First time visitor and I'm Protestant! Thank you for your blog, Cloistered Heart." There's so much for me to absorb; can you recommend a good place for me to begin on your posts?
Welcome, friend! It's so good to have you here, and I'm glad you asked this particular question.
One of the things I find disconcerting about blogs (especially ones that are "thematic") is that they move along in a "backwards" sequence. Therefore, I've tried to put on a few navigational aids.
There is what I call a "quick trip" of links on the sidebar. Clicking on each picture below that (the monastery, the grille, etc.) will lead to a post that I hope provides a basic "explanation" of the topic and the analogy of it. Also, the list of topics/words across the top of the page each leads, when clicked on, to stand-alone pages. The one called "basics" has a list of internal links to he most basic topics. And there is the list of subjecs (in a "cloud" arrangement) down on the sidebar. As you may know, clicking on any word will bring up posts I have "tagged" as being about that subject.
Hope this helps a little and isn't too confusing. I am SO GLAD YOU'RE HERE!
Hi Nancy, loved this post...especially your grandchildren bouncing like rubber balls :) I am on the "detour" path for Lent as well...in fact, it seems I am always on the detour path, or at least have been for several years now. Once I had a fairly organized spiritual life, and I could actually plan things. But that all ended about a dozen years ago, and so I'm just following along, turning corners and bumping into unexpected "surprises." I love your idea of mentally writing letters to Jesus. I'll have to try that. Meanwhile, thank you for being here. I always think of you as my "Reverend Mother" here in the blogosphere...and I bet I'm not the only one :) Hugs to you dear friend!
Goodness, Patricia, thank you so much. Yes, the grands ALWAYS are rubber-ballish, and at my age I have to be careful that I don't fall over them :)!
My spiritual organization has changed drastically as well, over time, although I will admit that I'm not a disciplined person by nature - so it has always been a struggle. I thank God for His patience!
Hello Nancy... I read today's post about the circular monastery ..and I have to ask myself am I ready to give up all that might be blocking my surrendering to God's will and growing deeper in my relationship with Jesus. I have always told myself that I want to surrender completely to God's will, but in being perfectly honest with myself, I have to admit that it is a little scary..What is God going to ask of me exactly? What will He ask me to give up?..It is a little like when you were younger and afraid that God would ask you to be a missionary in far away Africa..there was that burning desire to do His will, but yet a fear of what it would be and that you might have to disappoint Him by refusing to accept...I do desire to surrender my will to Him, and I ask Him for the grace to do so and to accept whatever that would mean. God willing, I will one day make my way into the interior of the monastery with all of its blessings and graces...God Bless,Joy
Thanks so much, Joy, for sharing the very question I continue to ask myself and have asked for years. Every time I say: "YES!" - I am totally ready to give up every block... lo and behold, another is uncovered! I guess that's what life is all about..... going through those successions of yeses.
I'm so touched by your prayer this morning for our Pope. I'm unexpectedly saddened today, as well. And humbled to be able to be a part of the history being made just now.
For some reason, reading about... whatever we're supposed to call him now... entering a monastery just made my heart thrill. I don't know why exactly, but it just has such a sense of promise and joy and beauty. (I haven't really had time to get to know and love him though, so that helps me not feel so much sadness or such things, I guess.)
As an addition to my last comment, I guess we can still call him "His Holiness" (or "His Holiness Benedict XVI"). (I got that from somewhere else on the internet where I asked a question.)
I think I understand your heart thrilling at his entering a monastery now. I feel the same way, even though I miss him already. I feel he is a "cloistered pope"! - which is not accurate, of course, as he'll be a cloistered FORMER pope. But I think, in essence, his living out the rest of his days this way points out the importance of prayer as a necessary undergirding of the active ministry.
