Sunday Musings – January 27, 2019
It seems as if I always get the reminder I most need. It arrives via an email, in a letter, in a book, via a podcast or in some other form. Just yesterday I reminded someone else “when the student is ready” the teacher appears. The past week or so I have received many reminders that. it is often as I settle into solitude that I connect with the universe. Often, I start off feeling lonely and as if I need to connect with others. Perhaps the feeling is that I need someone else to assure me that I am wanted or needed in this universe. Yet, if I seek out that connection I am always soon again feeling empty.
It is only when. I allow myself to settle into the space beneath the loneliness that I am able to reach the quiet place of solitude. Then and only then am I able to truly connect and experience that I am a part of.
Then I am ready to be with others which is much different than seeking out others hoping to steal their soul to make mine whole.
Frequently, we or those we know talk of being in a room or city full of people and feeling alone. We live in an age where many people live in urban areas in close proximity to each other. Many of us have access to and daily use of the internet to connect with others. In the small community in which I live there are many occasions to gather with others. Yet so many report feeling lonely and alone. I often communicate with people in jail/prison who feel very much alone even when they are suffocating from being amongst so many other people. Yet, they are not connected in any meaningful way, I sometimes hear from those in jails/prisons who like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Diedrich Bonhoeffer and many others are able to find solitude and, thus connection in prison; to know what it means to truly belong; to be a part of.
One-week post Martin Luther King Jr. birthday remembrances and celebrations in the United States; one week post stirring reminders by such erudite voices as the Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas who spoke at Wall Street Trinity Episcopal Church; one week post when the voices of the youth in West Virginia spoke so eloquently on the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr.; one week post bitter cold peace marches in many places; one week post shaming and discrediting those seeking asylum in the United States the voice crying in the wilderness reminds us to be still. It is in that stillness that we shall find comfort.
On this Sunday morning when here in the United States of America there is a very narrow window of time for elected leaders to agree on a Federal budget. If suddenly the Congressional leaders and President Trump appeared in my office I would first remind myself, “Be still and be present.” and I would remind all in the room to enter the solitude in which we will find the connection which will allow the embracing of all the Americas. The United States cannot be a great nation by itself. We are part of a larger body of nations. Our problems are their problems and their problems are our problems. No nation or person will feel a connection with the bully. No bully will feel a connection with others.
This process begins always with me. Sometimes families arrive in my office creating a lot of noise and discord. I have to remind myself to just sit quietly and find my place of solitude. When I do that the family members begin to join me. The noise stops.
Today I will welcome the solitude which leads to connection.
Written January 27, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
It seems as if I always get the reminder I most need. It arrives via an email, in a letter, in a book, via a podcast or in some other form. Just yesterday I reminded someone else “when the student is ready” the teacher appears. The past week or so I have received many reminders that. it is often as I settle into solitude that I connect with the universe. Often, I start off feeling lonely and as if I need to connect with others. Perhaps the feeling is that I need someone else to assure me that I am wanted or needed in this universe. Yet, if I seek out that connection I am always soon again feeling empty.
It is only when. I allow myself to settle into the space beneath the loneliness that I am able to reach the quiet place of solitude. Then and only then am I able to truly connect and experience that I am a part of.
Then I am ready to be with others which is much different than seeking out others hoping to steal their soul to make mine whole.
Frequently, we or those we know talk of being in a room or city full of people and feeling alone. We live in an age where many people live in urban areas in close proximity to each other. Many of us have access to and daily use of the internet to connect with others. In the small community in which I live there are many occasions to gather with others. Yet so many report feeling lonely and alone. I often communicate with people in jail/prison who feel very much alone even when they are suffocating from being amongst so many other people. Yet, they are not connected in any meaningful way, I sometimes hear from those in jails/prisons who like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Diedrich Bonhoeffer and many others are able to find solitude and, thus connection in prison; to know what it means to truly belong; to be a part of.
One-week post Martin Luther King Jr. birthday remembrances and celebrations in the United States; one week post stirring reminders by such erudite voices as the Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas who spoke at Wall Street Trinity Episcopal Church; one week post when the voices of the youth in West Virginia spoke so eloquently on the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr.; one week post bitter cold peace marches in many places; one week post shaming and discrediting those seeking asylum in the United States the voice crying in the wilderness reminds us to be still. It is in that stillness that we shall find comfort.
On this Sunday morning when here in the United States of America there is a very narrow window of time for elected leaders to agree on a Federal budget. If suddenly the Congressional leaders and President Trump appeared in my office I would first remind myself, “Be still and be present.” and I would remind all in the room to enter the solitude in which we will find the connection which will allow the embracing of all the Americas. The United States cannot be a great nation by itself. We are part of a larger body of nations. Our problems are their problems and their problems are our problems. No nation or person will feel a connection with the bully. No bully will feel a connection with others.
This process begins always with me. Sometimes families arrive in my office creating a lot of noise and discord. I have to remind myself to just sit quietly and find my place of solitude. When I do that the family members begin to join me. The noise stops.
Today I will welcome the solitude which leads to connection.
Written January 27, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
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