Essential Thoughts

 

Sometimes I realize that certain words have come up repeatedly in prayer, reading, conversation and song. Upon this realization I like to pause and gather some thoughts about these words and ponder significance; there are no coincidences as my mother used to tell me!

Recently these words have been reverberating and while not necessarily together in a sentence or phrase, they seem to be knocking on the door of my brain: essence, freedom, crucible and exquisite grace (yes another couplet really!).

And so I asked what is it about “essence” that I am learning? I think about essential ingredients, essential truths, the essence of the matter, and the essence of life...

Almost immediately upon pausing to reflect, these two quotes found me:

“the spiritual essence of nonviolence as a tool for liberating” Barbara Holmes referring to Martin Luther King’s contemplative liberation theology

“Into every duty a God-fearing heart must be put, a heart constantly permeated by the thought of God; and this will be the door through which the soul will enter into active life. . . . The essence is to be established in the remembrance of God, and to walk in his presence.” Henri Nouwen concerning the “essence” of prayer

I am inclined to remember essential experiences and what they have in common, not to mention why i might label them essential! Certainly they convey something of such importance as to be sacred yet living. Perhaps the essence of nonviolence and the essence of prayer are facets of the presence of the divine. And more than that I am leaning into the idea that essence is eternal and does not pass away; it also desires our return and remembrances.