Letting Go.

Two blogs I enjoy very much are Tom Kreitzberg's Disputations and Stephen Riddle's Flos Carmeli (St. Blog's resident Thomist and Carmelite, respectively), and their ongoing theological disputes which provide me with much food for thought (such as this discussion of contemplation and married life).

Lately Tom is reading On Union with God by St. Albert the Great, and posting his musings on the text. Prompting in turn an interesting exchange on what it means to "empty your mind of all distractions, and this bit of wise advice by Stephen:

"The way I once explained it to my Carmelites is that it was like the ten ibis that were walking on my lawn one morning. I looked out at them and they were beautiful and I thanked God for them. My heart could then take one of two turns--I could then think to build a coop and contain this beauty for myself for good and all; or I could let the ibis wander free and eventually fly away, cherishing what God had given me in the vision, but not desiring to retain it forever. The latter is nada. Accept what comes, and let it pass with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving, but with no desire to hold on to it forever."