Winter: 1974


QUIET: SILENCE AND STILLNESS

The spirit state is quiet: silence and stillness. The Dark Night never goes away. The Dark Night has three dynamics: 1. It is the Dark Night of everyman; 2. The Dark Night is intentional; 3. The Dark Night is transparent .

We are going through the Dark Night in a weird way. The Dark Night never does away. It reminds me of Eiseley longing to return to the sea (that is resentment). The same in suffering. A dog doesn't suffer. It comes from knowing you are going to die. Same with humiliation and weakness.

There was a vacuum 2 or 3 years ago . We feel through the trap door of social to spiritual. Now is the return to the social. The vacuum is the gap of knowing that the spirit will smother you if you do not return to the social. You could get caught in between.

The silence and stillness keeps it muted, though it is alive. Our singing is still and silent. It is dangerous right now. There is a vacuum until we learn to pop our head into the social. In a one-day or a five-day course. They are two race horses in a pack.

I'll bet on the one-day convocation, backed up by a five-day school. It is not simple, for we have the guild. After the priors have fifty one-day convocations, we will know.

Joseph W.Mathews