Surprise and the Sacrament of Letting Go
From Onehouse
Theology of Surprise.
Oh, I really love this care for the details. And especially because I am not good at the door, nor am I great with surprises. Once again from Insight for Living, Joan Chittister's online commentary on the Rule of Saint Benedict:
CHAPTER 66. THE PORTER OF THE MONASTERY
At the door of the monastery, place a sensible person who knows how to take a message and deliver a reply, and whose wisdom keeps them from roaming about. This porter will need a room near the entrance so that visitors will always find someone there to answer them. As soon as anyone knocks, or a poor person calls out the porter will reply, "Thanks be to God" or "Your blessing, please" then, with all the gentleness that comes from reverence of God, provides a prompt answer with the warmth of love. Let the porter be given one of the younger members if help is needed.
Of all the questions to be asked about the nearly 1500 year old Rule of Benedict, and there are many in the twentieth century, one of the most pointed must surely be why one of the great spiritual documents of the Western World would have in it a chapter on how to answer the door. And one of the answers might be that answering the door is one of the arch activities of Benedictine life. The way we answer doors is the way we deal with the world. Benedict wants the porter to be available, "not roaming around" so that the caller is not left waiting; responsible and "able to take a message," so that the community is properly informed; full of welcome; prompt in responding to people "with the warmth of love"; and actually grateful for the presence of the guest. When the person knocks--whenever the person knocks--the porter is to say, "Thanks be to God" or "Your blessing, please," to indicate the gift the guest is to the community. The porter is to be warmth and welcome at all times, not just when it feels convenient. In the Rule of Benedict, there is no such thing as coming out of time to the monastery. Come in the middle of lunch; come in the middle of prayer; come and bother us with your blessings at any time. There is always someone waiting for you.
The chapter on the porter of the monastery is the chapter on how to receive the Christ in the other always. It is Benedict's theology of surprise.
***
Someone once said to me (and a few others), "Be the group that tried."
--Onehouse
**
Little Clown, My Heart
by Sandra Cisneros
Little clown, my heart,
Spangled again and lopsided,
Handstands and Peking pirouettes,
Backflips snapping open like
A carpenter's hinged ruler,
Little gimp-footed hurray,
Paper parasol of pleasures,
Fleshy undertounge of sorrows,
Sweet potato plant of my addictions,
Acapulco cliff-diver corazón,
Fine as an obsidian dagger,
Alley-oop and here we go
Into the froth, my life,
Into the flames!
***
My oldest son has been living in multiple art environments over the last year -- artists, mostly young, banded together for mutual support and craziness, not to mention the sharing and the savings.
The New York Collective, Flux Factory, lost their building to Eminent Domain last month and closed with a *bang* -- a giant party to which the entire city was invited, with well over 60 acts, bands , DJs, call and response DJs (whatever that is).... [Click here for the list of acts, including but not limited to...
~~ Abigail Ohlheiser presents “Come Get Washed in the Blood”, A drag king and a puppet show, Andy Gilliss, Bright Mares, Brooke McGowen’s “Action for Iraq”, Campfire Stories, Carlos Rigau, Cathy, Cave Bears, Caylie Staples, Children of Terminator X, D.A. Meeks, , The Danger presents “In the Wake of the Serpent’s Tattoo”, Ducktails, Flux Factory Fashion Show, F/M presents “Drone to Dance”, The Genderless Siblings from Yellow Bizarre, Greg and Ted’s Satisfaction Factory, Golden Times / Giggle Town, The Hemlock Society, The Heuristic MC, Igor and Tony Have a Spat, Jeremy Chance, Jeremy Williss, Kate Ferencz, Kitlace/The Stink, Konnichiwa, Lady Firefly feat Wolfgang von Stuermer, Lily Maase, Manburger Surgical Presents “The Final Incompetancy”, Mary Ivy Martin’s “Communidate”, Miss Scarlett, No Sound, The NYC Minutes Confessional Booth, The Oracle of Random Quotes, Peter Bonos, Poetix on Da Rox, The Play Party, Rosa Rugosa, The Spirit of a Century (Junk or chains pressure neglects Rogers-in-cranks) GET LOST, SURPRISE!!!, Soul 45’s from Jonathan Toubin of New York Night Train productions, Taliesin, Tarot, Ted Lee, The Mob, Tiger Mouth, Timothy Hospodar and 0H10M1KE present “Omnium-Gathera”, Unicornholio featuring Sebastien Sanz de Santamaria + Marie Losier, Bernard Losier (dad), and Coco (his wife), The Venn Diagrams, White Limo, The Wonderland Collective, Zebu, Zenith Foundation, and Zuvuya Collective presents “Twilight” and “Ladies Room”
There was something going on in each room of a large empty warehouse. I asked, "Like what?" to which he responded that one of the goings on in one of the rooms was "Surprise !" where you would wait in the hall, someone would come and blindfold you and then lead you into a room, and the lights would go on , the blindfold would go off, and everyone in the room would yell, "Surprise !" and then confetti, celebratory words [Happy Birthday! Congratulations!
