Meeting 2. - Life that is despite great (?) dreams ************************************************** .. tags:: content|time|Time, content|truth|Truth, content|maturity|Maturity, content|decisions|Decisions, method|text-work|Text work, method|discussion|Discussion, type|formative|Formative Goal ==== To show the good side of experiencing everyday life - it is a gift for us that can be used or rejected. Sharing our experience of "ordinariness" in life. Realizing that everyday life is the state of most of our life. Prayer ====== Prayer for the ability to look at our life in Truth. Emphasis not in the direction of settling accounts with something, on the contrary - we ask that we may be able to see how our life looks, and not what its pluses and minuses are. Introduction ============ Yesterday we talked all day about wonder and passion. We built a city in which there are "our places". However, this city is not yet complete. This is not a city in which you and I live. Our life does not consist only of moments about which we can speak with wonder in our voice. What about this ordinary time? Does the fact that such exists mean that we still have a lot of work to do to "use life to the fullest"? This will be the second part of the retreat. What constitutes most of my life? ================================== Let's write down on a piece of paper "extraordinary" things you experienced (in which we participated) in the last week or month. Memory of what we placed yesterday on the city model may be helpful in this. * How many hours did these points you wrote down last together? * What percentage of the entire week/month is this? * Are you "angry" that it's so little? Would you like more? * How much of this time should there be? How do we know about this? It is very difficult to answer the last question. However, we can look for some clue. Let's read: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. -- Gen 2,1-4 .. note:: It cannot be hidden that creating the world was undoubtedly not a "daily and gray occupation" :) - however, we refer this fragment to the division of our week. * Have we wondered why God (!) wanted us to work 6 days and celebrate once every 7 days? Why not the other way around? * What does it mean to me that God established such an order of things? What does this indicate to me? * Is the weekday for me "God's intention" or what is "between what is His"? Everyday life is a significant majority of our life. This is nothing unnatural - such an order comes from God himself. It is also worth noting that even if we tried by force to make our life "only extraordinary", this time would turn out to be ordinary and everyday for us - so these concepts cannot be removed - and Praise the Lord! Gray, usual, similar, boring - why? =================================== * What does everyday life remind you of? What are the first associations? * Is there something positive in what we list? What is good about everyday life? Let's write on cards one or several things that are part of our daily plan, but are inconvenient for us and we would prefer them not to be. We note that this information will be revealed (anonymously) in the forum. The animator collects the cards and we move on. .. warning:: Needed for evening prayer - cannot be omitted! Everyday life is connected with routine. On the one hand, monotony can introduce burnout, discouragement, but on the other hand it is unchanging, we can cling to it in moments of breakdown, it gives a sense of security. It can even save life. Read: There was a monk who was in a concentration camp. One day during a punitive roll call he had to stand at attention in the cold for several hours and could not move. People who were with him could not stand it and fell. The monk stood in the square in front of the barracks, but his thoughts were elsewhere - in his thoughts he went through his plan of a normal day in the monastery - now I get up, now I go to prayer. Thanks to this he survived. * What are your positive experiences of everyday life and routine? * Can we use the strength that things we are accustomed to give? (e.g. because certain computer operations are routine for me, I can perform them almost mindlessly) City completed ============== Everyday life is not only good because it is "effective" in various moments of our life and helps us. It can also be a source of joy in itself. Read (can be somewhat ironic) When I go to the bus stop I pass a large chestnut tree. Such a tree is nothing extraordinary. When I am under it I don't think at all "Oh what a beautiful chestnut tree! I'll sit under it for two minutes and look at its majestic branches". However, if the local authorities decided to cut down this tree I would protest, and I would certainly feel sadness. Yes... undoubtedly this chestnut tree is already a Chestnut tree for me, because it has its place in my life. Walking to school many years ago I collected chestnuts from under it and I would like it to stand here still when my son returns from the bus stop. -- Author of the outline ;) Let's return to our city that we built yesterday. Referring to the Book of Genesis, it still lacks 6/7 places and buildings for it to be called a city in which we really live. During today's day, until evening prayer, there is time to complete this city. Let