One of the women that
lives in my monastery is known for her “awe-capacity”. She rarely uses the word “Wow!” but you can
easily hear it in her voice when she is describing something she has seen or
heard that delighted her. She clearly has never lost her early childhood “capacity-to-be-de-lighted”.
It’s such a hallmark of her ability to completely enter into the
presence-around-her. She seems to allow those “light-scenes” and
“light-stories” to ignite embers of grace in her and slowly transform her world
view. That’s why she can so humbly and
spontaneously describe them to others on just the right occasions. I
immediately thought of her when I read this January
12, 2017, Daily Meditation by Richard Rohr entitled “Humility and
Presence” in which he quoted Teilhard de Chardin:
“Space, time, and patience reveal the
patterns of grace. This is why it
takes most of us a long time to be converted. Teilhard de
Chardin (1881-1955) prayed, “Above all, trust in the
slow work of God.” [1] Our focus eventually moves from
preoccupation with perfect actions of any type, to naked presence itself. The historical
word for presence is simply
“prayer.” Jesus often called it “vigilance,” “seeing,” or “being awake.” When you are fully present, you will know what you need
to know in that moment.”
I pray that I may continue to learn
from my monastic companion’s declarations of genuine delight and remember to give
myself the space, time and patience it takes to be humbly present to the
graced-delights around me each day.
Mary Rachel
Kuebelbeck, OSB
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