Have you ever done house-hold composting of your organic waste products?  It is an amazing process.  Silently and somewhat odiferously the hard edges of broccoli, the skins of cantaloupe, potato peels, egg shells and so much more, stored in a bin away from the house, break down into their more elemental components.  After a good while the mixture—now mostly new soil– gets sifted.  Any remaining hard edges are thrown back into the compost bin.  What remains is an incredible pile of rich humus, first class fertilizer for growing plants and flowers. At a time like this one could well ask if the process of living isn’t itself a form of composting.  It certainly feels like that these days.  

 

Isn’t contemplatively sitting much the same?  As we commit over the long haul to the daily practice of sitting in intentional silence, alone or with others, so much happens, so many hard edges are softened in the darkness as we encounter “Mercy, within mercy, within mercy.”  This is true in the lives of persons as well as countries.  Most miraculously though, nothing is lost. Everything can be work with.  The transformational process is unyielding in its commitment to new life even if some material needs a second go round. 

 

In this season even as life is dying back, let us renew our commitment to hope and keep sitting.

 

Blessings to one and all!

Margaret and Nancy