Monday, February 2, 2015

CYCLES OF OUR LIFE






MY NAME

ROBERT TRABOLD


“just now goldsandaled Dawn”

Sappho


Has someone called me? I believe so.
My breathing gives me a clue.
I feel at my center, a presence there
silent – dark – unknowable
its mystery touches me.
I am immersed in darkness, light
they mingle, weave the quilt of my life’s journey.

I listen to the mystery, feel that
someone has called my name.
In the many currents, undertows of my life
I was remembered.
I was not forgotten, someone called me
walked with me.

I feel, remember how I stumbled in my years
hard streets with dangerous curves.
I was forced to walk - drive in the night.
But I hear my name, voice calls me
from afar, not from this world
but from my center coming from the mysterious presence
giving my name a deep sound, different
from the ordinary.
It now has an echo of depth
meaning, cutting through all the confusion of life.

Someone calls my name – call of love
special because it is from the Divine, Absolute.
I have a Beloved who is totally different.
When He acts, He breaks all barriers
I enter into a new world.
Darkness, mystery of my life still lay on me
but I know, I have a Beloved who calls - remembers me.


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CYCLES OF OUR LIFE

Robert Trabold


            As we end an old year and begin another new one, this can be a time of reflection on our life and that of the world with all its pluses and minuses. On one level, our life in the world is a mired of many cycles and events which swirl around us and keep on changing.  We have our private life of family and friends and our own personal development which can keep on changing with new people and events. Our children grow up and move away, friends and family members that we love die and are no longer in our presence. There is the level of our work in the world where we attempt to live out our vocation and profession in life and to earn our daily bread. The profession that we have been trained in may change and we may lose our position there. How then do we retool ourselves so that we can continue to work and support ourselves? There is the greater world which can be very complicated and bring many injustices and violence. We have a political process in which we participate but which does not always work to our benefit and that of the world.  We are disturbed by the never ending violence and wars which plague our existence. At times, we feel hopeless in trying to stop and change this. Our life on earth is a cauldron of never ending changes in which we try to keep our heads above water. This can be a discouraging process and we have to rely on friends and Jesus to help us on the way.

            There is another level of living in one sense does not change like that of the world but continues on in one direction.  This level is manifest in our daily fidelity to meditate twice for twenty minutes each time. This meditation and prayer time puts us in the path to grow in our relationship with God who becomes the anchor of our existence. Jesus does not come and go as the things in the world. This orientation of our life to the Lord is not an easy task because He is mystery and transcendent and there can be much darkness in this relation. But deep down we feel attracted to the Lord who is present to us at our center and still point. No one is so close to us as He is. In addition, we discover in our prayer and faith life that God loves us and offers to us unconditional love which we cannot find in others on earth. We are born and thrown into the universe and can be lost in this process. In our faithfulness to contemplative prayer, we discover that the Jesus is there for us and loves us and ask us to reciprocate in this friendship.

            So as the world swirls around us with it changes, our prayer life puts us in one straight path which cuts through all the confusion of life. We are no longer torn between different ways of living and wondering where it will all end up. We are walking now in a path of loving God who becomes the center of our life and gives us confidence that it will all turn out for the best in the long run. This does not mean that there will be no more suffering and setbacks in our human living. These things will always be with us as long as we live on earth. But deep down we know that our heavenly Father loves us and this is what matters in life. This is then the basis to our fidelity to the contemplative path and daily meditation because each day it nourishes our attachment to the Divine and the swirls and disappointments of our human life and those of the world cannot really hurt us.

            As we begin the New Year now, let us renew our fidelity to our meditation schedule. This is our anchor and so not to be torn by all the different cycles and swirls of our human life and of the world. These things will be always with us. But our life is on a different straight path that breaks through all these earthly cycles and puts us in a deep relationship with the Lord who ultimately leads us to a new world, eternal life. Someone loves us and will be faithful to us and our good. We put our faith here; this is our anchor during the years.


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