Ordinary Friday

My oldest niece came down last night to spend the night with us. My mom was really glad to see her, and I was too. However, I got up this morning to go to mass only to find that she is parked behind me and there is no way to get my car out. Instead, I said morning prayers, read the selection for today from the RB, and decided to continue the morning devotions by blogging.

My blog doesn't have a large number of readers, in fact I know of only two readers for sure. In a way that delights me, because with a large number of readers I would have to be much more careful in what I said. As stated in the first entry this blog is a spiritual journal, a way for me to keep track my spiritual life. It is done in the public sphere because the spiritual life needs to be shared. That's not always been the case, but at this time I feel it's the best way to go.

It's odd that I should keep this blog, because one of the things that annoys me in life is spiritual writing. Odd as that sounds, it's the truth. If you are a careful bible reader, and attentive to the liturgy, are reasonably well read, then it's easy to gather together a selection of phrases, arrange them into some order and voila! you have spiritual writing. The only problem with such writing is it's all flowers and no meat. That kind of writing is what I want to not do. Just because a few tired phrases are strung together does not mean that the author has anything to say beyond decorative sentences.

If you look at most spiritual writing it's the same thing over and over again, said in different words, but always falling back on the tried and true platitudes which help absolutely no one. On the other hand, the part of our brain that handles symbols can, and does, find selections upon which it can develop a deeper understanding of a life in God.

A challenge I have set myself is to read spiritual writings and try to find what the author is really saying. It doesn't take long to realize that the majority of what is out there has less to do with you and me, and more to do with the person who wrote it. We need more writing that says how exactly we are to understand a "new life in Christ." More on how that life works, and less on the pretty phrases would be very useful. Of course, that would naturally limit the number of books written, because most people don't have words to express that life.

My prayer then is to be honest with myself, and my two readers; to not fall back on phrases we all know and have invested with some personal meaning, without making absolutely clear what that meaning is.