Bon Voyage! Whatever !] sparklers, cupcakes, jumping up and down, excitement , thrills , chills -- all for one minute, then, you and your cupcake out in the hall while the room was readied for the next participant.
Life is a bit like that, you know. A lot of fuss and then back in the hall and it's someone else's turn. I'm in that seasonal fall place. So many leaves to rake. Whatever.
**
she watched its journey to the ground.
She stood in silence
wearing the color of emptiness,
her branches wondering;
How do you give shade with so much gone?
And then,
the sacrament of waiting began.
The sunrise and sunset watched with tenderness.
Clothing her with silhouettes
they kept her hope alive.
They helped her understand that
her vulnerability,
her dependence and need,
her emptiness,
her readiness to receive
were giving her a new kind of beauty.
Every morning and every evening they stood in silence
and celebrated together
the sacrament of waiting.
Theology of Surprise.
Oh, I really love this care for the details. And especially because I am not good at the door, nor am I great with surprises. Once again from Insight for Living, Joan Chittister's online commentary on the Rule of Saint Benedict:
CHAPTER 66. THE PORTER OF THE MONASTERY
At the door of the monastery, place a sensible person who knows how to take a message and deliver a reply, and whose wisdom keeps them from roaming about. This porter will need a room near the entrance so that visitors will always find someone there to answer them. As soon as anyone knocks, or a poor person calls out the porter will reply, "Thanks be to God" or "Your blessing, please" then, with all the gentleness that comes from reverence of God, provides a prompt answer with the warmth of love. Let the porter be given one of the younger members if help is needed.
Of all the questions to be asked about the nearly 1500 year old Rule of Benedict, and there are many in the twentieth century, one of the most pointed must surely be why one of the great spiritual documents of the Western World would have in it a chapter on how to answer the door. And one of the answers might be that answering the door is one of the arch activities of Benedictine life. The way we answer doors is the way we deal with the world. Benedict wants the porter to be available, "not roaming around" so that the caller is not left waiting; responsible and "able to take a message," so that the community is properly informed; full of welcome; prompt in responding to people "with the warmth of love"; and actually grateful for the presence of the guest. When the person knocks--whenever the person knocks--the porter is to say, "Thanks be to God" or "Your blessing, please," to indicate the gift the guest is to the community. The porter is to be warmth and welcome at all times, not just when it feels convenient. In the Rule of Benedict, there is no such thing as coming out of time to the monastery. Come in the middle of lunch; come in the middle of prayer; come and bother us with your blessings at any time. There is always someone waiting for you.
The chapter on the porter of the monastery is the chapter on how to receive the Christ in the other always. It is Benedict's theology of surprise.
***
Someone once said to me (and a few others), "Be the group that tried."