everyone add to it what this time is "ordinary, but still important". This can be done at any moment of free time. However, let's try to share this within our group right now: * What things are important to us despite being completely ordinary? Why exactly these? .. note:: Definitely an important sharing question - don't give up and give plenty of time * Have we ever thanked God for this "ordinary"? Let's summarize: We have ordinary and extraordinary things. We indicated and discussed them. Our "city has been completed"! If we did this thoroughly, looking at it now we can see all its elements. However, these are "only points on the map". We discussed each of them as a separate building. We placed them between the same streets, but treated them as individual. Is something missing here? Missing! Right now after everything we did we can deal with what is the theme of our retreat... let's look at what is **"between"**! Internal struggle ================= Let's read: Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." -- Lk 10,38-42 * Can we have complaints against Martha for behaving this way? Do we sometimes behave similarly? * Do we ourselves experience such problems of choice? Sometimes we are "Martha" and sometimes "Mary"? * What is most difficult to combine? Why does it sometimes spark? Let's see a testimony of life of a person living in Poland in present times: So from the perspective of time, because ultimately I was involved in various matters that caused risk not only for me but also for my surroundings, well... I would say from 1940 until the creation of Independent Poland... almost half a century. One could wonder how this reflected on my family, on my personal life, on my surroundings.... one must say with open brutal honesty - it obviously reflected BADLY. My loved ones felt the effects of various types of harassment and I must say that their full approval and their affirmative behavior, their solidarity with me, their kindness towards the path I chose... well... incredibly helped me... well... gave me strength, and in any case... let's say honestly..... freed me from certain additional moral problems - that I am here truly a tormentor for my own family. -- W. Bartoszewski There is in us a desire for extraordinary things. That is why we so eagerly watch movies where magic exists, the world is saved, one possesses extraordinary powers, paranormal phenomena exist. One can deny this, but when you look at the TV guide or cinema repertoire, a huge part is exactly like this. A struggle is going on in us. We escape from what is our everyday life. We even call our passions, hobbies, interests - an escape from reality, right? This will not help remove this friction in the heart, only deepen it. Can it be stronger... how many hearts does a person have? Is it healthy to be in several worlds simultaneously? And is it Christian? Jesus Christ came to earth to give peace. Is He in me between the desire for "extraordinary" and "everyday life"? * Do you believe it is possible for you to have harmony in your life between everyday life and what is extraordinary? * What is most difficult in imagining such a situation? .. note:: This is a good moment to remind ourselves (or say for the first time if someone forgot at the introduction to the day :) ) - today's day is heading towards offering God this "struggle" at evening prayer. Sanctified everyday life ======================== We will try to end this meeting with an appropriate attitude for today's day. We already know in which direction we are going, we shared how it looks for us. We are slowly approaching the "attempt to connect" two realities of our life. Before we start connecting something in life and expect effects - we try to give it to God in prayer (tonight). However... before we stand before God in prayer, it is worth asking ourselves whether we already at this moment don't have "two hearts"? * When I stand before God, do I try to "switch to extraordinary mode" or do I talk with Him in everyday life and about everyday life? .. warning:: Strong and difficult question. If the group doesn't understand, guide - too important * When we do an examination of conscience, do we "talk" with Him only about "extraordinary" moments, that is about sin or a good deed? Where is 80% of our life, which is hard to classify this way? Summary ======= Probably each of us had such a time when in "gray everyday life" we remembered with nostalgia moments of wonder, important meetings for us, everything that was "very important"... However, then we least notice what is important for us and is part of our everyday life. It's like meeting a friend after many months, even if it passed in conversation about the weather - it will be a wonderful memory to which we will return in thoughts, whereas if our friend is nearby, sits with us on the same bench, we spend many hours together, then even if our conversation is about important matters, it will become for us "only" an element of everyday life. Let's try to reflect whether in our everyday life we have not lost some amazing treasure, whose only "fault" is that it is given to us in abundance. Can we thank for this gift? Can we be amazed here and now, and not only nostalgically remember what was? Let's bring this treasure with us to evening prayer.