Stripped Down to the Real
In silence and solitude, we confront the truth of who we are. Stripped of titles, roles, and expectations, we encounter a raw honesty that no external affirmation can touch. In that space, time slows. The constant need to perform, prove, and produce loses its grip. A deeper awareness takes hold. The mind settles, and the heart opens to what is real. We do not chase joy or resist sorrow; both are simply present. The simultaneous experience of deep sadness and quiet joy reveals that our lives are not as fragmented as we imagined. This is the work of contemplation. We learn to look honestly, to feel fully, and to stand before God without pretense. That is the beginning of freedom.
May we stand before God in honest silence,
open to the joy and sorrow that reveal what is real.
(inspired by Richard Rohr, What the Mystics Know)
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Down to the real indeed. Stripped of titles, roles, and expectations, that is an occasion to ask ourselves, were they ever really there in the first place? To pause and let them lapse, if only for a little while, that is a gentle paradise.