Sh! - It's Lent

In Lent I abstain from addictive practices. However, after prolonged and intense mental work I reckon the best way to wind down my brain is to transfer it into some entertaining circuit on TV, not into a blank space. So I asked my soul friend 'Am I addicted to TV?' He said 'Try stillness'. I knew this is not the same as a blank space, but I thought about what it is.

I read in the Bible that 'Jesus would often go to some place where he could be alone and pray' (Luke 5:16 CEV). I thought of Meister Eckhart's saying 'Nothing in all creation is so close to God as stillness'. Stillness is not even the same as silence. Stillness is a way of being, a putting away of frenzied and fearful circuits of the mind, a receptivity to what is, a nestling in the heart of God.

So I eschewed TV and the normal things I do on my day off in favour of this new recipe of stillness. It did not last long. A rush of clarity and energy enabled me to complete the long delayed manuscript on Downwardly Mobile Christians and the Big Society which my publisher is chasing, and even to get two chapters of my long-time novel on Aidan into best shape. I saluted the sun with attentiveness. Eventually I had a light Sunday supper. And I watched Agatha Christie's Marple on telly.

I need not worry. I am fairly sure my soul friend does not read things like this blog!

Posted at 01:36am on 14th March 2011
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