Leaving

The meditation group today listened to a talk by Rowan Williams (the former Archbishop of Canterbury) on "Leaving."  And we had a short discussion on the talk and what was said.  Leaving or Fleeing something can be  those things that are not essential but draw us in anyway.  It put a new perspective on leaving.

I suspect the title had more than a few people looking and saying leaving...where is she going now?  It has different tones when a clergy person writes as a title -- Leaving.  For some it give a sense of fear and uncertainty and for others joy and relief!  But leaving has a much larger connotation as the talk today clearly indicated,  It is leaving behind or fleeing from the things that are really unnecessary but that we seem to think that we can not do without.  Imagine even one day with out your computer, email connections or smartphone ... and the task of leaving can even on that simple note seem impossible to accomplish.

Today was a timely reminder in a schedule that seems to get busier and busier that going to the meditation group means I leave for a very short while and enter into a quiet space away from everything with a small but lovely group of people.  It was a timely reminder that sometimes it is necessary to leave and to find the essence of self away from the worries and concerns of world.  One statement that made the group laugh was when the statement was made that monks should flee women and bishops!

So it made the whole group think what do we need to leave?  What do we need to flee?  Do we need to go to something different?  Personally I needed to flee to the quiet and the solitude that this group offers, to leave the busy schedule and various commitments behind and in so doing to just be....be present in the quiet, to find solitude in the holy and refreshment to go back to the schedule ready to face its many challenges and demands.

What do you need to leave?