When I was forty-four years old, there occurred the most serious call of my life: the call to the contemplative life. I experienced it deeply\u2014in the depth which only faith can provide and where darkness is absolute\u2014where human strength can no longer help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This time I had to say \u201cyes\u201d without understanding a thing. \u201cLeave everything and come with me into the desert. It is not your acts and deeds that I want; I want your prayer, your love.\u201d\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCome with me into the desert.\u201d There is something much greater than human action: prayer; and it has a power much stronger than human words: love.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And I went into the desert. [1]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Passing through a desert village on his way to a time of solitude, Carretto met a man named Kada who needed a blanket. Although he had two, Carretto did not share. The next night, Carretto dreamed that he was pinned under a boulder and unable to move, a terrible feeling he described as \u201cpurgatory.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou will be judged according to your ability to love\u201d this place [in the Sahara] reminds me insistently. And my eyes, burnt by the sun, gaze up into the cloudless sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t want to deceive myself any more; indeed I am not able to. The truth is that I did not give my blanket to Kada, for fear of the cold night. And that means that I love my own skin more than my brother\u2019s, while God\u2019s commandment tells me: \u201cLove the life of others as you love your own.\u201d\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n God does not hurry over things; time is [God\u2019s], not mine. And I, little creature, a man, have been called to be transformed into God by sharing [God\u2019s] life. And what transforms me is the charity which [God] pours into my heart.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Love transforms me slowly into God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But sin is still there, resisting this transformation, knowing how to, and actually saying \u201cno\u201d to love.\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n To have resisted love, not to have been capable of accepting the demand of this love which said to me, \u201cGive the blanket to your brother,\u201d is so serious that it creates an obstacle between me and God and this is my purgatory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s the use of saying the Divine Office well, of sharing the Eucharist, if one is not impelled by love?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s the use of giving up everything and coming here to the desert and the heat, if only to resist love?…<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou will be judged according to your ability to love,\u201d <\/strong>says the great stone under which I spent my purgatory waiting for perfect love to grow within myself, that which Jesus brought to earth for me\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n May that day not be far off. [2]<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n by David Tensen<\/a> | 16 Sep, 2023 | All<\/a>, Poetry<\/a> | 0 comments<\/a> Perhaps humility feels like this: To leave generous gaps To live with a fragile knowing HUMILITY <\/p>\n\n\n\n by David Tensen<\/a> | 21 Feb, 2019 | All<\/a>, Poetry<\/a>, recommended links<\/a> | 4 comments<\/a> [Preface]. This poem is the opening and close piece in the 2020 collection of poems called The Wrestle. Available here<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, fellow fallers, The runners and the lame, I bless you with knowing I bless you today But know this A BLESSING FOR THE HEART JOURNEYHumility \u2013 a poem<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to shut my mouth,
quiet my critique,
and make space for sappling and seed
only time away from tallness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in the canopy of wisdom.
To recall that I too
remain dependent
on the elements and shelter
of neighbours and strangers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that the unavoidable truth is
we all fall and breakdown
only to become a bed
for both friend and foe
to dig their own roots into,
just as we have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David Tensen<\/p>\n\n\n\nA Blessing for the Heart Journey<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n
recoverers, rescuers,
winners, losers,
famous and infamous,
I bless you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the bankrupt and billionaires,
the saints and sinners,
lost and the lonely,
I bless you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that the journey of a thousand steps
will be paved by
potholes,
sinkholes,
assholes,
and whatever
it takes to make
you whole.
Because you are human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
with knowing
that the invitation
to face the world
with an unveiled face
may be done at your pace,
or never at all.
Because it\u2019s an invitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that by love and choice
Trinity\u2019s unmasked face
Shines upon you
and is gracious to you.
Trinity lifts up their faces towards you
and offers you peace.
Because you belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
~ David Tensen
Feb \u201919<\/p>\n\n\n\n