We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
T. S. Eliot
Author Archives: Teresa Nizza
Wonderful insights from Joan Chrittister…
Life is not simply a checklist or series of events…
It’s a deepening of insights…
From one stage to the next…
layers and levels each deeper than the one before
one continuous movement…
The best ripening happens over time – this is a wonderful poem that speaks to ripe and unripe fruit:
In the season of sweet melon and cantaloupe,
The grapes cannot know their own luscious ripeness,
The heavy readiness to let go of the vine.
The green wheat, just beginning to sprout.
Like some poor child, all vanity and ego,
Thinks it wants to be young forever.
When pistachios crackle open
By moonlight, they are joyfully sighing,
Why did we not know?
From “The Ripe and Unripe Fruit”
The unripe can’t understand what it feels like to be ready. Rumi
Look for something small to appreciate!
Many put off enlightenment as long as they can…
Let’s lean into and be open to enlightenment.
Spirituality of Ripening
From my friend Richard Rohr on the spirituality of “ripening”
It is characterized by an increasing tolerance for ambiguity, a growing sense of subtlety, an ever-larger ability to include and allow, and a capacity to live with contradictions – and perhaps to cherish them!
Prepare through practices of reflection and self-restraint…
Live with and learn to love contradictions