I have had such mixed feelings about Benedict resigning from the Church, and have since the day he announced it...I felt sadness, surprise and I must admit a little hurt that he was "leaving us".. I saw it at first as almost a abandonment...but I have since come to see and understand the meaning of his leaving. I firmly believe that Our Lord has called him away, and since I have learned of Benedict's plans for his future in the future of our Holy Church, I have changed my mind. I am still sad and hate to say good-bye, but at the same time I am comforted in knowing that he really has not "left" us, but is just now in a different position to be with us and help us by keeping us in prayer. And knowing his love and devotion to God, I believe that Benedict will stay in direct contact with God and have His ear for all of the rest of us...What a beautiful, humble and prayerful man of God..An example for all of the rest of us.. He is now the ultimate "Cloisterd Heart" and as he prays for us, we will continue to pray for him...Thanks be to God for this Holy Leader of our Church..God Bless
Joy, you seem to have been through the exact same process I've been through! I agree that he is indeed the ultimate "cloistered heart." And what a powerful time this can be for the Church, for we shall have a new pope to lead us.... AND a cloistered man who knows the state of the Church from the inside (in a truly unique way) praying for us all. It is a truly historic time.
What food are you greeting your friends with when they come visiting in the parlor? Fish and bread... Is that beer?
It's been too long since my last visit. A new page... I have lots of interesting comments to read!
Locked out of your bloghouse? Our blogs become such a part of our lives, don't they? I am glad to see you have been allowed access often enough to keep sharing your inspiring posts.
Yeah, I'm making everyone feel VERY welcome with those fish eyes staring up from the plate, dontcha think?!! :) YUM! This is the place to come when you wanna get past your Lenten food cravings... pass the word around....
Yes, that does look like beer. Which to me is totally Lenten and penitential, as I cannot STAND the stuff. Probably other parlor visitors feel quite differently, and might want the beer to stomach the fish!
I was locked out of the bloghouse again today for awhile. I have a computer- science-degreed son at home who helps bail me out when possible, but there have been some connection problems with the phone company, apparently. We're looking at other options. Sigh.
But it worked for good, I think, because it's probably part of why I've been thinking so much about walls! I did what amounted to a Bible study on walls and gates today.... look for the results shortly on a blog near you :)!
I'll have to be kind and find a picture of a five foot chocolate bunny for the Easter parlor. :)
Nancy, I don't like beer either! The wall post... yes! That is such an appropriate image. The cross shaped hole in the wall... I won't forget that. God bless!
I think your topic today {Monday} is excellent and weighing much on this soul as well. There is the desire to consecrate all to God but Lent is an amazing time to learn what is keeping us from giving ALL.
Hi Nancy, yes let's go in! If we could block out all the distractions of daily life in our secular world, it would be so easy! But, I do not live in a cloistered situation so must work on this every day. It's sad how quickly I can get caught up in the unhealthiness of the world. Can feel toxic at times and its evidenced by my mood. Working on it :). May God bless you this Lenten Season and draw you close.
Oh how I wish for my walls to be broken down. You mentioned "lukewarm waters of tepid faith," and that's just where I am. I profess, but I don't feel in my heart. I'm patiently awaiting Jesus.
I know this feeling, Angela. O yes. It helps me to remember that so many of our greatest saints dealt with the very same thing. I also helps when I remember one of my grade school teachers (a Sister) saying that it's not how we feel about God that really matters - it's what we're willing to DO for God. That must have made quite an impression on me, because I'm now a grandmother and I have never forgotten it! I think you summed up perfectly "what we can do." "I'm patiently awaiting Jesus." O, how that must please Him!
I was struck by something that was said in a previous post:
"Being one who is called by God to live in the world, am I ever at risk of becoming too attached to the multitude of distractions it offers? As I spend time with others, when I look at a newspaper or movie or TV, am I in danger of being infected by attitudes that are in actual conflict with the will of God? These are, of course, rhetorical questions. I think we know the answers all too well."
If I may, I think those of us who are contemplatives, and live in secular society, we will always be at risk of distractions and "slipping"..perhaps more so than a religious because we cannot control others as far as what they may watch, read, speak of, etc. However, I can't help but think of St. John of the Cross when he speaks of attachment, and that it is not so much being exposed to said things, but our desire for it. A priest once said we can't live in a bubble, but we can be surrounded by things that could potentially have an adverse affect on us...however, if we are "purged" of our desire for it, then it will not matter what we "see" or "hear" because our heart if fully planted where it should be. Within the will of God. I'm thinking this more because I've heard a few people in the past few weeks lament of how if they could only be somewhere more quiet, and less littered with the potential to fall. We will see these things...they are a part of our world right now, unfortunately. I would wonder/think our prayer and petition to God would be to purge our interior desire for them, which then it wouldn't matter how much we see or experience, because we are fully detached. Hope that makes sense :)
Yes, Jen, it makes perfect sense, and I hope Cloistered Heart readers have come over to the Parlor so they could find it :)! God knows exactly where He has placed each of us, and I know He has given us graces that those behind cloister walls don't need - just as He has given them graces that we who live in the world don't need. I think of it as kind of like a prescription.. we don't all need the same things.
