An inner city priest went to the home of a poor old lady in the parish. She was dying. When the priest came to her side, she said, "Don't talk and don't run." She seemed to want to die fully appreciative of her life in God, which was too deep for any consoling words at that point. And she wanted to die appreciative of the human community that incarnates God's presence on this plane of existence, which was too deep for words but not for silent, prayerful human presence. That is contemplative dying.
...We can approach all of the myriad little ego deaths, all the ways we don't get what we want (as opposed to what we need) in our lives, in the same way as that woman faced physical death... We need to leave room for the silence that can free the wonder, as well as for words.
If artistic creations emerge from our lives and the ways in which we see the world, then it seems useful to engage the workplace as a source of creative subject matter and energy. The job is the place where most of us spend time and expend effort each day. It is the world we inhabit, and I believe we can make it better and more satisfying through the conscious use of the creative process. . . . Our creations and our lives are enhanced when we realize that everything in our environment is a source for imagination.
~ from “The Practice of Creativity in the Workplace” by Shaun McNiff, in THE SOUL OF CREATIVITY, ed. by Tona P. Myers
If we open up to our vitality and to the sense of urgency that flows within us, we will have the pleasure of experiencing ourselves living and working in cooperation with the deepest forces of life.
It is not vast quantities of mechanical work that appeals to the Divine, but it is the link with the divine consciousness established through that work that matters. This consideration of the spirit in which the work is done is of the utmost relevance to all of us who want to progress toward divine consciousness. When one is conscious during work, that quality of consciousness is naturally imparted to what one is working with or upon. Such work retains the vibration of that person and they link others immediately with that cause.
If only he could work faster. Yet if he did work faster, how could he produce paintings grounded in deep beds of contemplation, the only way living things could be stilled long enough to understand them? And wasn't everything he painted--a breadbasket, a pitcher, a jewelry box, a copper pan--wasn’t it all living?
~ from THE GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE by Susan Vreeland
To do work carefully and well, with love and respect for the nature of my task and with due attention to its purpose, is to unite myself with God's will in my work. I become an instrument for God to work through me.
~ from NEW SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION by Thomas Merton
"That’s not the point, not the point at all. The old masters didn't care whether anyone could see their flaws or not. They wanted to do as well as they could, because their work was a gift to God, who deserved their best. That’s all gone; now what's important is whether anyone will notice the difference, and how much it will all cost. It changes the spirit of the building forever."
Ludmilla taught me that we can pray anywhere, during any kind of work that is being done attentively and well and to the best of our ability. In such work, God is present. We only have to know this and try to give it our heart. Many people wish to have spiritual development without obstacles or even effort, and so they will never understand God’s love or the poverty of our humanity.
A hidden river runs beneath the conscious layers of our lives. We become fatigued not from overwork, but from how much energy it takes to stage our lives in order to drown out the sounds of the river inside us.
~ from All the Days of My Life, by Marv and Nancy Hiles
