Broom in Hand

Thomas Merton once said, "You can tell more about a monk from the way he uses a broom than by anything he says." I think Merton was likely commenting on the human propensity to divide life into sacred and secular. Our default position is to hallow some things and to see others as ordinary, secular, even mundane parts of life.

I have had a few weeks here of not feeling very well. My body has protested lately and my mind seems to easily migrate to darker places. In that context Thomas Merton caught my attention by reminding me (again!) that words are the easy part. It is easy to be 'sacred" with words. This blog over the years has accumulated a lot of words. They are often brave, keep-the-faith-words. But I don't always feel like I live up to those words.  Merton calls me once again to be honest about how the floor sweeping is going.  

So I stand here with this damn broom in my hand. What do I do with it?  Daily life-- treatments, side effects, needing to nap, wearing a mask,  the threat of measles, dealing with aches, etc-- seems akin to sweeping a floor at the end of a long day, and the air seems dusty. The ordinary certainly doesn't feel sacred at times.  How can all this sweeping be part of keeping the faith? Can I still know God's presence in the dusty days? Can I connect to the Giver of all good things and find contentment, peace and even joy in the tiresome and uncertain task that the broom calls for? 

This is my challenge and I am not unique. Life hands us all a broom.  The challenge is to bring all aspects of  life back to the Source of  life.  It's a challenge to not only say that God is trustworthy but to sweep the floors of our lives in such a way as to give that task as a sacred offering to God.

Each day as we pick up the brooms which are our lot in life, may we be reminded that if gripping the broom feels like we are losing our hold on God, God's hold on us is not weakened.  May we find the assurance that we are God's beloved, even as the dust from all this sweeping clouds our vision.

Friends, pray that we can learn again to live our ordinary days extraordinarily well.  Even though we don't understand the mystery of it all, may we submit to the Love found in that mystery. And may we keep the faith...broom in hand!

Brian

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