In Titulum

A brief note on the title

Over the summer I am attempting to the best of my ability to discern where my Love is calling me - and as part of that I will be spending two weeks at St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota with the Benedictine Monks there.  But more importantly perhaps, I am attempting to live a contemplative life in the everyday - through my daiurnal practices and through my job (waitering at a local restaurant).  I'm doing my best to make it to mass every day, confession et al. once a week, some labor daily (2-3 hours), and the rest of my days I'm trying to spend reading and praying - what hopefully amounts to an approximation (except for the waitering) of the contemplative life.  Oh, and the Liturgy of the hours.  For my purposes, I'm calling it the Experiment.  And i've decided to share the results of my time and prayer via this blog.  And hence,

The Everyday Contemplative

Silence Is...

One thing that I have learned in my brief stint as a waiter...and I should have figured this out a long time ago:

Silence is not an external circumstance - it is an inward attitude.

Quiet is not an external circumstance - it is an inward orientation.

We can have peace and quiet, solitude, silence even amidst the noisiest and busiest bustle of life - and believe me, a popular restaurant gets pretty busy, especially for a new server such as myself.

And yet - I find my peace of mind not to be determined by how many guests I have, how many tables I'm waiting on, how backed up the bar is - but instead determined by my own choices in how I am going to live each moment.  Am I going to let myself get distracted from the people I'm serving?  Or am I going to remember always that no matter what may happen, He is Risen?  The choice is mine every day and every moment - and yours too.