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November 17, 2008
things we shall not get used to
Sometimes on blogs, there's a bit of a lull. It can happen. No one seems to be around, and the tell tale signs are the milk going off in the fridge, and the bread in the bread bin going slightly green.
But I'm back now, with fresh milk purchased - and the green bits cut off the bread. I've been away leading a retreat in Glastonbury, and though I do not seek your applause, a good time we had of it amid the rich autumn colours of Somerset.
And what did we discover? All sorts. It was Dostoyevsky who defined humans as 'beings who can get used to anything' and we certainly discovered this to be so. So many of us had 'got used to things' that were killing us. So they were duly left behind with the rotting leaves - because there are some things we should just never get used to.
And I'm now thinking of Victor Frankl, after the allies had liberated his concentration camp. A few days after the liberation, he walked from the camp to a nearby village. Brutalised and numbed by his experiences, he was only slowly getting back to human feelings. So much lost; so much to be recovered inside. But as he walked through the fields, he had only one sentence in his head: 'I called to the Lord from my narrow prison, and he answered me in the freedom of space.'
The freedom of space - it's what retreats are about.
Posted by Mr Bojangles at November 17, 2008 11:55 AM