Balance and Being

Somewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals, that without distance closeness cannot cure. Somewhere we know that without a lonely place our actions quickly become empty gestures. The careful balance between silence and words, withdrawal and involvement, distance and closeness, solitude and community forms the basis of the Christian life and should, therefore, be the subject of our most personal attention.

Henry Nouwen

These words by Henry Nouwen speak to me of balance, equanimity, non-duality and integration. As I revisit the post the other day on remaking the world, I am reminded again of the complementarity and synergies of apparent opposites. I am reminded of the Prayer of St Francis. 

In these times of grief and loss and doubt and fear, a theology of non-duality not only fosters compassion (itself a word of fusion not disillusion) but encourages hope. 

For me today as one who craves silence I am trying to find a balance between silence and action which I believe comes from contemplation, itself a “joining” of disparate ideas. Entering into a deep state of mystic union can reveal the composites of life and what may emerge from that time is not just an informed balance but equanimous being and action.