I’ve decided to move the weekend practice to Friday’s post. I think a practice on Friday morning as we wind down the week will give some time to reflect on the reading and some space for the weekend.

Summary

This week, Muriel Barbery reminds us that what matters is not winning but “building well” and now! We read another of her passages that addresses really seeing each other and not just passing by. Adrienne Rich brings up the heart being moved by destruction — and yet being part of that great “lot” who, “with no extraordinary power” restore the world. And finally, Rilke encourages us, even when we feel lost “on a vast plain” to be humble like the ground we stand on and trust that we are “ripening,” becoming more real.

Quest-ions

I think these words encourage us to 1) channel the quiet evensong in Rilke’s poems and 2) to wait, feel for something that moves our hearts.

When you sit still, what does your heart or your sense deep down move you to do? What does it look like to “build now” or to make in some small investment in “reconstituting the world”around you? It could be a phone call, to plant something, to take a walk, pet a dog, to sleep, to ask someone how they’re doing — to start a conversation that starts a tiny moment of relationship.

The goal of this action is that it’s tiny, and it comes from the heart being moved, and it’s meant to really “meet” or connect with someone — or with ourselves. I imagine this not as some kind of frantic to-do-list action, but an almost imperceptible gesture that maybe comes to you while you’re doing something else this weekend, something truly a result of the heart’s prompting and not the “should” or “have to” of the mind.

As always, please comment here or on Facebook if you would like to share your practice or any reflections on this week’s quotes!