PASSION HIDING BEHIND ORDINARINESS

Written by

HEATHER KING

in

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“Despite all that is recounted of them, the great truth of the saints was hidden from public view, a truth layered within clefts and crevices, a secret ultimately incommunicable and never fully uncovered. The essential truth of who they were remained enclosed in the silence of their private exchanges with God. Every saint was a contemplative, in other words, carrying on a secret, intensifying exchange of self-giving with God. We never see the fullness of this from the outside.”

“In their caves or cloisters or on noisy city streets, the contemplatives are a hiding place for God. He hollows out in them a secret refuge for his presence. By God’s designs they may often go through life unnoticed except by souls searching for God. It is indeed one of the finer triumphs of religious truth–the fervent desire for God in certain lives that may be largely unobserved, a great passion of soul hiding behind ordinariness.”

–Fr. Donald Haggerty, Contemplative Provocations, pp 166-167

That’s us, right!?

To that end…and under the heading of “Things I Need to Hear Myself”…

Comments

12 responses to “PASSION HIDING BEHIND ORDINARINESS”

  1. Molly W Avatar
    Molly W

    That IS us… I hope and pray and fold the laundry… is us. As we mow the lawn, plant the garden, bake the bread, watch the grand kids ( or “grand dogs “), listen to the spouse go on and on, or listen to our selves do the same….. 🥰

    Reply
  2. Molly W Avatar
    Molly W

    Yes! That IS us. While we fold the laundry, plant the garden, mow the grass, listen to the spouse go on and on (or ourselves do the same), take care of the grandkids (hmmm —- or the grand dogs), yes— hopefully we do all of this with some element of love and gratitude and hopefully with a smidge of wonder and humor. Because … really…. It’s pretty darn hilarious……

    Reply
    1. HEATHER KING Avatar
      HEATHER KING

      Oh Molly, I just love these comments, thank you. It’s so true…there’s that phrase of how Christ comes in “the distressing disguise of the poor”–but does he not also reveal himself in the distressing disguise of the middle-of-the-road people like you and me–neither poor nor wealthy (I DO consider myself “rich,” as I know you do!)…schlepping around to Trader Joe’s, having our occasional lunches at zippy places like the Coronet Cafe, folding the laundry, filling the birdfeeders, graced enough to take our occasional trips…putting up like the rest of the world with a thousand daily annoyances and our own mediocrity (here, I only speak for myself). This morning at Mass the priest, God bless him, was droning on and on and I thought–That is what I sound like to Jesus half (if not basically all) the time. Sending me into gales of inner laughter. A sense of humor is ESSENTIAL for the follower of Christ as you say! Sending love from Tucson…on we plod.

      Reply
  3. Anne Avatar
    Anne

    Just as you wrote to Father Haggerty, here’s my thank you letter to you! Heather, thank you so much for sharing your musings with us. You are entertaining, thought- provoking and oh, so relatable! God bless you and May you have safe travels!
    Anne

    Reply
    1. HEATHER KING Avatar
      HEATHER KING

      “Entertaining, thought- provoking and oh, so relatable!” I am going to have T-shirts made up! That made my day, God bless you and I have booked a good part of my flights so things are moving forward…thank you for your readership and support.+++

      Reply
  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Thank you for sharing your musings. They are always thought provoking (I look forward to reading/viewing all your posts!). Fr. Haggerty is amazing. I’m glad you are writing to him. You’d make a good speaker/duo team: Brother and Sister in Christ! And prayers for safe travels. I’m always glad I went (after I get home, ha ha). I just wanted to say thank you for giving so much of yourself. I don’t always comment, but I’m here, listening, grateful for your words.

    Reply
    1. HEATHER KING Avatar
      HEATHER KING

      Ha ha thank you so much though I’m sure Fr. Haggerty would be appalled by my lack of depth. It’s always good to write thank-you notes, though, so I’m glad I wrote to him, and very glad you wrote to me! Together in the Eucharist, Resurrection blessings…

      Reply
  5. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Thank you Heather; for doing all this traveling-it definitely helps me. I get to travel through your experiences, as I sit in my comfy room with my book- and everything catholic for that matter, which include watching these awesome YouTube videos you produce for us…
    I’ll be looking forward to one of your future Zoom events.
    Love, & safe travels Adrine V.

    Reply
    1. HEATHER KING Avatar
      HEATHER KING

      Yes, travel is its own weird state of being almost. A huge labor, right, possibly in part “for” the people who can’t or are not situated to travel…wonderful to be able then to share the travels. We will see what the next few months bring! I’m recording an interview with the Irish Writers Institute on May 15, not sure if it’s live: if so, details to follow!

      Reply
  6. Avatar
    Anonymous

    “Deep inside the human dough there is a need for people who adore, people so convinced of the need for what they are doing that they deprive themselves of all activity on behalf
    of their human kin. They know that they are answering the essential part of their call by saying again and again to God in the contemporary equivalent of the desert, in the subways, on the highways, in their homes, on their farms: “You are he who is; we are those who are not.” (Madeleine Delbrel)

    Reply
    1. HEATHER KING Avatar
      HEATHER KING

      LOVE Madeleine Delbrel! The Joy of Believing…have written of her in Magnificat and must feature her in an upcoming video. Thanks for the quote and for bringing her to our attention. A need for people who adore…YES. Let us be among them!

      Reply
  7. rubmd Avatar
    rubmd

    Wow superb blog layout How long have you been blogging for you make blogging look easy The overall look of your site is magnificent as well as the content

    Reply

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