A friend recounted the story of a neighbor who had befriended his family and offered significant assistance as he embarked upon a very ambitious gardening project.  In the course of their interactions, he noticed the neighbor had a confederate flag in his garage. Secretly my friend, who might be “classified” as “well left of center,” mused, “Shall I return at a time when he is not around and burn that flag?” He consulted an elder, a wisdom figure and long- standing member of Pax Chrisit, for advice.  The elder advised, “Form a genuine relationship with him, and then talk with him.”

Contemplative practice grounds us in the reality that all relationship resides first of all within the dynamic heart of the Divine in a manner which overflows into a Universe that science is telling us is entangled in relationality. Through our daily sitting practice, we step more and more deeply into this relationality.  Indeed, one could say we bathe in it.

Have you noticed that political discourse of many on both the left and the right these days seems to be dominated by a desire to save the country?  We keep sitting in the hope against hope that contemplative practice might open a pathway where not only my friend and his neighbor, but also many more of us, will be able to abide together in a space where we meet in the Source of all relationality and so be gifted with new pathways into the future for our own country and even the world.  

Enjoy these remaining days of summer!

Margaret and Nancy