“becoming a superior person sometimes requires more
discipline than even the best of us can muster. For one thing, the vita mixta
requires equal attention to both action and contemplation. Augustine’s
‘righteous busyness’ must be founded upon times of ‘holy quiet.’ Without
replenishing ourselves with solitude, we will find that our busyness – all our
doing and giving and caring – leaves us only frustrated, resentful, and
exhausted. ‘It is so easy to simply get too busy to grow,’ writes the
Benedictine monastic Joan Chittister. ‘It is so easy to commit ourselves to
this century’s demand for product and action until the product consumes us and
the actions exhaust us and we can no longer even remember why we set out to do
them in the first place.’ Worse, without holy quiet, righteous busyness easily
becomes self-righteous. We’ve all
caught ourselves at times when our efforts to do good in the world – to teach
our children, help our communities, correct an injustice – have more to do with
looking good or proving something than with a genuine, selfless desire to
serve.”
Simmons P. Learning to fall. The blessings of an imperfect
life. Bantam Books, NY, 2000.
 |
| Legend of the Fish People at the Great Flood by Norval Morisseau |
No comments:
Post a Comment