Why reverence? Because reverence kindles warmth in friendship and family life. And because without reverence things fall apart. ~Paul Woodruff This is an introductory post At the end of January I set a goal to write every week until the end of 2019. I am entering the final month and closing with 4 posts on an essential topic, a topic that permeates all topics. If you have been a faithful reader, thank you, I hope this is the close you need. If you've read some, or none, I hope this is the one you read because it is the most important to me.
If you are anticipating these last posts will touch on topics like religion, minimalism or sustainability, you are correct. But if you don't share my religion or feelings about stuff or the world I hope you still feel the importance of reverence. Because reverence supersedes all these things. Keep reading. Understanding Reverence (sort of) There are many people who've issued beautiful definitions of reverence--with words and without them. As a simple definition it's: a deep awe or respect for someone or something. The key word is deep. It adds depth. Sometimes people say, "it's not that deep" when others (like me) attempt to make the mundane philosophical or poetic, assigning meaning, moral, or metaphor to nearly everything. Sometimes they are right. But sometimes, "do you want to stay in and order pizza" really is an inspired word because it's wrapped in reverence. There are frequent misconceptions of reverence's place and function. It's often portrayed as something confined to religious experience, moments of mysticism or ritual. But, reverence supersedes religion. Reverence is deep awe. And deep awe is in the mystic and the mundane. For the mystics or the creatives, reverent lives are lived searching for those moments of art that leave us moved and wrecked. They ride grand waves of influence and then pour out their experience for the rest of the world. Their reverence tides us through a heavy season. (If you don't know what I mean go to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and take in the Mobius Ship or stand on the Floor). Others, the people who inspire me most, are the beautiful humans whose reverent lives are spent in homage to every soul they encounter. The people who treat each person with the kindness and love revealing things that are more than human. Their virtue is in a smile, a modified tripod grasp, a knee bent to the ground to look someone in the eyes, a humility to learn, a compassion to teach, a scarred and calloused hand from years of hard work done for other people. These are lives resting in reverence. Reverence is a virtue. According to a guy who studied virtue ethics for a really long time. And this virtue can be cultivated. (Cultivators prepare land for use). To cultivate deep sense of childlike wonder for someone or something, it's important to be small and to recognize both pointlessness and purpose. When I saturate my life in this type of reverence, the organic flavor of my actions and words becomes more. It adds depth. When I forget to live reverently, I trend towards insecurity manifesting itself in arrogance, anger, and other ugly traits. Irreverence believes that the world, the people in it, and the creator of it, can be manipulated. And maybe they can. But it won't get the results I crave. The results I crave come from this truth from Paul Woodruff's book on reverence, "We are mortal, we are born and die, and in between each of these events each of us has time to make a fatal mistake." This is a recognition that what we do may or may not matter. But if it does matter, it is probably important for us to make an effort to live with some form of harmony. Here are a lot of what if statements. What if we believed our words and actions may impact the people we encounter? Would it change the things you say or don't say? What if we could hear "all creation groaning as in the pains of childbirth"? Would it alter the way we live our lives? What if we believed the thing that made a house a home were not in the seen but in the unseen? What if it we could express not just what we see but how it makes us feel? Would it change the way we create and consume? This was your introduction to reverence. As Simon Cowell would say, reverence is the "x factor". (Is it ok to use Simon Cowell and reverence in the same sentence?) It is this ethereal confidence in that which is more. And it is what remains as I let go of all the things impeding my sense of wonder. And when I let go of my control and cultivate reverence it deepens my sense of virtue, it lends warmth to my courage, sincerity to my sadness, grandeur to my grief, exuberance to my joy. If you have some time take a few minutes to think about what this poem means to you. How to be a Poet Wendell Berry i. Make a place to sit down. Sit down. Be quiet. You must depend upon affection, reading, knowledge, skill—more of each than you have—inspiration, work, growing older, patience, for patience joins time to eternity. Any readers who like your poems, doubt their judgment. ii. Breathe with unconditional breath the unconditioned air. Shun electric wire. Communicate slowly. Live a three-dimensioned life; stay away from screens. Stay away from anything that obscures the place it is in. There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places. iii. Accept what comes from silence. Make the best you can of it. Of the little words that come out of the silence, like prayers prayed back to the one who prays, make a poem that does not disturb the silence from which it came. Think of a way to cultivate reverence. Ponder it. Set it as the object of your thought. Soak it in. Next week I will talk about reverence as it relates to minimalism.
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I'm a Hoosier. I like the outdoors. Taxes are my job. I write for a living. This Blog
Writing my way to an adult life of minimalism, sustainability, and joy rooted in Truth. I'm learning, unlearning, and relearning.
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