
Sometimes just being there is enough
When words would be an encumbrance upon sacred silence
That lends itself so well to contemplation.
Sometimes just being there is enough
Presenting oneself, body, mind and spirit
In an act of trust
When Love pours itself out of a ruby-rimmed cup
And all of me fills with longing.
[Taken from:
The Blueness Above, by Ann Murray]
Please visit Ann at her Poetry, Prayer, and Praise blog for some excellent news.
I’m overcome with joy, Gabrielle, and lost for words at the same time. May God bless you for spreading this good news. A hundred thousand thanks!!!!
Cathy on 01 Sep 2008 at 9:02 pm
Words escape me…This doesn’t happen very often! Thanks be to God…
Pia on 02 Sep 2008 at 4:17 am
Simply beautiful and so fitting with our recent commenting. Thanks for giving our friend Ann this well deserved vote of confidence and encouragement.
C on 02 Sep 2008 at 1:23 pm
Ahmen.
Yet Ann’s lines above do not speak of “news” — they are timelessly beautiful. The news will change, first bad, then good, then bad, then so-so, then tolerable, then unbearable, then good, then baffling, hair-raising, then sweet.. but the News at Mass is ever-current fact, as noted in Ann’s lines, and seriously, her work is so exceedingly pure and sparse, like a wife of St. John the Baptist might be, it is a shame that some Master doesn’t paint, frame and hang her every poem.
Cathy on 02 Sep 2008 at 10:40 pm
Back again!!! You’ve been tagged.
gabrielle on 02 Sep 2008 at 10:40 pm
Ann, it’s my pleasure, in more ways than one! I’m just thrilled about what’s happening, and you already know how much I love your poetry! The more people who have a chance to find out about it the better, not only for the causes you’re so generously helping, but for the sheer beauty your verses add to our lives.
Cathy, you’re so funny. Although it’s not often that words escape you, I guess it’s appropriate enough for a post on sacred silence!
Pia, I’m waiting expectantly for Ann’s second compilation.
C, I just love the last two lines; I receive an image of the Sacred Heart as well as the Eucharist from them. Paintings of Ann’s poetry; can you imagine?
gabrielle on 02 Sep 2008 at 10:46 pm
Tagged??? Zut alors. That’s what happens when your knees give out.
Ann on 03 Sep 2008 at 4:02 pm
I want to thank you all for your kind words – really, it is very humbling to come here and read this.
But the truth is you all bring beauty and creativity and gifts to this blog and to your own areas of the internet and beyond, so please, let’s celebrate US – I had a look at Cathy’s holy card meme- it is really fun to do and revealing too -can’t wait to see Gabrielle’s and then maybe C’s And Pia’s. ?
If only I’d known it didn’t border on evil to just ask a daily hour for myself to be alone — as if Mass had been a total luxury and I could not ask for more — I’d have done so decades ago. Let me quote Anne: “The world today does not understand, in either man or woman, the need to be alone. How inexplicable it seems. Anything else will be accepted as a better excuse. If one sets aside time for a business appointment, a trip to the hairdresser, a social engagement, or a shopping expedition, that time is accepted as inviolable. But if one says: I cannot come because that is my hour to be alone, one is considered rude, egotistical or strange. What a commentary on our civilization, when being alone is considered suspect; when one has to apologize for it, make excuses, hide the fact that one practices it–like a secret vice! Actually, these are among the most important times in one’s life–when one is alone. Certain springs are tapped only when we are alone. …”
I’ll finish it by mid-morn. I will then begin (thanks to Kristin mentioning C.S. Lewis recently), “A Grief Observed.” I’ve read it before, but long long ago. If anyone would like to read it with me, let me know and I’ll hold off on starting it. It’s a tiny paperback of 150 pages. Or if anyone else has a small-ish book suggestion for us all to read together, good heavens, I’m game for it. It’ll be fun.
“When Love pours itself out of a ruby-rimmed cup
And all of me fills with longing.”
As a protestant minister (20 years) I would not have understood this, limited as I was by my own false construct of what Communion is. As a Catholic I feel this to my core.
Hush, it was in my post of “An Ikebana Kind of Life”. I’m so glad you found it at the library; I just knew you all would love it the way I did. And you picked one of the passages I was reading over and over again myself! Oh, my, we could quote the whole book, couldn’t we! And what a great idea you just had, about a smallish book we could all find and read at the same time! An online bookclub! I’ve never belonged to a bookclub, but always wanted to. (I’m not very keen on C.S. Lewis, but open to other suggestions…)
Kommentsomuchia is actually Italianized latin and is spelled “commentasomuchia” (you missed a syllable in your spelling). When you say it you have take on a deeper tone of voice and hold out your arm, bringinging the tips of all your fingers -only the ones on that arm of course
Anam Cara is probably his best known book, although another one Benedictus has also got great reviews. Thanks, Carol, for seconding.
Anam Cara sounds just fine by me too; I just checked online at my library and they have it, but there’s only one copy not borrowed at this time so if someone else checks it out I’ll just have to wait a while (that would give others enough time to buy it if it’s not in their library). On the whole though, I think we should stick to what’s available online or in everyone’s libraries (if we go ahead with this, I’m sure we’ll get the logistics down pat soon enough).
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/calendar.html
The sessions are also downloadable as audio files . So, it’s not a book and it is a long period of time but it is contemplative.
O
There’s also Pulitzer Prize-winning “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” by Annie Dillard. I don’t know if it’s online anywhere (I doubt it, but I’ll check), but I’ve read the reviews, read of the authoress, and read some sample pages.. I’ll bet there are discussion groups on this one galore.
There’s also the Gospel of John, which is so sweet–which we all already have at hand.
Re the bookclub, if we all would like to start off with Anam Cara that’s fine with me. I put in a request for it at my library, and I think I should have it soon. Is that okay with everyone for starters?
Owen, the Creighton retreat looks excellent, but I don’t think I could keep up with it consistently because of time pressures. I guess with a book we’d just say have two chapters (or whatever) read by a certain date so we could have a discussion?
Yes, the Creighton online retreat is a huge commitment and one of the reasons I didn’t complete it two years ago. Yep, a certain book, so many chapters and chat as you like sounds about the right speed.
Pia, that’s great. Hope you have no difficulty in obtaining a copy of Anam Cara.
Owen, thanks; and I should have my copy of Anam Cara tomorrow or the day after. Looking forward to this with all of you! And thank you so much for the offer re the Annie Dillard book. If we decide to do it, I’d certainly take a copy off your hands but I’d like to pay you for it or trade you something (but also, since it’s probably at my library, maybe we should consider your offer if someone wants to join us who lives in a small town or village with no library). We can figure it out later, but thanks again.
I’ll be travelling Sunday, and running around like a chicken with a hole in her head until then…last minute stuff. But I promise to check in while I’m in the US of A. Ciao