And now I'm the one hoping I'm making sense :)! But anyway, I do thank you very much.
Oh, gosh...where to begin?! Your Pinterest just put my anxious heart at ease. Really. And instantly, without even exploring.
So much goodness in your posts this week. I've been reading them on the fly, thinking I would 'get back' to them to give them the proper time and attention they deserved (and I needed to give) but alas 'life' has overtaken this week when two grands arrived for unexpected time with Nana and Papa. Which is where they needed to be. But turning my daily routine on it's ear, so to speak! So I'm just diving in now...:)as the 'perfect' time is not at my disposal....or perhaps in someone else's plan for me this week.
I am always amazed at how your posts and your reader responses always seem to fit so neatly with where I am at any given moment. Honestly, I had just been speaking to my husband not 5 minutes before about putting up a wall trellis of sorts in the back yard this spring. We had talked about it last fall. It's an area that is my own physical area of cloister, as well as an area that our family spends a great deal of time in during the good weather. It's is an area that I/we retreat to for prayer, contemplation and quiet times. As well as celebrations, snacks and gentle visits. I know this lattice grille will be a priority for us as the spring approaches. Our wall of 'quiet' when we need to retreat.
The other part that is so much on my mind is that challenge of knowing when to pull back from the negative influences that are distractions and how to live in the midst of all of them. Part of me has found ways to do that in many instances, but I fail miserably at other times. For a number of years I have had a few people who've I've found to be especially challenging. Wanting to see them as good and caring but continually feeling the negative draw from them has been draining. And brings out the worst in me. I question if some people are just evil (and I don't even like to use that word) or is it Satan working through them? It's very disruptive thinking for one (me!) who is trying to draw closer to God but feels that constant pull of negative; thru gossip and ill comments, uncaring or spiteful actions, cloaked in a false garb of caring. Does that make sense?
Right now I'm very much being led to pray on all of this ~ continuing the focus of how to have a contemplative heart in the midst of the 'real. world (where I know I am called to be.) And I thank you Nancy, as well as each of your Parlor guests, for helping me sort my way through it all. There is great solace in knowing that others are facing the same challenges and are lifting each other in prayer. Wishing you all a blessed weekend!
Paula, now it's my turn to wonder where to begin, as I thank you so much!
I love your trellis idea... oh how exciting!
I understand "failing miserably" at dealing with the negative influences. O my, yes. What you said MORE than makes sense. When we are, as you say, trying to draw closer to God in spite of a constant pull of the negative, it is such a huge struggle. You especially struck me when you said "thru gossip and ill comments, uncaring or spiteful actions, cloaked in a false garb of caring."
Your focus on having a contemplative heart in the midst of the toughness of the world is so much the "view through the grille." It can be a nice little analogy, and then we're faced with such difficulties as you're having to deal with, and the "grille" is put to the test. But since "the grille" is, in reality, the Truth of the Word of God, it can stand up.
Yes, there is solace in knowing we're not alone in challenges, and there is great help in the prayers of one another. You can count on mine, Paula. And I feel sure others reading this will be praying for you as well. Thank you again, and God bless!
Colleen, this screen would not accept my comment, so I opened a new post. And now the screen is accepting! Maybe it was time to open a new post anyway....
Hi again, and welcome to our Lenten conversations!
ReplyDeleteFirst time visitor and I'm Protestant! Thank you for your blog, Cloistered Heart." There's so much for me to absorb; can you recommend a good place for me to begin on your posts?
ReplyDeleteWelcome, friend! It's so good to have you here, and I'm glad you asked this particular question.
