Tuesday, April 21, 2015

"Ennui.........................."

”A writer stops writing the moment he or she puts the last full stop to their text, and at that point the book is in limbo and doesn't come to life until the reader picks it up and the reader flips the pages.” – Alberto Manguel

Beyond its assigned definition applied by the Roman Catholic Church, limbo is “an uncertain period of awaiting a decision or resolution; an intermediate state or condition”. I’ve often utilized it to speak of that yearly pause between Christmas and January 1st. It occurs to me, however, that we often step into such an existence from time to time, much as if our journey loses meaning, as if all the everyday events that beset us suddenly become a noise in the background. The river, itself, still holds us; the clock yet ticks; but the point to everything, the “why”, suddenly holds us in its grip and it takes a bit of effort to break free of the logjam. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian professor of psychology who immigrated to this country in the fifties, speaks of a state of consciousness called “flow” wherein people are completely absorbed in an activity. The “key to happiness”, supposedly, is in our ability to control that portion of our identity by not allowing external forces to interrupt it. It is up to each of us to prepare for such attack by cultivating challenges that are neither too demanding nor too simple to achieve. I’ve another suggestion: When our story comes to such a dullness, when, in looking back, we wonder if there’s any real sense to our stagger down this path, try turning inward to another God-given “flow”, to a stream in whose depths we might discover refreshing, renewal, and a redefining of our worth in the middle of this whole mystery called life. Whether just a drink from His well or a dip in the pool, ankle-deep, knee-deep, or totally submerged, His “flow” reinforces us for the other flow and “life” begins again…….

5 comments:

  1. We can manage to keep ourselves awfully busy and distracted to be sure. I suppose the difference lies between tuning out and tuning in. And then sometimes, I think tuning out can be restful brain-quieting time. When the inner chatter finally stops, we might stop long enough to be able to feel or hear something. Just some somewhat disjointed thoughts....

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    1. Let me answer you with another quote I posted on Facebook this morning that ties in somewhat with what I shared here:

      “Faith does not need to push the river because faith is able to trust that there is a river. The river is flowing. We are in it.” ― Richard Rohr

      The above author has several books on my shelf; but this particular quote needs more consideration than just an insert. Life, of itself, is a stream that is known by us only in as much time we occupy in this present world. How much we simply "go with the flow" is not an option, in the sense that these waters take us in only one direction. Christ, however, spoke of our gaining access to an inner well out of which might come another river, one whose depths we might know, if only momentarily from time to time. Apply that to the author's words, get thirsty, and then simply step into such flow as God brings forth......

      Don't know, Mich. Perhaps all this rainy, gray sky weather just has had me in a funk lately. I also posted a video later that You might be interested in:


      .

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxpRwWl8LnI&feature=youtu.be

      This is a 26 minute video of a group from Crossroads just stepping into spontaneous worship inside St. Anne's church in Jerusalem. It's easy to find yourself, as you listen, to enter into His presence with them; but 19 minutes and 14 seconds into it is a visual surprise to discover just HOW easy it is.......


      .

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxpRwWl8LnI&feature=youtu.be

      This is a 26 minute video of a group from Crossroads just stepping into spontaneous worship inside St. Anne's church in Jerusalem. It's easy to find yourself, as you listen, to enter into His presence with them; but 19 minutes and 14 seconds into it is a visual surprise to discover just HOW easy it is.......




















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    2. Wow, that one had me right from the first three notes. Rivers and tears flow. Sometimes I look at big old cathedrals and think what I strange thing to build. What a waste of money. Then I hear something like that and I think, yeah, maybe it's worth it. Gonna bookmark that for when I can't sleep. Thanks, Jim.

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    3. P. S. It's been very grey (and cold) here as well. Thankfully, the sun finally broke out today.

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