Jesus' example and the mob--from Rumi

"As those with business ideas

were driven from the temple courtyard,

so bitter, self-important people need to be excluded

from the mix being stirred in this day's great wooden bowl."

 Sometimes, truth choose you, or  jumps out at you, when you need it.

In these dangerous times for freedom, as hell-bent thugs and their leader  threaten our  country, even going to sleep can be difficult.

Rather than take a sleeping pill or anxiety medicine, I often turn to soothing wisdom of the Catholic seer Thomas Merton, or to the Persian mystic and poet Rumi.

Their books are by the bed, and I'll just randomly open one of them up and start reading.

So it was last night, when  opened Rumi's The Big Red Book, and these lines from the section, title "The Majesty," the poem, "This Day's Great Wooden Bowl" leaped out. He lived from 1207 to 1273. Amazing perspective.

Solitude

"Solitude," 5 x 7 watercolor holiday greeting card

          "Keep your eyes clean and your ears quiet and your mind serene. Breathe God's air. Work, if you can, under His sky." 

                                 --Thomas Merton on "Solitude"

I think America's Great Plains, the land of wide open spaces, far horizons, and relatively sparse populations are idea for what the great Trappist monk Merton had in mind, as he wrote about God's people combatting the illusions of America's materialistic and political chaos.  He also had advice for those having to work in cities.

But as December deepens the solitude forced on us this pandemic year, I notice that most of us are reevaluating what is really important in our lives. We miss interaction with friends and families. We can stock up on groceries, and order essentials on line, knowing how little we really need. The virus is exposing the great weakness of a capitalistic society...what happens when people quit shopping?  

You see that almost every day as societies try to put the "economy" above safety, not just for the corporations but  for the thousands out of work, facing untold financial hardship, hunger and worse.

While I need time alone, I don't like being "cooped up," even as an introvert. That's when I imagine living in a farmhouse, on some lonesome road in the Texas panhandle, enjoying the wide open spaces, the silence, the big sky where you can breathe free. But I'd also value driving into town just to see people.

Today's watercolor. 

Readings

Read, paint, draw, and a little writing, but more reading. These last two weeks have alternated between  these diverse doors of reality.

• Watercolor--Whitney, a late great painter and teacher helping me in my DIY art school. Daily readings and thinking required.
• Just finished, Palmer, On the Brink of Everything...deep thinking and truths about getting older.
• Just started, Thomas Merton's autobiography, since so much I read seems to refer to him these days, about living and eternity (oh, wait, that's redundant).
• Hopping chapters, Craig Childs travels about out southwestern deserts, and the repeating dyings of our planet, including now.
• Seabald, Rings of Saturn--here's a story of my summer international twitter bookclub, headed by a professor at Cambridge. Mind blowing.