Sunday Musings – April 29, 2018
The day here in Wheeling, West Virginia dawns cloudless and cool. It promises to be a lovely day even if a bit cool at 35 degrees F. This week the dominant theme of Krista Tippett’s conversation with Rarlo Ravelli titled “All Reality is Interaction” and Maria Popova’s
“brainpickings” begins with musings on time. As I read the transcript of the first and the email version of the second, I am aware that all week the dominant theme has been the steady reminder of those who have nurtured and challenged me over the years. Often, I am not consciously aware of the link between my current thoughts and these mentors. Einstein, Dorothy Day, Heraclitus, Plato, Kierkegaard, Das Hammarskjöld, Jamie, Penny, Vilja, Ron, Todd, and Wittgenstein. I could go on and on but the reader gets the idea.
Carlo Ravelli reminds us that time is a relational concept. Someone else - perhaps Wittgenstein – suggested that math is merely a language for taking about relationships.
As I moved through this week I was often reminded that I think and remember in terms of relationships. I know that there are people who, if you asked them, can give one specific dates of when such and such occurred in their lives. I have never been one of those people. My memory is always relational - people, situations, and events which are not attached in my brain to a particular date. The other day I was introduced to someone who reminded me that I had seen her for therapy in 1982. The woman who introduced me had, along with her husband, been a client. I have a clear memory of the pain that she and her husband were experiencing, but not a clue about the dates when I saw them. Even now, when I think of it I have a sense of that pain.
I am, of course, aware that I have a calendar and a clock which marks places this moment in relationship to past events and connect one to the future. I will look to that calendar and clock to honor commitment I have made to myself and others today. Soon I will head to the gym where I will work out until about 10:00 a.m. I will get back to the house and keep aware of the fact that I have a commitment to pick up my friend at 12:45 when we will leave for Pittsburgh and attend a performance of the Pittsburgh symphony. Later we will visit a friend and meet her newest grandchild. In just a second or two, but probably after I have finished this life journey, that grandchild will be entering the adult part of their life journey.
I look outside and the sun is now peeking through an enormous tree to cast shadows on the wet grass. Soon the grass will dry and the sun will be in a different place in relationship to planet earth. This current moment will be history. It will leave an imprint in my memory which will visit all the other memories which just sit there waiting to influence my relationship in the next moment.
I am grateful for the gift of all relationships. Some I will label as pleasant, some benign, some exciting, some sad, some painful, and some I may be able to just experience without labeling. When I am able to refrain from labeling I experience time deep within my soul as pure relationship.
Written April 29, 2018
The day here in Wheeling, West Virginia dawns cloudless and cool. It promises to be a lovely day even if a bit cool at 35 degrees F. This week the dominant theme of Krista Tippett’s conversation with Rarlo Ravelli titled “All Reality is Interaction” and Maria Popova’s
“brainpickings” begins with musings on time. As I read the transcript of the first and the email version of the second, I am aware that all week the dominant theme has been the steady reminder of those who have nurtured and challenged me over the years. Often, I am not consciously aware of the link between my current thoughts and these mentors. Einstein, Dorothy Day, Heraclitus, Plato, Kierkegaard, Das Hammarskjöld, Jamie, Penny, Vilja, Ron, Todd, and Wittgenstein. I could go on and on but the reader gets the idea.
Carlo Ravelli reminds us that time is a relational concept. Someone else - perhaps Wittgenstein – suggested that math is merely a language for taking about relationships.
As I moved through this week I was often reminded that I think and remember in terms of relationships. I know that there are people who, if you asked them, can give one specific dates of when such and such occurred in their lives. I have never been one of those people. My memory is always relational - people, situations, and events which are not attached in my brain to a particular date. The other day I was introduced to someone who reminded me that I had seen her for therapy in 1982. The woman who introduced me had, along with her husband, been a client. I have a clear memory of the pain that she and her husband were experiencing, but not a clue about the dates when I saw them. Even now, when I think of it I have a sense of that pain.
I am, of course, aware that I have a calendar and a clock which marks places this moment in relationship to past events and connect one to the future. I will look to that calendar and clock to honor commitment I have made to myself and others today. Soon I will head to the gym where I will work out until about 10:00 a.m. I will get back to the house and keep aware of the fact that I have a commitment to pick up my friend at 12:45 when we will leave for Pittsburgh and attend a performance of the Pittsburgh symphony. Later we will visit a friend and meet her newest grandchild. In just a second or two, but probably after I have finished this life journey, that grandchild will be entering the adult part of their life journey.
I look outside and the sun is now peeking through an enormous tree to cast shadows on the wet grass. Soon the grass will dry and the sun will be in a different place in relationship to planet earth. This current moment will be history. It will leave an imprint in my memory which will visit all the other memories which just sit there waiting to influence my relationship in the next moment.
I am grateful for the gift of all relationships. Some I will label as pleasant, some benign, some exciting, some sad, some painful, and some I may be able to just experience without labeling. When I am able to refrain from labeling I experience time deep within my soul as pure relationship.
Written April 29, 2018
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