Delight

Howdy peeps! I hope you are having a delightful day today.

I am currently enjoying some time at the beach, the salt water is delightful, though I would have preferred not getting stung by a pink jellyfish. Who knew?! that that these quite pretty creatures have such annoy defense systems? Thankfully it wasn’t awful.

I have to tell you I am in total awe of the human person. Each and every one of us is a mystery for pondering, not solving. There is a rich and deep life in us that remains hidden and therefore requires on my part a deep respect and careful treading, particularly when I find that persons actions/behavior offensive, annoying, painful.

While in formal formation as a spiritual director this mystery of the human person really began to bubble up to the surface of my thinking and pondering. This is affirmed in conversation with one specific – very unnamed – directee in particular and with my mom. The directee was talking, I was praying for insight, and what came to me is the delightful mystery of this whole human person sitting in front of me. That in this conversation while we seemed to be skimming the surface, we weren’t really – what I can see is this much (hold your thumb and forefinger together kinda tightly) and what God sees is the complete self. Even now I desire to weep.
The conversation with my mom was very, and necessarily different, yet revealed very much of the same mystery of the whole person in front of me. Mum has vascular dementia, which has some similarities to alzheimers, and yet is very different. I recently had the chance to see her in person, which is somewhat more challenging as we live nearly 2,000 miles apart. As we talked under a delightfully pre-autumn sky, she mentioned something that caught my attention in a way that needed gentle pursuing. So I asked her a question about what she said and waited. What I continue to hold in awe is that this was unsolicited, that clearly she is thinking about things, and that even in this state of dementia there is a lot more going on than we truly know.

This experience allowed me to continue pondering how I respond to people and situations. https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1yNGabMobpgJj

This pondering brought me to the realization that reactionary writing is not a good thing for me to engage in. While on the surface it seems like easy writing, this reactionary stuff, it’s not. And the pondering led me to a place where I know it has the potential to damage another person.

Ouch.

I can write amazing words about kindness, while at the same time, in the same writing being directedly unkind, and uncharitable.

Ouch.

This pondering is partly why I’m very quiet of late. There is a deepening desire to wonder at the mystery of the person in front of me, who might hold a different view on things that is wholly valuable. It’s also a recognition of how we as humans are called to resolve things – through that which is placed on our hearts. For a long time I’ve been a listener, a question asker, a gatherer of what’s being said with a way of bringing it all together. I’m also a quilter and teacher.

In the quilt life there is a bit of listlessness of late that is frustrating at my core. There seems a shift is coming and the clue may be there and while I’m collecting the aforementioned clues, a whole image isn’t presented yet. I also need to make time at the sewing machine to pursue that which I think I see.

What I see is more thread play on a variety of fabric, a kind of seeing what happens when I try something. This kind of exploring what happens when led to writing Color, Thread & Free-Motion Quilting and this interview with Joen Wolfrom

I am away from the quilt studio this week, so the exploring needs to wait, for now.

The pondering though will continue.

God bless,

Teri

oh and for a bit more delight: https://www.abidingtogetherpodcast.com/ The Abiding Together season 17 premiered last week. Hop on over for some good pondering of the mysteries of life