Saturday, May 13, 2017

Life as it is...


Monadnock Angel



"..when we have no hope, our mind quiets. As long as we have hope, our mind is trying to figure out how to fulfill those wonderful things that we want to happen to us, or trying to protect ourselves from all the terrible things that shouldn't happen. And so the mind is anything but quiet. Now, instead of forcing the mind to become quiet, what can we do? We can be conscious of what it's doing. That's what labeling our thoughts is about. Instead of being caught up in hope, we begin to see, "Oh yeah, for the twentieth time today, I'm hoping for relief." ..... When we've said that five hundred times, what happens to it? We see it for what it is - nonsense.... As we watch the mind over the years the hopes slowly wear out. And we're left with what? It may seem gruesome, I know: we're left with life as it is."


~ Charlette Joko Beck ~

~

You might think it odd to pair an image of an angel with Joko Beck's advice about "no hope." This is no ordinary angel though. She is called "Monadnock Angel" and I love her, and here's why:

Her wings are tattered and the bottom of her gown is filthy and her gaze is somber and matter-of-fact and she looks you right in the eye and she points not to heaven - but to the ground - the muck - the violence - the murders - the death - the illness - the unwanted pain - the alienation - the suicides - the addictions - the exclusion - all of it - and says - "Here it is - here is your life - go live it." 

Christians say that angels are messengers. Monadnock Angel brings me the liberating message of "no hope." 

~

 

No comments:

Post a Comment