Thinking about the idea of making all I do, all actions I take, everything I say, write, even think, a prayer, I’ve been wondering if I’ve written about it before on this blog. Of course I have (I think!) but I thought rather than actually check, I’d simply write about it again
Well, not write in a post about it exactly; more like share with you a poem on that theme I wrote yesterday. It’s kind of whimsical, kind of not. It’s like a ‘list poem’ actually. You’ll see!
I know I’ve shared the following quote from Oglala holy man Black Elk, in the past. But please allow me to reshare it here because it’s very much related to the peom I am sharing with you here and it is something I myself use as a prayer:
Let every step you take upon Mother Earth be as a prayer.
Now, the poem, which I hope adds weight to that prayer:
IT’S ALL PRAYER
This morning, I thought, I’d like to write a prayer. But, I haven’t yet – and it soon be sunset. Been too busy.
I cooked breakfast – made tea too; I read Bhagavad Gita – and discussed what was read; I chanted the Lord’s names; then visited the temple; And chanted some more – sat in silence too. I made lunch – and made more tea too. And then? I went shopping. Oh, almost forgot: I went for a walk. And now? My dear Lord …
Just now, on rediscovering a quote I’d noted down months ago, I spontaneously decided to download again the book I took it from. This will be the third reading: seems to be one of those books that keep calling you back.
The book (The Abbot’s Shoes by Peter Robertson) tells the story of the author’s foray into monastic living in New Zealand way back in the early 1970s when he was twenty something.
One of many mini monastries we’ve been blessed to live in
I’d like to share the mentioned quote with you, because I think it really speaks to my own commitment to the contemplative, hermit life, which is for us a monastic life too – a hermitage is actually a mini monastery.
Sitting in his apartment one night, completely dissatisfied with life the universe and everything, the author contemplates the state of the world around him.
‘All the marching, all the writing, all the campaigning in the world isn’t going to change this insanity, brutality, and carnage.’
Actually this isn’t the quote I’d made a note of; it’s the preceding sentence which I saw again today and it seemed to just fill out the context for me. Anyway, after a few moments of quietness and thought, the author concludes:
‘I somehow intuited that the most powerful, significant , and influential action I could take to change the course of this kind of history, was to hide in a monastery.’
He goes on to reflect that by doing so – living simply, in a community devoted totally to contemplation and prayer – he could become a tiny part of ‘the turning of the tide’.
Years later, reading Thomas Merton‘s diaries, he discovered that Merton had felt the same way, concluding that those living simple, prayer filled, contemplative and quiet lives were ‘keeping the universe from crashing in pieces and falling apart.’
There is a strong sense among contemplatives, hermits, nuns, monks, that this is their function: keeping the whole thing going. Or as our author says, each playing a tiny part in the big picture. I would say, like I know Merton did many times (and acted upon his words), that action in the world is absolutely necessary; it’s just that it can’t do all the work alone.
In our hermitage we too speak often of these ideas, and think about them deeply and try to realise how they affect our lives as hermit monks.
So, hiding in a monastery? Or in a hermitage? It’s true it’s very much a hidden life in many ways. For me though, it’s not about being hidden, it’s more about just what Black Elk says, I’m trying to make my every step a prayer.
Speaking for myself, it’s not that I’m unwilling to pray for a specific individual, or for peace in such and such a country, or relief from poverty, and oppression for specific individuals or communities.
It’s more that: picking and choosing in that way risks leaving people and issues out inadvertently or through some unconscious bias.
I have chosen to live this life apart as much as possible from the world in order to minimise the anxiery being ‘out there’ causes me, to have the quiet, the time, the ‘head and heart’ space to simply pray. To make of my life a prayer
Let every step you take upon Mother Earth be as a prayer
My partner hermit is fond of reminding me of the well known aphorism that a stone dropped in a pond will make ripples that spread out and out. Just like the vibes – the vibrations – emanating from a prayerful life, from all the prayerful lives.
Notes from the Hermit's Cave 