In God Alone (Reprise)

 

This may be a different and more challenging version of this chant than some are used to. The instruments improvising over the chant sometimes, even often, seem to miss the mark. And yet, under it all, grounding and giving coherence to every note --- if only we have the patience and trust to hear it --- is the profoundly stabilizing refrain or antiphon, [[ In God alone my soul can find rest and peace, In God my peace and joy, Only in God my soul can find its rest. Find its rest and peace.]]  As I listened this morning I found myself hanging onto the antiphon with a kind of fierceness during parts of this as I waited (and sometimes yearned intensely) for the improvising instrument to come to rest solidly again in the ground of the antiphon --- especially in the longer original recording.

So it is with us I think. We sing our lives improvising around this "theme" --- this internal antiphonal truth that sounds in our hearts; sometimes we seem to have journeyed so far as to have stopped listening and lost touch with it altogether --- though in our music-making we seek it still! And then, with patience, trust, and perseverance in our hearkening, we reconnect more clearly and come once again to that place of rest in God who alone makes sense of the whole of our lives --- even those bits which seemed to or may truly have lost touch with the Divine chant or "theme" grounding them.

For whatever else, the chant continues faithfully, unfailingly in a way that both shapes the improvisational journey and allows the player to finally come home once again despite the far and even foreign places to which they have traveled in the meantime: dissonances are resolved and the harmony of the whole is enriched with musical "stretches" and surprises that, rather than troubling or disturbing us, now delight and even move us with awe.

As we move into this Jubilee year of Hope I thought reprising this reflection would be appropriate. Hope is always rooted in truth and a kind of certainty or knowing, not in mere wishfulness, and the ever-present One we know as Emmanuel is the reality that is the ground and source of all of our hope. Despite the ups and down, the disappointments and struggle of our lives we need to stay in touch with that ground and source, just as the singers or instrumentalists hold firm to the chant that gives coherence to their improvistation. In this way we become the people of hope God calls  us to become and our world so desperately needs.

An Invitation to Explore "Ponam in Deserto Viam"

 [[Dear Sister Laurel, I am reading Ponam in Deserto Viam. I went back to the beginning for a closer read and wondered if you would be willing to answer some questions as I go through this little book of guidelines? For instance, in the first chapter, the author refers to Benedictinism and then moves to a consideration of hermits in the Eastern Church. He points to the Novelle of Justinian and says that hermits were no longer allowed unless they were dependent on a community. Then the text says it became recognized that it was necessary for hermit candidates to undergo a trial period under a spiritual abba or amma. What struck me in this was how similar what you are doing or writing about with the ecclesial nature of this vocation or the process of discernment and formation you have spoken of here is to this pattern in the Eastern and maybe the Western Church. When you speak about ecclesial vocations are you drawing on Ponam and what happened in the East with solitary hermits? I am sure I am going to have other questions as I keep reading; are you open to answering these for me?]]

Sure, we can try to work through Ponam in this way; it would be interesting and I am sure others will have questions (and likely insights to offer) as well. I have been asked several times over the past couple of years if I would write about Ponam; probably it is a good time to do that, and even more, to ask for contributions from c 603 hermits or those in formal discernment and formation processes with their dioceses!! 

What I have written about the ecclesial nature of this vocation was not drawn from Ponam;  it was a topic I first raised with Archbishop (then Bishop) Vigneron when I first met with him regarding my vocation on the Feast of the Sacred Heart in 2005. What I have written about a discernment and formation process is drawn from my own experience with c 603 and the task of writing my own Rule, but also from the example of the Desert Abbas and Ammas and, to a lesser degree, from the contemporary practice and theology of the Eastern Church ---  I did not know about the novels of Justinian in the 6th Century until reading Ponam myself, but the (later) Western Church has similar transitions regarding solitary hermits and their relationship with the Church. Giustiniani's comments on solitary hermits might be an example of this even though this was rooted in the Church's requirements on reception of the sacraments.

So, let me invite those who are interested, to read and contribute questions, observations, and insights into Ponam in Deserto Viam to do that. I think one way forward is for me to start by answering questions (whenever I get these) and then, over time if a true conversation eventuates, add relevant observations and insights from other readers. Suggestions are also very welcome! Please let me know if you are interested.