Monday: User Generated Content

The contemplative life is a life of privilege…and other musings.

Am I back? Maybe? I think so. *cough*

I arose this morning feeling as if I had actually slept. This has been a rarity since contracting pneumonia, but the medicines are working. I even went on a little road trip yesterday and returned home feeling fine. I’m not 100% yet, but I am grateful to be on the mend. Again, pneumonia gets zero stars. Would not recommend.

So, how does this go? Let’s see…I am drinking my coffee from a bright green mug. The house is quiet save for the whir of the refrigerator and the gurgle of the coffee pot. I have not yet been on social media. I mostly stayed away from that glorious chaos during my convalescence. I did try once or twice to engage, but found it too exhausting. My eyes would tire, my brain would muddy, and I’d just give up.

It was glorious.

I love social media even with what has been done to it over the years. I’m still living like it’s the halcyon days of new connections and seemingly infinite potential. I still believe in the positive power of User Generated Content.

I am a dinosaur.

I ❤️ blogs.

So, this week, I’m going to be spending a little time trying to get my life back in order. I will tidy. I will work from home as much as I am able. I will plan Thanksgiving dinner. The tidying is essential to the planning, of course. One simply cannot plan in an untidy environment.

Today’s Franciscan Nugget: “Day Eighteen - The Second Way of Service, cont'd - As well as the devotional study of Scripture, we all recognize our Christian responsibility to pursue other branches of study, both sacred and secular. In particular, some of us accept the duty of contributing, through research and writing, to a better understanding of the church's mission in the world: the application of Christian principles to the use and distribution of wealth; questions concerning justice and peace; and of all other questions concerning the life of faith.”

There is a conference or two this summer at which I would like to present. I likely cannot do both with the demands of The Rest of Life, but I am going to try to do at least one of them. We’ll see what actually happens.

Last night, our novice group met (For those who do not know, I am a novice in the Third Order of The Society of Saint Francis.) to discuss how things were going. It was good to see people. Most of the Novitiate happens online these days. There are so few of us spread across such vast distances that we really have no other option. Last night’s breakout group, for example, included one person from Florida and another living within the Arctic Circle.

We spoke of Prayer, Work, and Study and the projects we have undertaken to fulfill the requirements of our Novitiate. All of us spoke about how much personal and interpersonal scaffolding is needed to lead a contemplative life. And we spoke about the seasons of life when that kind of scaffolding is scarce.

One novice is the mother of two small children. She discussed the reality that finding a weekend for a silent retreat will be almost impossible. And yet, it is asked of us. The “contemplative life,” as it is often framed, becomes a life of privilege in such circumstances. One must be a middle class, physically healthy, young retiree to manage such a vocation easily.

Last night, as now, I was frustrated and saddened by this revelation and humbled to add that I was struggling with the process.

I am a Producer of Stuff. I like creating the User Generated Content I mentioned above. I like producing. Actively not producing is my Palmerian growing edge. That’s what I am learning yet again.

I believe I owe the world God so loves my devotion. I often interpret that as “Git ‘er done.” Devotion leads to production and creation. I guess it’s time to revisit Thomas Kelly’s little classic, “A Testament of Devotion” to get myself right again.

In an interview I was listening to in the car, Erykah Badu said something like, “I have yet to show the world my best.” And I nodded. Yes.

Today I am wondering if my best will also involve not producing.

Y’all be excellent to each other.