Lightly child, lightly.

~ Live & Learn

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How does an apple ripen?

It just sits in the sun.

~ Thomas Merton, From Merton’s Palace of Nowhere by James Finley

Notes:

  • Passage from James Finley:  “Merton once told me to quit trying so hard in prayer. He said, ‘How does an apple ripen? I just sits in the sun.’ A small green apple cannot ripen in one night by tightening all its muscles, squinting its eyes and tightening its jaw in order to find itself the next morning miraculously large, red, ripe and juicy beside its small green counterparts. Like the birth of a baby or the opening of a rose, the birth of true self takes place in God’s time.”
  • Photograph: Patty Maher with Claire in Exhibit A
  • Prior “Lightly child, lightly” Posts? Connect here.
  • Post Title & Inspiration: Aldous Huxley: “It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.”

 

 

24 thoughts on “Lightly child, lightly.”

  8. Reblogged this on Quiet Confidence and commented:
    “Lightly child, lightly” I keep this quote next to favorite scripture and long a left note from my daughter reminding me not to worry. David Kanigan tells me what I already know and knew but, need to be told again. Prayer is trust and waiting. Striving is counterproductive to being the you God designed. This post is inspired by a quote from James Finley in which he, too reminds, “the birth of true self takes place in God’s time.”

    So, rewind Lisa and rethink your waking thoughts of “Oh, I must do better today! I must be more disciplined and more productive! I must be more of who God wants to be!” Instead, I begin again. I quietly trust the consistent me.

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