SELAH time

The end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 gave me some much needed reflection time.  In my words, it is SELAH time; a time to step out of the traffic and evaluate where I've been going the last decade and where I hope to be headed in the future.  I've pulled all my books off the shelf that refer to contemplative topics;  God is Not in a Hurry (Warren Wiersebe); Thomas Merton: a book of hours; Contemplative Prayer (Merton); The Wisdom of the Desert, (Merton); The Way of the Heart (Henri Nouwen); Encounters with Merton (Nouwen); Out of Solitude (Nouwen); The Root of the Righteous (A.W. Tozer). 

What sobers me is that I've read these before and realize I've still let the frenzy of my everyday schedule push out the sense of quiet and meditation.  When that happens I find my energy sapped and my art-making strained and sometimes boring. That's the reason I'm re-reading these pages.  Alongside these "old" friends, I've found a new one; an Altar in the World (Barbara Brown Taylor).  This writing speaks to discovering how one can have pause and find solace and God's presence in simple practices such as walking, working, hanging clothes on the clothesline (not that I do THAT anymore), and making eye contact with the cashier at the store.  In Barbara's words; we learn that no physical act is too earthbound or too humble to become a path to the divine.  In the words of Thomas Merton, I hope to re-discover the Dawn, Day, Dusk and Dark of every day instead of days and hours melting together into one lump sum of activity.  And, in paraphrasing Tozer's words, will I allow the inner life to override the  outer life in order for my heart to find its true compass once again?

I hope you'll join me as I continue this journey to find what SELAH time means to me at this season of my life.  I wonder what it will bring to my art-making; my relationships; my writing?  I'll keep you posted!  In the meantime, a Very Happy New Year to all and may you find TwentyTen to be an anointed year filled with surprises you can't even predict.