‘Like people or dogs, each day is unique and has
Tom Hennen, ‘Life of a Day’
its own personality quirks which can easily be seen
if you look closely.’
How does contemplation appear in the life of your day?
I’ve heard from many of you that this question lingers as you listen to the contemplative echo calling you in your daily life. My hope is that this series will help you answer that question for yourself.
There is a historical and embodied answer to this question, How does contemplation arise in the life of a day? I’ll begin with my embodied response. Rather than a monk’s habit, I start and end the day in a bathrobe and sweat pants. I wake in the night not to be on bended knee before my beloved icons, but to change diapers and rub the backs of kids spooked by the dream world. I don’t dip my fingers in holy water as I enter a sanctuary, but a sink full of dishes. All of this is holy.
And what is the historical answer to how contemplation arises in the life of a day? It arrives from the Christian monastic tradition in the form of a daily practice called The Liturgy of the Hours. Our good friends over at Wikipedia define the Liturgy of Hours as the, “official set of prayers “marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer”. It consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns, readings and other prayers and antiphons.” The divine hours have been practiced over the centuries in monasteries around the world at set times throughout the life of a day. I’m grateful for the times I’ve been able to participate in this rhythm with my monastic pals. But how does the Liturgy of the Hours translate into my particular dance with life outside of monastery walls?
I am not trying to diminish this beautiful monastic tradition, my context is just so different, I’m simply seeking to make sense of the Mystery in my shoes. So these next 5 episodes of Contemplify are how the Liturgy of Hours show up in my life, and I can’t wait to share them with you. This Contemplify series is called The Life of a Day, with episode titles sharing corresponding themes to the Liturgy of the Hours; the upcoming episodes are Matins & Lauds, Terce, None, Vespers and Compline. And over these next episodes you’ll get a taste of how I am attempting to hold a contemplative posture in the life of my day. And there will be a final episode in this series, an invitation on how you might see such a contemplative foundation to your life of a day. So with great excitement, let’s begin.
Matins & Lauds (Life of a Day #1)
“What I wear is pants. What I do is live. How I pray is breathe.”
– Thomas Merton
Terce (Life of a Day #2)
“[Contemplation] can be suggested by words, by symbols, but in the very moment of trying to indicate what it knows the contemplative mind takes back what it has said, and denies what it has affirmed.”
– Thomas Merton
None (Life of a Day #3)
“Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Vespers (Life of a Day #4)
“There are two ways to wash the dishes. The first is to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes and the second is to wash the dishes in order to wash the dishes.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh
Compline (Life of a Day #5)
“The church is near, but the road is icy.
The bar is far away, but I will walk carefully.”
– Russian Proverb
Cultivating Contemplation & a Mysticism of Rhythm (Life of a Day Finale)
“This is not a dress rehearsal – this is your life.”
— William H. Murray
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