DeleteOne of the things I find disconcerting about blogs (especially ones that are "thematic") is that they move along in a "backwards" sequence. Therefore, I've tried to put on a few navigational aids.
There is what I call a "quick trip" of links on the sidebar. Clicking on each picture below that (the monastery, the grille, etc.) will lead to a post that I hope provides a basic "explanation" of the topic and the analogy of it. Also, the list of topics/words across the top of the page each leads, when clicked on, to stand-alone pages. The one called "basics" has a list of internal links to he most basic topics. And there is the list of subjecs (in a "cloud" arrangement) down on the sidebar. As you may know, clicking on any word will bring up posts I have "tagged" as being about that subject.
Hope this helps a little and isn't too confusing. I am SO GLAD YOU'RE HERE!
Hi Nancy, loved this post...especially your grandchildren bouncing like rubber balls :)
ReplyDeleteI am on the "detour" path for Lent as well...in fact, it seems I am always on the detour path, or at least have been for several years now. Once I had a fairly organized spiritual life, and I could actually plan things. But that all ended about a dozen years ago, and so I'm just following along, turning corners and bumping into unexpected "surprises." I love your idea of mentally writing letters to Jesus. I'll have to try that. Meanwhile, thank you for being here. I always think of you as my "Reverend Mother" here in the blogosphere...and I bet I'm not the only one :) Hugs to you dear friend!
Goodness, Patricia, thank you so much. Yes, the grands ALWAYS are rubber-ballish, and at my age I have to be careful that I don't fall over them :)!
DeleteMy spiritual organization has changed drastically as well, over time, although I will admit that I'm not a disciplined person by nature - so it has always been a struggle. I thank God for His patience!
Hello Nancy...
ReplyDeleteI read today's post about the circular monastery ..and I have to ask myself am I ready to give up all that might be blocking my surrendering to God's will and growing deeper in my relationship with Jesus. I have always told myself that I want to surrender completely to God's will, but in being perfectly honest with myself, I have to admit that it is a little scary..What is God going to ask of me exactly? What will He ask me to give up?..It is a little like when you were younger and afraid that God would ask you to be a missionary in far away Africa..there was that burning desire to do His will, but yet a fear of what it would be and that you might have to disappoint Him by refusing to accept...I do desire to surrender my will to Him, and I ask Him for the grace to do so and to accept whatever that would mean. God willing, I will one day make my way into the interior of the monastery with all of its blessings and graces...God Bless,Joy
Thanks so much, Joy, for sharing the very question I continue to ask myself and have asked for years. Every time I say: "YES!" - I am totally ready to give up every block... lo and behold, another is uncovered! I guess that's what life is all about..... going through those successions of yeses.
DeleteI'm so touched by your prayer this morning for our Pope. I'm unexpectedly saddened today, as well. And humbled to be able to be a part of the history being made just now.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Paula. It is an amazing time.
DeleteFor some reason, reading about... whatever we're supposed to call him now... entering a monastery just made my heart thrill. I don't know why exactly, but it just has such a sense of promise and joy and beauty. (I haven't really had time to get to know and love him though, so that helps me not feel so much sadness or such things, I guess.)
ReplyDeleteAs an addition to my last comment, I guess we can still call him "His Holiness" (or "His Holiness Benedict XVI"). (I got that from somewhere else on the internet where I asked a question.)
ReplyDeleteI think I understand your heart thrilling at his entering a monastery now. I feel the same way, even though I miss him already. I feel he is a "cloistered pope"! - which is not accurate, of course, as he'll be a cloistered FORMER pope. But I think, in essence, his living out the rest of his days this way points out the importance of prayer as a necessary undergirding of the active ministry.
