Dear Everyone,
I apologize for being late to post this week. I hope you have been enjoying the third week of our readalong. We have read Chapters 4-5, and beginning Wednesday, March 4th, should have begun Chapters 6-7.
In Chapter 4, St. Bernard surprises us by quoting from the book of Psalms and the book of Wisdom, focusing our attention on the marriage imagery of these passages. While St. Bernard shies away from the obvious eroticism of them, he uses the references to stress God’s love for us. St. Bernard also emphasizes how the believing soul “rests sweetly the contemplation of Him.” The connection between love and contemplation (and rest) is an interesting one. Every Lent, I strive to spend more time in contemplation but like many, I struggle to do so. There are a lot of distractions in life and a lot of things that compete for our attention (including eroticism). Resting in contemplation is often set aside.
St. Bernard begins Chapter 5 with a reference to the contemplation of “what has been said,” inviting the reader to approach the work as a contemplative one. Then he describes again the great love that God has for us and how his love has bestowed dignity on humanity. St. Bernard writes, “In the first creation He gave me myself, but in His new creation He gave me Himself, and by that gift restored to me the self that I had lost.” Like many contemplatives, St. Bernard is able to express profound insights in a language that belies their profundity. I’ll be continuing to reflect on this particular insight as I journey through Lent and I invite you to share your reflections in the comments below.
Thank you for continuing to journey with me this Lent. I look forward to Chapters 6 and 7, and to chatting with you in the podcast chatroom of the All Things SR podcast on Sunday, March 22nd. I’ll post more details soon.
Peace be with you all,
SR
I am honoured to have had all three of my novels appear on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller lists. I was a Semifinalist for Best Author in the 2011 and 2012 Goodreads Choice Awards. {
In Chapters 4 and 5, St. Bernard teaches that we are drawn to the Divine by the healing fragrance of His mercy, a restorative balm for the hidden wounds of our spirit. During this third week of Lent, this means that even when we feel ‘blackened’ by the dust of the desert or the shadows of our failures, we remain profoundly beautiful to the Beloved. To truly live this is to stop hiding our scars and let them be bathed in His grace, realizing that our vulnerability is not a barrier to God, but the very place where His tender love finally finds and restores us.
Thank you so much, Karen.
I appreciate your sharing your reflections.
Peace be with you, SR