After the attacks, the climatic disasters and the transport strikes, now a health crisis is reaching us from the inside, in our own bodies. Should we see through this crisis and this confinement an invitation to stop our frantic race to take a moment to reflect and meditate?
It is certain that this halt obliges us to deeply revise the orientations of the planet and invites us to meditation. Not a selfish withdrawal, but a recollection full of maturation for the future. What is happening to us is not a divine punishment, but a historical warning whose driving force we must exploit, however paradoxical it may be.
Isn’t this also the time to take an impromptu retreat and welcome two fellow travelers that we neglect in our hectic lives: solitude and silence? this?
These two traveling companions are indeed essential, and our bulimia to live makes us forget them too much. Now is the time to think about the counsel of the Gospel: “When you pray, go into your room and pray to your Father in secret” (Mt 6:6). There is no walking outside that is not preceded and constantly accompanied by a step within.
Do you have any readings to recommend to feed this meditation?
Personally, I would advise practicing this monastic exercise which is called “lectio divina”, that is to say the attentive and savory reading of the Scriptures, which can and must open up to an exchange with friends and loved ones. . We need to find infinities to support confinement. Also exploring the horizons of literature, music…
>>> Also read on Lepelerin.com: A walk through Auvergne, “province of the soul” <<<
Apart from reading, can you give us some advice on how to continue to walk, to meditate, while staying at home during this period of confinement?
Perhaps by observing the life of the close nature that surrounds us, that awaits us, and with which this great breakdown of industrial civilization makes it possible to reconnect! In the garden, in the vegetable garden or on the balcony, a look of wonder is a first step, a promise of steps to come.
This contagious virus, which has spread all over the world, makes us all co-responsible and united. Isn’t this the time to rediscover the fraternity, the spiritual communion, so natural on the pilgrimage routes on a daily basis?
Yes, at the moment we are marching together, shoulder to shoulder, in a pilgrimage of solidarity and hope towards a new stage in human history, towards a “being-more”, as the Father Teilhard de Chardin (to read and reread, too!). Confinement makes us inhabit forgotten infinities; it also increases our capacities for human relations tenfold. Let’s become artists of the new relationship. Here are some suggestions for concrete gestures: the sharing of household chores which, usually, are carried out by one or only one person, the desire to make a sign of life to a friend who has not been contacted since a long time, to inquire about this or that, or to find other matters to share between relatives and friends, deeper, more empathetic.
>>> To read also on Lepelerin.com: Brother François, in revolt against the spirit of the times <<<
You often preach on the coherence of life. Do you see other practices to apply to this situation, to remain consistent with the philosophy of the man-pilgrim?
The man who walks stands firmly on his feet and looks at the horizon: we must grow in realism, in a sense of responsibility, in rigor in the application of hygiene measures, and look now, with hope and joy, towards the world that we will have to build tomorrow.
How to consider the role of the pilgrim in the world to come, once the crisis is over and the confinement is lifted?
Everything is raw material, even suffering and death. It is the very lesson of the Paschal Mystery which is at the heart of our faith. This crisis can strip us of everything that encumbers us: the world of tomorrow will want men and women who only take the essentials with them and who will give them as gifts.