"Heaviness is the root of lightness.
Tranquility is the root of agitation.
That is why the sage travels all day
without ever losing sight of her baggage.
She may live in a glorious palace, but
she isn't attached to its pleasures.
Why should the lord of ten thousand chariots
behave lightly in the world?
One who acts lightly loses her foundation.
One who becomes agitated sacrifices her mastery."
I heard a sermon once, about St. John Vianney, patron saint of parish priests. Apparently he was, by all accounts, stupid. He almost failed in his studies struggling to learn the Latin and Greek and whatever else would be required of him to fulfill his role as curate. But, as the priest said then, "He knew the theology because it was in his heart."
Since that time I often have reflected on this: How, as another speaker once said, "the desire for God is written in the human heart." How stupid I have felt, as I struggle still to internalize the lessons my life of faith has taught me! Not willing to trust that my own treasure already is there inside me. In my stupidity, I only have buried it deeper, tried to hide it under my obsessions, my worries, my fear, my pain.
When faced with the true love and mercy of God, how fragile indeed is the mantle of oppression and hate.
Tranquility is the root of agitation.
That is why the sage travels all day
without ever losing sight of her baggage.
She may live in a glorious palace, but
she isn't attached to its pleasures.
Why should the lord of ten thousand chariots
behave lightly in the world?
One who acts lightly loses her foundation.
One who becomes agitated sacrifices her mastery."
I heard a sermon once, about St. John Vianney, patron saint of parish priests. Apparently he was, by all accounts, stupid. He almost failed in his studies struggling to learn the Latin and Greek and whatever else would be required of him to fulfill his role as curate. But, as the priest said then, "He knew the theology because it was in his heart."
Since that time I often have reflected on this: How, as another speaker once said, "the desire for God is written in the human heart." How stupid I have felt, as I struggle still to internalize the lessons my life of faith has taught me! Not willing to trust that my own treasure already is there inside me. In my stupidity, I only have buried it deeper, tried to hide it under my obsessions, my worries, my fear, my pain.
When faced with the true love and mercy of God, how fragile indeed is the mantle of oppression and hate.
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