peace within

"As long as the agitation goes on within us, peace can never come - even if we're the only people left in the world."
How true! Several times in the past few weeks, I have found myself getting upset and later asking myself why did I become so agitated over what ultimately wasn't all that significant. One example was when our printer was misbehaving when I needed to print something out for that evening. I was pretty irritated, cussed, bumped my head messing around with cables behind the table, etc. Then there were the IT folks at work who sent email saying that "at my convenience" I was required to install new security software on my computer (which slowed it down considerably), etc. I had some un-Christmas season like thoughts about these folks. But when I am more mindful of what is really important and avoid needless irritations, I am a much more peaceful person. One resolution I have for the new year is to seek more inner peace.

peace

"simply being tough enough to subdue an adversary does not guarantee peace."

But this is the usual kind of "peace" that exists being peoples and nations. Think of the pax Romana of the roman empire or, in our time, the "peace" that existed in the Soviet empire when the Russians were in control. When that iron hand was removed, one ethnic group turned on another within the former empire. The other kind of "peace", peace of mind, non-agressiveness, non-enviousness, can exist more easily in individuals or even small groups, but seem rare or even non-adaptive in large groups. I think of European Jews of the early 20th century who were mostly pacifist and non-violent and who were mostly led easily to their destruction in the Nazi camps. President Obama in Oslo justified America's presence in Afghanistan with language that sounded very much like the Catholic doctrine of "just wars". There are times when a violent response is appropriate. There was a story on the news yesterday of a woman who killed a man who was breaking into her home by smashing a sliding glass door with a chair. While we never want violence, in that kind of situation, a moral choice has to be made for the lesser evil.

beauty and truth

Under old business, something I was reading last night was very apropos of our discussions of beauty and its role in the spiritual life a short time ago. The first was a reference to Christian Mystic Simone Weil who believed that beauty is God's lure to attract us to him. This was used by theologian Henri Nouwen in explaining the significant role Rembrandt's painting "Return of the Prodigal Son" had on his life. Second was the discovery of a public letter John Paul II wrote to artists emphasizing the role art and beauty play in fulfilling the church's mission. He quotes the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, for example,

"Beauty is the last word that the thinking intellect dares to speak, because it simply forms a halo, an untouchable crown around the double constellation of the true and the good and their inseparable relation to one another."

So beauty, truth, the good are all connected.

peace

"Peace is not an event, it is a state of mind and an attitude of soul."
We were talking about this just yesterday. At this time of year especially, so many people are stressed and frustrated by the secular idea of Christmas, rushing from here to there, worrying about what to buy Aunt Emmy, stretching themselves financially. One woman wrote in our local paper yesterday that by Jan. 1, her idea of the Christmas season consists of family feuds, tantrums and physical exhaustion. It reminded me of the words of the prayer at Mass after the Our Father: Deliver us Lord from every evil and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ. So the Christian prospect is for peace of mind, protection from needless anxiety, an attitude of hope and joy and waiting. I like this much better than frustration and being stressed out.

Leisure

Now there's a thought; Leisure! When I don't feel that I have to "do something", I call it leisure. To "give" myself leisure is difficult. I always want to use "my time" productively and put much effort in planning for what I can do. Going to the anywhere in the Bay Area takes time and there are preparations to be made. But, by the time I stand in front of a great piece of art or hear the music, I can exhale. Then it is followed by days of reliving the experience to remind me of the wonder of it all. I am still reliving the Louvre or the Muese d'Orsay in Paris from 2000. And I didn't see it all. So in my mind, I revisit the experience and it reminds me of the beauty of it all. It is the gift that keeps on giving. Now that I mention it, I think I need to go and see the rest of it. : )

leisure and contemplation

We must give ourselves the leisure it takes to both cultivate the arts and to contemplate them.

This reminds me of the thought several days ago about leisure. If we spend our days fighting off wolves, it will be difficult to take time for contemplation. That said, the common complaint that "I don't have time" usually means "I don't take time" for we all have the same amount of time, 24 hours/day, and we decide how we want to use it. If bungee cord jumping is my passion, I will make time for it. MK and I have just joined a gym. Now we have to decide to make it a habit to workout regularly. Without this decision, I'm sure we won't "have time". It is the same with contemplation which, for me also, is essential to spiritual well being, the need to get above the daily problems and chaos of life on a regular basis for a quiet time with beauty, God, and self.

Priority

For the artist, there is an eternal "itch" that needs to be satisfied. There were times in my life, when, due to the demands of children and their needs, I had to give precedent to them. Satisfying the "itch" was given way to opportunities to engage them in the experience of a creative expression, I was able to sneak in a creative moment with them engaging in their own self-expression. It comes, whether or not, it is a time that is "perfect" or planned; it "comes."

