Firstlight

I love the writings of Sue Monk Kidd. I've read The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair, and I am currently reading Firstlight. It is a collection of her early writings. There are 13 chapters, each with a theme:

The Crucible of Story
Awareness
Availability
Compassion
Solitude
The Sacred Ordinary
Simplicity of Spirit
Gracious Space
Severe Grace
A Taste of Silence
Standing Fast
Letting Go
Reborn to Love

I finished "Solitude" last night. Being alone is very important to me. I consider myself a loner for the most part. I think it has to do with growing up as an only child. I was on my own for several hours a day after I no longer went to the babysitter, and most of the day during summer. I love to just sit alone and think. I appreciate this quality because it means I'm rarely bored.

A quick quote: "'In solitude you are stripped to your nothing,' a monk once told me, and sitting here, I believe him. I feel stripped of defenses and distractions, all the normal diversions that keep me blissfully unaware of how ragged my soul really is."

I try to live a simple life. I feel lost when I'm running a million miles a minute. There's a certain gratification that comes with accomplishing several tasks in a day, but when they're all over, I never know what has been done to enrich my soul. There are so many distractions all the time. I came across this comic yesterday, and its message really resonated with me and my quest for simple living. The text is from Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. There is too much noise in the world and not enough quiet introspection. I think many are afraid of the empty shell they might find.

2 comments