--Onehouse
**
Little Clown, My Heart
by Sandra Cisneros
Little clown, my heart,
Spangled again and lopsided,
Handstands and Peking pirouettes,
Backflips snapping open like
A carpenter's hinged ruler,
Little gimp-footed hurray,
Paper parasol of pleasures,
Fleshy undertounge of sorrows,
Sweet potato plant of my addictions,
Acapulco cliff-diver corazón,
Fine as an obsidian dagger,
Alley-oop and here we go
Into the froth, my life,
Into the flames!
***
My oldest son has been living in multiple art environments over the last year -- artists, mostly young, banded together for mutual support and craziness, not to mention the sharing and the savings.
The New York Collective, Flux Factory, lost their building to Eminent Domain last month and closed with a *bang* -- a giant party to which the entire city was invited, with well over 60 acts, bands , DJs, call and response DJs (whatever that is).... [Click here for the list of acts, including but not limited to...
~~ Abigail Ohlheiser presents “Come Get Washed in the Blood”, A drag king and a puppet show, Andy Gilliss, Bright Mares, Brooke McGowen’s “Action for Iraq”, Campfire Stories, Carlos Rigau, Cathy, Cave Bears, Caylie Staples, Children of Terminator X, D.A. Meeks, , The Danger presents “In the Wake of the Serpent’s Tattoo”, Ducktails, Flux Factory Fashion Show, F/M presents “Drone to Dance”, The Genderless Siblings from Yellow Bizarre, Greg and Ted’s Satisfaction Factory, Golden Times / Giggle Town, The Hemlock Society, The Heuristic MC, Igor and Tony Have a Spat, Jeremy Chance, Jeremy Williss, Kate Ferencz, Kitlace/The Stink, Konnichiwa, Lady Firefly feat Wolfgang von Stuermer, Lily Maase, Manburger Surgical Presents “The Final Incompetancy”, Mary Ivy Martin’s “Communidate”, Miss Scarlett, No Sound, The NYC Minutes Confessional Booth, The Oracle of Random Quotes, Peter Bonos, Poetix on Da Rox, The Play Party, Rosa Rugosa, The Spirit of a Century (Junk or chains pressure neglects Rogers-in-cranks) GET LOST, SURPRISE!!!, Soul 45’s from Jonathan Toubin of New York Night Train productions, Taliesin, Tarot, Ted Lee, The Mob, Tiger Mouth, Timothy Hospodar and 0H10M1KE present “Omnium-Gathera”, Unicornholio featuring Sebastien Sanz de Santamaria + Marie Losier, Bernard Losier (dad), and Coco (his wife), The Venn Diagrams, White Limo, The Wonderland Collective, Zebu, Zenith Foundation, and Zuvuya Collective presents “Twilight” and “Ladies Room”
There was something going on in each room of a large empty warehouse. I asked, "Like what?" to which he responded that one of the goings on in one of the rooms was "Surprise !" where you would wait in the hall, someone would come and blindfold you and then lead you into a room, and the lights would go on , the blindfold would go off, and everyone in the room would yell, "Surprise !" and then confetti, celebratory words [Happy Birthday! Congratulations!
Bon Voyage! Whatever !] sparklers, cupcakes, jumping up and down, excitement , thrills , chills -- all for one minute, then, you and your cupcake out in the hall while the room was readied for the next participant.
Life is a bit like that, you know. A lot of fuss and then back in the hall and it's someone else's turn. I'm in that seasonal fall place. So many leaves to rake. Whatever.
**
Slowly
she celebrated the sacrament of letting go.
First she surrendered her green,
then the orange, yellow, and red
finally she let go of her brown.
Shedding her last leaf
she stood empty and silent, stripped bare.
Leaning against the winter sky
she began her vigil of trust.
she watched its journey to the ground.
She stood in silence
wearing the color of emptiness,
her branches wondering;
How do you give shade with so much gone?
And then,
the sacrament of waiting began.
The sunrise and sunset watched with tenderness.
Clothing her with silhouettes
they kept her hope alive.
They helped her understand that
her vulnerability,
her dependence and need,
her emptiness,
her readiness to receive
were giving her a new kind of beauty.
Every morning and every evening they stood in silence
and celebrated together
the sacrament of waiting.
***
Comments
love sandra cisneros