Now as a mother of adult children, I have had the privilege of watching them engaging in their own self-expressions in the arts. And when, as Lacey says that she isn't artistic, she encourages her own children to draw, color, paint and other self-expressions. (Boys have unique of making their mark in this world). Libby and Rachel have different creative expressions, but they are uniquely theirs. I enjoy them both. It will be even more exciting to see what they do in the future.

leisure and its source

"A culture too busy, too technologically absorbed, too focused on making money to cultivate the leisure and reflection that art demands runs the risk of losing sight both of what it is and what it wants to be."

Yes, any activity that becomes obsessive, whether technology, making money, eating , whatever, becomes an obstacle. I agree we need leisure to appreciate beauty, the arts, philosophy, etc. Leisure means we don't have to spend all of our energy and time finding sustenance for ourselves and loved ones. Only people with full bellies have time to contemplate philosophy and fine art. Where does leisure come from? In earlier societies, slaves did the grunt work that yielded leisure for a few masters. In modern Western societies, machines, i.e. technology fills this role. Without technology, most of us would probably be spending our days in the fields picking crops. Similarly with making money, we are blessed in the West with a more or less capitalistic system which turns out to be the most efficient system by far at creating new wealth that raises the level of the society as a whole. So I agree technology and money making can be problematic if they crowd out all other factors in our attention, but we should be grateful that we have the technology and economic system we do because they make possible the freedom to choose to be reflective, appreciate beauty, etc.

"There is as much art in learning to see art as there is in creating it fresh."

I have noticed while looking at created art over the years, reading about artists and philosophy of artistic groups during the centuries, there has been so many interpretations of the same subjects in life. I wonder if the 15 century artists would appreciate the art that is done today. There has been long discussions about the level of artistic creativity and abilities by scholars and the students of Universities. As for me, keeping perspective about what "is" continues to be a challenge. Do I really see?

Nature/Reflection

When I have been gazing at nature at different times in my life, I automatically become contemplative and think how the wonder of nature and what it teaches me about who I am and where I am in my own life. It is also taking me outside of my own life. I become in a much more meditative zone. I have also spent time during the daily parts of life, such as, the routine of making a bed, cleaning the floors, toilets and other household routines to find the higher meaning of life. It becomes a litany. It is the daily moments that we connect with something much greater than ourselves and become closer to the meaning of our lives and God.

Today's reading reminds me of Socrates' famous statement while on trial for his life for teaching people to think for themselves: "The unexamined life is not worth living." It is so easy for us to be caught up in the business of everyday life that we can lose sight of the big picture. But stopping to see where we have come from, what experiences we have had, where we are going, all help us connect with the spiritual realm, to find meaning. After my life went from the extreme lows of personal loss and fighting cancer to the new hopefulness of improved health and finding a new love, I feel very grateful for the life I have and have had. I wouldn't change the "negative" parts because they were part of making me the person I am.

good art vs bad art

"Good art enriches our humanity, bad art degrades it." I agree with this as long as I get to decide for myself what is good art or bad art for me. I think of the Soviet system in which the government decided what good art (Soviet realism) was and which art (abstract for example) should be outlawed as having no socially acceptable message. I do agree that powerful art resonates with our inner selves, either for good or bad. I am affected by Mozart's Requiem, Dali's Sacrament of the Last Supper, Orwell's 1984 or Vermeer's closeups of daily life. They all make me think about what is significant.

what do I see in beauty?

I have a problem with saying we should ask "what am I meant to see" in this work of art or whatever. I'm sure sometimes I see something that wasn't consciously intended by the artist. And different people get different things from the same experience. I would rather ask myself "what do I see about me or about the world in this beautiful experience." Looking for something is good, sometimes we find new meanings. I know in the religion classes I've been part of for years, we reflect on the Sunday readings. It is quite amazing the different things in the readings that strike and impress different people or even the same person (me) at different times. The world is rich in experience, I think there is essentially an infinite input to our minds which we filter and select for significance.

May Kay has been fighting a cold the past couple days. She has been sleeping in so we haven't been discussing the readings with each other at breakfast time, but here are my thoughts for today.

I agree with today's reading that beauty refreshes us and offers hope. I think a sense of hope is one of the important things in life, the difference between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference between looking forward to life and being weighed down by depression. For Christians, the good news offers the ultimate source of hope, that all difficulties, disappointments and troubles will eventually fade in comparison to the unity, love and fulfillment to come. Not that life is easy, it often is not, and suffering seems to be an inevitable part of it. But we keep walking along one step at a time.

