Posts Tagged: awareness

“Less Talk, More Awareness”

On January 22, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

I am on retreat at Gethsemani Abbey.  Gethsemani is a Trappist monastery.  The monks observe, to the best of their ability, a vow of silence.  Retreatants are encouraged to do the same.

I don’t think that I am fully aware of how much I talk until I try to be silent for a while.  In fact, a more general awareness is the fruit of silence.

Yesterday, while eating lunch, I was fascinated watching the birds at outside the windows of the dining hall.  The monks had several bird feeders set up outside.  There were probably at least ten different species taking turns at the feeders.  One particularly plump and intensely red male cardinal caught my eye.  I had never seen such a bright red on a cardinal before.  Or, was it just that I had never seen what was in front of me all along?

Words can be an expression of reality.  Words can also be an insulator against reality.  Perhaps if I practiced more silence, I would reap a better harvest of awareness.

That’s all I’ve got to say about that.

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“THE WISE OLD MIRACLE-WORKER, AND THE YOUNG SKEPTIC”

On June 18, 2017 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Miracle is simply the religious name for event.”  (Friedrich D. Schleiermacher, On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers.)

The story is told of a wise old miracle worker.  A skeptical young man went to the old man, and demanded, “Show me a miracle, so that I may believe in God!”

Without uttering a word, the old man planted a seed in a nearby pot.  Immediately the seed grew into a tall green plant.  In less than a minute, the plant had produced a lovely flower.

The young skeptic was in awe.  “It is a miracle!” he exclaimed.

But the wise old miracle worker looked at the young man with compassion, though his words were stern.  “Young fool!” he said, “The miracle of life, and growth, and beauty is all around you all the time.  All I did was speed up the process in this one case.”

Perhaps the process for all good things is a miracle.  Maybe all true beauty is an amazing thing.  Maybe miracles are in the eye of the beholder—like beauty.

That was apparently Friedrich Schleiermacher’s point.  If you’re amazed, an event is a miracle.  I don’t entirely agree with Schleiermacher.  Even if no one is around to observe an amazing thing, it is still a miracle.  However, I do think Schleiermacher makes a valid observation—as long as it is not pressed too far.  Miracle, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Of course, life could be an accident, and beauty could be an illusion.  However, I’ve had several accidents (automotive and other kinds of accidents as well), and I have yet to find an accident that leads to life or beauty.

I wonder what miracles will happen in my world and in yours today.  I wonder if we will be aware of these miracles.  Perhaps awareness itself is the one of the greatest miracles.

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“Concerning Burnt Oatmeal, Laundry, and Mindfulness”

On May 24, 2017 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

I burnt the oatmeal this morning.  Here is how this fiasco unfolded.

I got up this morning, having slept about six-and-a-half hours—with only one pit stop.  Pretty good for me.

I got out of bed, determined to accomplish a lot of stuff today.

Strike 1!

Then, I  thought to myself, “I need to use my time efficiently!”

Strike 2!  Efficiency is one thing.  Effectiveness is another thing entirely.  I know this at the theoretical level.  Living out the truth is another matter.

I stripped my sheets and pillow cases, and took them downstairs to launder them.  “I’ll have some nice nutritious oatmeal,” I said to myself.  So I put on the oatmeal.  Okay!  I haven’t struck out—yet!

However, you have already guessed where this is going, haven’t you?  In order to make efficient use of my time, I decided to put a load of laundry in the washing machine.  “It’ll only take a minute,” I lied to myself.

Strike 3!  You’re OUT!

There were some clothes that needed pretreated.  Oh, yes, I need to check my wife’s hamper to see if she has any things that needed washed.  She did.

By the time I got back in the kitchen, the oatmeal was . . . well, caramelized.  No, to be honest, it was burnt.  The smoke alarm went off shortly after I pulled the sauce pan off the burner.  I scraped out what could be salvaged and ate it.  However, the sauce pan may not be salvageable.  (The salvageable oatmeal was nice and smooth.  I’ll give myself that!)

Shortly after this bit of kitchen drama, a friend called.  He has gotten interested again in mindfulness meditation.

Mindfulness?  That sounded pretty good at this particular moment.

Mindfulness can be looked at in many ways.  One term I think of when I hear or read the word is “awareness.”  Mindfulness, for me, is awareness of myself, my surroundings, and of other people—as I/they are, not as I would like myself/them to be.

The two aspects I needed to pay attention to this morning (and did not pay attention to) are awareness of myself and of my surroundings.  Well, to tell the truth, I mainly needed to be aware of myself: of my tendency to start things and not finish them, my tendency to try to pack too many things into a day, my tendency to elevate “efficiency” over effectiveness.  Awareness of myself is always more important than my awareness of oatmeal and laundry.

Of course, this burnt-oatmeal situation is a fairly simple case of  a lack of mindfulness.  But the same basic principle applies in more serious and important situations and relationships.  Am I being mindful in relation to my wife, my friends, and my coworkers?

So, what about you, dear reader?  Any need for mindfulness in your life?  I doubt that I am the only one who is burning the oatmeal.

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“The Four-A Approach to Handling Emotions and Everything Else”

On May 5, 2017 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

Today’s blog post is brought to you by the letter “A”!

A friend of mine and I were talking about handling anger.  He made some very helpful observations.  Between the two of us, I have come up with an interesting way of handling anger and other emotions—or anything else, for that matter.  It may or may not be original.  However, it might be helpful, and helpful is so much more important than original.

So, here is my Four-A Approach to Handling Anger, Other Emotions, and Whatever Else.

A-1: AWARENESS.

Be aware of what you are feeling and what is happening within and around you.  Slow down, and become increasingly aware of what might be underlying what is happening within you and around you.

A-2: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.

Acknowledge to God, to yourself, and to another human being what you are feeling and what is happening within and around you.  This will help you to become even more aware.

A-3: ACCOUNTABILITY.

Make yourself accountable to at least one other human being.  This should be someone who accepts you as you are, but doesn’t put up with any crap.

A-4: ACTION.

People are made for action.  However, it needs to be purposeful action, and the purpose needs to be a good purpose.  What good, purposeful action are you and I going to take to manage and appropriately express our feelings, thoughts, words, and actions today?

Of course, none of these words that start with the letter “A” is easy.  For example, just try being aware for one day or one hour.  It ain’t easy!  However, I suspect they might work.

I think I’ll try practicing these things, and find out!

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