I’m still high on my Scott Cairns encounter a couple of weeks ago. The “poem” below comes from his book, “Love’s Immensity” in which he translates and adapts the works of early church Christian mystics. I love this stuff…take this one slow and let it slide over you a few times before deciding what you “think” about it.
Beckoning Beauty
St. Denys the Areopagite (translated and adapted by Scott Cairns)
It is forever so-
unvarying, unchanging-
beautiful but not
as something
coming into birth
or falling into death,
and not as what
might grow or might
decay, nor is it
beautiful now and otherwise then.
It is in itself and of itself
the uniquely and eternally
beautiful, and the great creating
cause that bekons
all creation, and holds
all things in the pulse
of its existence,
bears them, keeps them
by the longing within them
to share in what it is- which is
to say, to share in what is beautiful.
For those of you who asked to hear the music to The Shore here ’tis. Please bear in mind the fact that I recorded it into my laptop without fancy equipment…seriously….and in fact, the whirring sound you hear in the background at some point is my computer’s hard drive. Nice touch, huh? I will also tell you that yes, that is my fine beginner guitar work there. It’s coming along.
One day, I will master this and I shall rule the world of technological things….either that or I will hire someone to do this for me.
I’m thinking a great deal this week about love and faith and even “religion” as I understand it…so…I thought it right and proper to put this out there and shine a little light on it.
There is this little book, “The Quotidian Mysteries” that was recommended to me long ago by my wonderful friend Karen. We both harbor a real love of Kathleen Norris’ work. This book was originally a lecture given by Ms Norris on Spirituality and it centers around the idea of embracing the “quotidian.” This is a delicious word, “quotidian” and I work it into blog posts and conversations as often as I am able.
The “quotidian” refers to what we would identify as the mundane, the ordinary, the everyday tasks. The word, however, is much much richer than we give it credit. Prayer, is quotidian…just as housework is quotidian. I’d go so far as to say that Love is quotidian. It must be revisited every day. It must have commitment every day.
This passage from the book puts it so well as it relates to my faith so I rest here for now: “Laundry, liturgy and women’s work all serve to ground us in the world, and they need not grind us down. Our daily tasks, whether we perceive them as drudgery or essential, life-supporting work, do not define who we are as women or as human beings. But they have a considerable spiritual import, and their significance for Christian theology, the way they come together in the fabric of faith, is not often appreciated. But it is daily tasks, daily acts of love and worship that serve to remind us that the religion is not strictly an intellectual pursuit, and these days it is easy to lose sight of that as, like our society itself, churches are becoming more politicized and polarized. Christian faith is a way of life, not an impregnable fortress made up of ideas; not a philosophy; not a grocery list of beliefs.”
Food for thought. Prepared lovingly. I shall be chewing on this as the week progresses.