I forgot this

One thing I forgot to say about the beautiful Ave Maria music. I heard a wonderful cello rendition by Julian Lloyd Weber. At home that night, I began to describe the music to Mary Kay who said "I think I know that piece." After a minute or two, she pulled out an Andrea Bocelli CD of Sacred Music on which he sang this piece. This connection with music Mary Kay already loved was part of the charm of the piece for me.

encountering beauty

I have had the following type of experience several times recently. I usually listen to the classical music station on the car radio. On the way to or from work, I hear a piece, new to me, which is incredibly beautiful. The melody keeps repeating in my head. Later that day, I look on the station's website to find out what the piece was. The last time this happened, it was a ca 1500's Ave Maria by an Italian composer named Caccini. First I got a digital recording and listened to it numerous times. Eventually I found simple enough sheet music so I could play it on the piano and now play it regularly. I offer this as a very simple example of how encountering beauty can change us. I am moved by nature, a beautiful sunset, a cove of trees in shadow, the tide coming in at the seashore. Our personal relationships offer the largest glimpse of life affecting beauty.

Ed's comment on 11/9/09 reading

Ed sent the following email yesterday in reply to my comment:

I agree. Both appreciation and the improving of one’s gifts can be improved and built upon. Western thinking, as influenced by the Greeks, is both blessed and cursed by Greek type thinking. As you know, according to Greek mind something is or it isn’t, it is true or not true, two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time, etc. However, the Hebrew mind believes two opposing concepts can be present simultaneously (e.g. Man is good or evil = Greek. Man is both good and evil = Hebrew.). However, both can appreciate and create beauty.

I also agree with Solzhenitsyn’s comment about these things (beauty and truth) being beyond pure rational thought. I do not agree with those who state that truth can be different for people. I believe there is only one truth; however, most truths are beyond our understanding. I do believe that beauty is in the “eye of the beholder” (or ear of the listener or feet of the dancer) because these are empirical in nature and by definition they are perceived individually, thus appreciated at differing levels.

Relationship

After our reading today, Mike and I discussed the impact of our relationship on each other and the level of influence of wonder and increased positive feelings brought to the marriage and each other. I know that just hearing him say these positive attributes were incredibly honoring and respectful. It was wonderful to hear. I know that having him in my life has made every day more interesting, more loving, more precious and supportive. It is a beautiful thing.

I think there are two roots of Western civilization, one in ancient Israel for our spiritual life and the other in ancient Greece for our rational life. The Greeks gave us the program to rise above mere superstition that gave birth to philosophy and science. Sometimes we expect too much from this and need to be reminded that not everything in reality is reachable by purely rational thought. This has been demonstrated several times within science in modern times, and is one of the meanings of Solzhenitzen's statement in today's reading. Ultimate meaning, beauty and truth are concepts and experiences beyond pure rational thought.

Monday, November 9th

More about Beauty. Both Mike and I agree that Beauty is something cultivated; going to museums, concerts, spending time in Nature, reading a great book, spending time with a friend, listening to a great orator, watching animals, touching children, gazing at the sky, ocean and mountains. It is being transformed to a new level of understanding.

Beauty as per 11/07/09

I think that God gives us different heightened senses and it helps us to either see beauty or hear beauty and feel beauty. Yesterday at the art show I heard a woman say to me; " Your paintings are so full of emotion." It was something that took me by surprise. When it comes to expressing what I already think as "perfect and beautiful", I think I am enlightened with a new and greater sense of seeing. It is like hearing a great poem, hearing a great violin music and or any other instrument and seeing a wonderful piece of nature. It gives life a greater depth of understanding.

Today's message - beauty is part of unity and simplicity in the world. " Beauty is never ostentatious or over done. It does not depend on great amounts of money......" Kind of reminds me of Paul's great text from Corinthians "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast..." Makes me think when we are in tune with the world, things seem simpler, purer, more beautiful, more peaceful.

BTW, MK posted this morning, but it went in as a comment to something I said yesterday. The new post button is at the top right of the screen. Ed, I will find out how to set this so we all can make new posts.

Mike

beauty and life's real purpose

OK, I'm still learning. I meant to post this as an independent post, but it went in as a comment on the invitation so I am resending it.

Today's comment that beauty reveals the real purpose of life spurred a good conversation here. For me, the purpose of life, ultimately, is to be part of the wider creation, a good, loving person in good relationship with others and with nature. Awareness of beauty makes those connections more visible, but doesn't necessarily give me a feeling of purpose.

Invitation to share thoughts

Diana, Ed, Mary Kay,

For a while now, we have been exchanging thoughts of the day based on Joan Chittister's Monastic Way through emails between Diana and Mary Kay. This is an attempt to establish a blog where all four of us could share and exchange our thoughts and insights. I think it is worth an experiment to see if this could be the basis for an online small meditative community. If this sounds like a good idea to you, register as a follower at the blog address shown and then you can post.

God Bless,
Mike