DeleteI have had such mixed feelings about Benedict resigning from the Church, and have since the day he announced it...I felt sadness, surprise and I must admit a little hurt that he was "leaving us".. I saw it at first as almost a abandonment...but I have since come to see and understand the meaning of his leaving. I firmly believe that Our Lord has called him away, and since I have learned of Benedict's plans for his future in the future of our Holy Church, I have changed my mind. I am still sad and hate to say good-bye, but at the same time I am comforted in knowing that he really has not "left" us, but is just now in a different position to be with us and help us by keeping us in prayer. And knowing his love and devotion to God, I believe that Benedict will stay in direct contact with God and have His ear for all of the rest of us...What a beautiful, humble and prayerful man of God..An example for all of the rest of us.. He is now the ultimate "Cloisterd Heart" and as he prays for us, we will continue to pray for him...Thanks be to God for this Holy Leader of our Church..God Bless
ReplyDeleteJoy, you seem to have been through the exact same process I've been through! I agree that he is indeed the ultimate "cloistered heart." And what a powerful time this can be for the Church, for we shall have a new pope to lead us.... AND a cloistered man who knows the state of the Church from the inside (in a truly unique way) praying for us all. It is a truly historic time.
DeleteNancy,
ReplyDeleteWhat food are you greeting your friends with when they come visiting in the parlor? Fish and bread... Is that beer?
It's been too long since my last visit. A new page... I have lots of interesting comments to read!
Locked out of your bloghouse? Our blogs become such a part of our lives, don't they? I am glad to see you have been allowed access often enough to keep sharing your inspiring posts.
God bless!
Yeah, I'm making everyone feel VERY welcome with those fish eyes staring up from the plate, dontcha think?!! :) YUM! This is the place to come when you wanna get past your Lenten food cravings... pass the word around....
DeleteYes, that does look like beer. Which to me is totally Lenten and penitential, as I cannot STAND the stuff. Probably other parlor visitors feel quite differently, and might want the beer to stomach the fish!
I was locked out of the bloghouse again today for awhile. I have a computer- science-degreed son at home who helps bail me out when possible, but there have been some connection problems with the phone company, apparently. We're looking at other options. Sigh.
But it worked for good, I think, because it's probably part of why I've been thinking so much about walls! I did what amounted to a Bible study on walls and gates today.... look for the results shortly on a blog near you :)!
I'll have to be kind and find a picture of a five foot chocolate bunny for the Easter parlor. :)
Nancy, I don't like beer either! The wall post... yes! That is such an appropriate image. The cross shaped hole in the wall... I won't forget that. God bless!
DeleteI think your topic today {Monday} is excellent and weighing much on this soul as well. There is the desire to consecrate all to God but Lent is an amazing time to learn what is keeping us from giving ALL.
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed day.
I love the way you put that, Theresa - an amazing time to LEARN WHAT US KEEPING US FROM GIVING ALL. Thank you!
DeleteHi Nancy, yes let's go in! If we could block out all the distractions of daily life in our secular world, it would be so easy! But, I do not live in a cloistered situation so must work on this every day. It's sad how quickly I can get caught up in the unhealthiness of the world. Can feel toxic at times and its evidenced by my mood. Working on it :). May God bless you this Lenten Season and draw you close.
ReplyDeleteToxic! That is a perfect word! Toxic and, may God help us, infectious. May our Lord have mercy on us all.... and thank God, His mercy is wondrous.
DeleteThank you, Noreen.
Oh how I wish for my walls to be broken down. You mentioned "lukewarm waters of tepid faith," and that's just where I am. I profess, but I don't feel in my heart. I'm patiently awaiting Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI know this feeling, Angela. O yes. It helps me to remember that so many of our greatest saints dealt with the very same thing. I also helps when I remember one of my grade school teachers (a Sister) saying that it's not how we feel about God that really matters - it's what we're willing to DO for God. That must have made quite an impression on me, because I'm now a grandmother and I have never forgotten it! I think you summed up perfectly "what we can do." "I'm patiently awaiting Jesus." O, how that must please Him!
DeleteI was struck by something that was said in a previous post:
ReplyDelete"Being one who is called by God to live in the world, am I ever at risk of becoming too attached to the multitude of distractions it offers? As I spend time with others, when I look at a newspaper or movie or TV, am I in danger of being infected by attitudes that are in actual conflict with the will of God? These are, of course, rhetorical questions. I think we know the answers all too well."
