I had imagined that arriving at the new friary would give me a lot of write about. On the contrary, my mind feels pretty blank. It's not necessarily a negative state; I just feel somewhat uprooted and like I'm only visiting this new place. I'm not bored either; I have plenty of holes in my reading that I would like to fill before school starts, not to mention getting my Spanish back together so that I can help with Sunday Masses here. Today I'm cooking for the brothers for the first time in three years (we had a cook in my last assignment) and tomorrow I have my first public Mass in the parish where we live.
Here's my new room, more or less set up. I was happy to learn from
NLM that I instinctively put my icon corner in the traditional place without even knowing it. They are, going clockwise: Christ crucified, the Virgin of the Sign, St. Joseph, St. Francis, St. John of the Cross, and the Transfiguration. In the middle is my 'relic' of St. Bonaventure.
12 comments:
The room looks vaguely familiar and yet originally elegant.
What are you treating the brothers with tonight?
I have mixed feelings about all the floor scratches. On the one hand they're ugly, but on the other I don't have to worry about making it any worse.
I found a roast in the freezer. Besides that, I'm thinking rice and beans. I should go get some tortillas, and some PBR. Yum.
A suggestion to make your presence in your room more comfortable: Turn your chair so that its back is more toward the window. Then you can sit with your feet propped up on your bed!
I bet you thought of that already! If not, you surely will!!! (grin)
I like your room.
I'd face the chair looking out the window. :)
I just moved to a new room, myself. The floor is something other-than-level and I'm having trouble getting used to the back-and-right tilt of my desk. Fortunately, the chair has the same tilt, so the screen looks straight. I moved from an interior room to an exterior, with a window looking over a busy drive-in burger joint onto a busy road with lots of pedestrian traffic.
Apparently, I am atraditional in my placement of icons. I place them next to my door so they are the last thing I see on the way out. It is a reminder of who I am and who is with me.
I lived in a room like that once...I eventually arranged things in a rather eccentric fashion so that I could type downhill, which I found more comfortable.
Your new room slats as well. I originally had the desk against the windows but the drawers kept opening up. What a painful surprise I had once at 3:00 AM getting up to get a glass of water... ouch!
Oh, oh. You inadvertently opened a door: a theologian with time on his hands was on my search list. :>)
Am working on two ideas, one minor, the other more challenging.
The first is a blog post in which I reference Bonaventure's Tree of Life. With roots reaching down humbly to the mundane, Christ led our gaze, our devotion, heavenward with his life.
Then I consider Peter who was crucified upside down. One could imagine his roots were in heaven, it was Christ in heaven that gave him the rootedness that allowed him to remain steady and devoted in the winds. After Christ, our roots lie above rather than below.
I use the images to discuss a diagram I introduce in Taming the Wolf, a diagram in which I suggest there is an inverted pyramid that must be considered alongside Maslow's pyramid of human needs. The new pyramid represents spiritual needs, with the broad base being at the top, representing transcendent needs.
And then there is the more challenging idea... to be continued...
The more challenging task is a longer term project. Something that is close to my heart...
I plan to combine the legend of Francis Taming the Wolf with Bonaventure's Itinerarium.
The idea is that on the Soul's Journey Into God, on that mystical path, we meet up with wolves that must be tamed. We must overcome that which stands between us and union with Christ.
Not sure if anyone has tackled this from a theological perspective.
If your thoughts happen to wander to this concept over the next semester, would love to hear of them and would love to read anything you put forth on the idea.
Peace be with you, Br. Charles.
You can grow new roots anywhere you want. Just remember us, where you "grew up" as a priest! We will certainly remember you!
Did you receive the second comment, about the Itinerarium and Taming?
Did it get lost, or was it inappropriate to post?
thanks for sharing the photo, Fr. C! it looks like a nice room. i hope everything is going well and that you're beginning to settle in and feel at home. the Mass and lunch for the handicapped that we have each year at SH in august is coming up. i guess it will be Br. Andrew's turn to be involved in that this year. happy feast of the the Transfiguration a day early! PAX! ~tara t~
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