Journeys of a Pregnant Virgin
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Hands
Once again, more quickly than usual it seems, it is Sunday morning and I am here with my sunflower yellow mug of hot coffee and a rousing Charpentier cantata resonating through my little speakers. And now I am a little further along that descending arc of time that will carry me to Vancouver in two weeks and I will experience my time here in terms of days rather than weeks.
The past week had a lovely pace and rhythm. There was something of interest each day by way of lecture and seminar, but also time for reading and writing, walking, a long and irreverent lunch with Vicki on Friday, and finally, a visit to my friend in Forch yesterday and good rousing discussion as always. Fuelled no doubt by the delicious chocolate truffle cake I took along and endless cups of coffee. The week's balance of solitude and society suited me well.
The most important event for me was without question finally arriving at a decision about my "Training Analyst." At least in theory this is the most important dimension of the entire Analyst Training Program and I have been pondering it since I first arrived in Zurich last April as a matriculated auditor. Once I was accepted as a training candidate this issue took center stage in my inner life but I was determined not to rush it, but rather to be receptive to various possibilities and wait for a sure sense of when and in which direction to move. And now I know, and I have the sense of having dropped in even more deeply on both the personal and professional levels of my training process in Zurich. In the interests of "containment," I won't go into further detail, but this was too significant a highlight of my week not to have mentioned it at all.
Among the books I have been dipping into recently is Gertrud Mueller Nelson's wonderful HERE ALL DWELL FREE, on how to work with fairy tales on a symbolic level. I have loved this book since I happened upon it in my favourite Vancouver used bookstore, but this was my first occasion to read her entire 170 page exploration and amplification of "The Handless Maiden," the story of a miller's daughter whose father chops off her hands in a pact with the Devil in order to save his own life, and who is subsequently given silver hands by the King who falls in love with this beautiful maiden. But of course they are not "her" hands in any genuine sense, and GMN offers a lovely and heartfelt exploration of this tale's symbolic resonance for us today. Without further comment or interpretation, here are a few of the passages that touched me during my reading.
"This 'taking of time' and 'the time it takes' to be handy in this way are also endangered values. When we TOOK time - had 'time on our hands' - I think we had a greater chance of restoring those hands to flesh. What is too much and too fast in our lives today interferes with processing the simple happenings of everyday living. It robs us of challenge and takes away purpose in simple acts. And our notion that the value of silver supersedes the value of simple, common flesh lets us forget that we do still need healing.... The object of life is to live it with feeling and passion and art - minutely - because without the paper scraps, the sticks and rags and soups, without sunrises, or compost piles, without babies, and loves, without spinning an atmosphere for family, neighbors, and friends, there is no taste of God." (p.91)
"And being human is really all that is asked of us. We always want to forget that. We always think that we have to be superhuman and then berate ourselves for failing that expectation. So that's why we have symbols and rituals, like ashes and graces and sacraments. They are there to remind us and help us and ground us.... As always, the Word must be made flesh - our sterling gestures turned to human, loving acts - the divine made incarnate in our love and dogged faithfulness to each other. In grace and sacrament we transform experience to meaning. And meaning will give form to our actions. There is no other container for the spirit than the life we live out daily." (pp.131-32)
"Freedom...is not being rid of responsibilities; it is being free of random shoulds and oughts. Freedom doesn't dwell in randomness but in conscious choice." (p. 145)
I could not end with better words, so until next Sunday, may we all be well, live well, and remember to "take" some time!
The past week had a lovely pace and rhythm. There was something of interest each day by way of lecture and seminar, but also time for reading and writing, walking, a long and irreverent lunch with Vicki on Friday, and finally, a visit to my friend in Forch yesterday and good rousing discussion as always. Fuelled no doubt by the delicious chocolate truffle cake I took along and endless cups of coffee. The week's balance of solitude and society suited me well.
The most important event for me was without question finally arriving at a decision about my "Training Analyst." At least in theory this is the most important dimension of the entire Analyst Training Program and I have been pondering it since I first arrived in Zurich last April as a matriculated auditor. Once I was accepted as a training candidate this issue took center stage in my inner life but I was determined not to rush it, but rather to be receptive to various possibilities and wait for a sure sense of when and in which direction to move. And now I know, and I have the sense of having dropped in even more deeply on both the personal and professional levels of my training process in Zurich. In the interests of "containment," I won't go into further detail, but this was too significant a highlight of my week not to have mentioned it at all.
Among the books I have been dipping into recently is Gertrud Mueller Nelson's wonderful HERE ALL DWELL FREE, on how to work with fairy tales on a symbolic level. I have loved this book since I happened upon it in my favourite Vancouver used bookstore, but this was my first occasion to read her entire 170 page exploration and amplification of "The Handless Maiden," the story of a miller's daughter whose father chops off her hands in a pact with the Devil in order to save his own life, and who is subsequently given silver hands by the King who falls in love with this beautiful maiden. But of course they are not "her" hands in any genuine sense, and GMN offers a lovely and heartfelt exploration of this tale's symbolic resonance for us today. Without further comment or interpretation, here are a few of the passages that touched me during my reading.
"This 'taking of time' and 'the time it takes' to be handy in this way are also endangered values. When we TOOK time - had 'time on our hands' - I think we had a greater chance of restoring those hands to flesh. What is too much and too fast in our lives today interferes with processing the simple happenings of everyday living. It robs us of challenge and takes away purpose in simple acts. And our notion that the value of silver supersedes the value of simple, common flesh lets us forget that we do still need healing.... The object of life is to live it with feeling and passion and art - minutely - because without the paper scraps, the sticks and rags and soups, without sunrises, or compost piles, without babies, and loves, without spinning an atmosphere for family, neighbors, and friends, there is no taste of God." (p.91)
"And being human is really all that is asked of us. We always want to forget that. We always think that we have to be superhuman and then berate ourselves for failing that expectation. So that's why we have symbols and rituals, like ashes and graces and sacraments. They are there to remind us and help us and ground us.... As always, the Word must be made flesh - our sterling gestures turned to human, loving acts - the divine made incarnate in our love and dogged faithfulness to each other. In grace and sacrament we transform experience to meaning. And meaning will give form to our actions. There is no other container for the spirit than the life we live out daily." (pp.131-32)
"Freedom...is not being rid of responsibilities; it is being free of random shoulds and oughts. Freedom doesn't dwell in randomness but in conscious choice." (p. 145)
I could not end with better words, so until next Sunday, may we all be well, live well, and remember to "take" some time!
posted by Marlene # 10:51 AM 
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