This caught my attention from the sermons of John Tauler.
If you wish to contemplate the Holy Trinity within you, keep these three points in mind. First, keep God alone before your eyes, His honor, and not your own. Secondly, in all your works and exterior activities keep a close watch over yourself; be constantly mindful of your utter nothingness, and observe carefully what occupies you most. Thirdly, ignore what goes on around you: If it is not your business, do not pay attention to it; it will take care of itself. If things are good, let them be so; if they seem bad, do not criticize and ask questions. Turn into the depth of your ground and remain there, so that you may hear the voice of the Father who calls you. He calls you to Himself.
While Tauler guides us to experiencing God within us, I fear I am not up to the task. My attention is necessarily external. Can one go about their day and “be constantly mindful of your utter nothingness,”?
In order to fill a cup it must be empty first. If I would be filled with God I must empty myself of all that is not God. It’s a common theme in mystics like Tauler. I’d take his words as hyperbole, stating something in extreme terms to get our attention. Although… compared to the totality of the universe, I really am nothing. Yet in knowing God I possess everything.
Excuse me now as I go and pay attention to externals. I think there are some Oreo cookies in the fridge here at church. :^)
…I think mindfulness is lost in the neurotic excess’s of the american culture.The conditioned ‘need’ for costant stimulus assures our drift away from the path of vigilance.Im beginning to believe that the gentle mindfulness/awareness of the Lord throughout the day may be a grace given by the Holy Spirit to those who are seeking/reaching deeper for a richer depth of experience,it’s not for everyone.This requires of me to submit to the inner calling of Determination,Desire,Persistance and Surrender,graces also…
There is a story of one of the ancient desert Ammas who lived next to a river for 60 years and never once lifted up her eyes to look at it. John Tauler would approve! I admire this singleness of heart, but I cannot live this way, nor do I want to. I need to look at the river. For the river in nature, I will look at it and thank God for its beauty. And for the river of media that flows by, the issue here is use and moderation. Facebook is an example; it is useful and worth about 15 minutes of my time each day, but more than this would be better spent reading a book.