Great Truths and Insights,
Treasures of the Wind,
need practices:
When we have cried ‘AHA!’
for what we’ve come to see,
we then need steadfastness
in what we do.
A simple thing reminds us of a Great:
and things we cannot grasp,
we celebrate.
A discipline is scaffolding
for growth.
We cannot in a moment
drink a Well,
but we can daily drink
a cup of truth,
and then tomorrow come and sup some more.
Insights however great
will seldom last
if we don’t make some rhythm
for their care.
The practice of a Wafer and a Word,
the practice of a cup and contemplation,
the feastings and the fastings,
the memories of mysteries,
the stewarding of stories,
the laughter and the lingerings,-
such practices re-populate our hearts
and, celebrating, kindle them anew.
(Reflection on input by Fr. Raphael Gallagher’s C.Ss.R., during the Irish Redemptorists’ Alphonsian Pilgrimage, April 2000)