If I may, I think those of us who are contemplatives, and live in secular society, we will always be at risk of distractions and "slipping"..perhaps more so than a religious because we cannot control others as far as what they may watch, read, speak of, etc. However, I can't help but think of St. John of the Cross when he speaks of attachment, and that it is not so much being exposed to said things, but our desire for it. A priest once said we can't live in a bubble, but we can be surrounded by things that could potentially have an adverse affect on us...however, if we are "purged" of our desire for it, then it will not matter what we "see" or "hear" because our heart if fully planted where it should be. Within the will of God. I'm thinking this more because I've heard a few people in the past few weeks lament of how if they could only be somewhere more quiet, and less littered with the potential to fall. We will see these things...they are a part of our world right now, unfortunately. I would wonder/think our prayer and petition to God would be to purge our interior desire for them, which then it wouldn't matter how much we see or experience, because we are fully detached. Hope that makes sense :)
Yes, Jen, it makes perfect sense, and I hope Cloistered Heart readers have come over to the Parlor so they could find it :)! God knows exactly where He has placed each of us, and I know He has given us graces that those behind cloister walls don't need - just as He has given them graces that we who live in the world don't need. I think of it as kind of like a prescription.. we don't all need the same things.
DeleteAnd now I'm the one hoping I'm making sense :)! But anyway, I do thank you very much.
Oh, gosh...where to begin?! Your Pinterest just put my anxious heart at ease. Really.
ReplyDeleteAnd instantly, without even exploring.
So much goodness in your posts this week. I've been reading them on the fly, thinking I would 'get back' to them to give them the proper time and attention they deserved (and I needed to give) but alas 'life' has overtaken this week when two grands arrived for unexpected time with Nana and Papa. Which is where they needed to be. But turning my daily routine on it's ear, so to speak! So I'm just diving in now...:)as the 'perfect' time is not at my disposal....or perhaps in someone else's plan for me this week.
I am always amazed at how your posts and your reader responses always seem to fit so neatly with where I am at any given moment. Honestly, I had just been speaking to my husband not 5 minutes before about putting up a wall trellis of sorts in the back yard this spring. We had talked about it last fall. It's an area that is my own physical area of cloister, as well as an area that our family spends a great deal of time in during the good weather. It's is an area that I/we retreat to for prayer, contemplation and quiet times. As well as celebrations, snacks and gentle visits. I know this lattice grille will be a priority for us as the spring approaches. Our wall of 'quiet' when we need to retreat.
The other part that is so much on my mind is that challenge of knowing when to pull back from the negative influences that are distractions and how to live in the midst of all of them. Part of me has found ways to do that in many instances, but I fail miserably at other times. For a number of years I have had a few people who've I've found to be especially challenging. Wanting to see them as good and caring but continually feeling the negative draw from them has been draining. And brings out the worst in me. I question if some people are just evil (and I don't even like to use that word) or is it Satan working through them? It's very disruptive thinking for one (me!) who is trying to draw closer to God but feels that constant pull of negative; thru gossip and ill comments, uncaring or spiteful actions, cloaked in a false garb of caring. Does that make sense?
Right now I'm very much being led to pray on all of this ~ continuing the focus of how to have a contemplative heart in the midst of the 'real. world (where I know I am called to be.) And I thank you Nancy, as well as each of your Parlor guests, for helping me sort my way through it all. There is great solace in knowing that others are facing the same challenges and are lifting each other in prayer. Wishing you all a blessed weekend!
Paula, now it's my turn to wonder where to begin, as I thank you so much!
DeleteI love your trellis idea... oh how exciting!
I understand "failing miserably" at dealing with the negative influences. O my, yes. What you said MORE than makes sense. When we are, as you say, trying to draw closer to God in spite of a constant pull of the negative, it is such a huge struggle. You especially struck me when you said "thru gossip and ill comments, uncaring or spiteful actions, cloaked in a false garb of caring."
Your focus on having a contemplative heart in the midst of the toughness of the world is so much the "view through the grille." It can be a nice little analogy, and then we're faced with such difficulties as you're having to deal with, and the "grille" is put to the test. But since "the grille" is, in reality, the Truth of the Word of God, it can stand up.
Yes, there is solace in knowing we're not alone in challenges, and there is great help in the prayers of one another. You can count on mine, Paula. And I feel sure others reading this will be praying for you as well. Thank you again, and God bless!
Colleen, this screen would not accept my comment, so I opened a new post. And now the screen is accepting! Maybe it was time to open a new post anyway....
ReplyDeleteThank you so much.