Relax Your Efforts
Abbot Anthony, Stephen King's pages, and ancient desert art
As I mentioned last week, I’m experimenting with things around here. And in a rare midweek post, I shared a note on the powerful simplicity of reading a single verse or story. So, here again, are five sections: wisdom text, question, secret of the dying, blessing for the ordinary, and a reading. Enjoy!
Wisdom Text
I’m still spending my early mornings with the Verba Seniorum of the Desert Fathers. Here’s another story that caught my attention:
Once Abbot Anthony was conversing with some brethren, and a hunter who was after game in the wilderness came upon them. He saw Abbot Anthony and the brothers enjoying themselves, and disapproved.
Abbot Anthony said, “Put an arrow in your bow and shoot it.”
This he did.
“Now shoot another,” said the elder. “And another, and another.”
The hunter said, “If I bend my bow all the time it will break.”
Abbot Anthony replied, “So it is also in the work of God. If we push ourselves beyond measure, the brethren will soon collapse. It is right, therefore, from time to time, to relax their efforts.”
Question
Are you approaching your inner journey too seriously?
How can you introduce playfulness and rest into your process?
How can you welcome effortlessness?
Secret of the Dying
(Life lessons from my hospice patients)
Our hospice team was caring for a woman who was reading Stephen King’s The Stand. She would read a page… and then immediately tear it out (that’s a lot of pages to tear, about 1153 pages!). Because she was approaching the end of her life and wasn’t planning on re-reading the book.
We’ve all got a lot of pages in our lives. Some good, some bad. We can learn and grow from them. But this image of tearing out the completed page is a great reminder:
Don’t live in the past. Live in the present moment. Be here now.
Blessing for the Ordinary
Blessed is the gas station attendant who is kind to the man who drove away from the pump with the gas hose nozzle still in his tank.
Reading
Scientists have discovered more than 300 never-before-seen Nazca Lines in Peru — including alien-looking humanoid figures, decapitated heads, potential historic ceremonies and a surprisingly well-armed orca.
The staggering new haul was unearthed in just six months with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and almost doubles the number of known geoglyphs in the region.