Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day
by Macrina Wiederkehr, Notre Dame, IN:
Sorin Books, 2008
203 pages, CDN$19.40, US$18.95
Reviewed by Karen
Frank
I could have spent
hours with Macrina Wiederkehr’s insightful questions if I hadn’t been too busy…which
is precisely her point. Seven Sacred
Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day is countercultural,
offering the reader an opportunity to incorporate a monastic rhythm of prayer
into everyday life. Wiederkehr invites us to intersperse contemplative time for
being into our daily work, and to connect with our Source during our active
doing.
The Christian
Liturgy of the Hours, a formal prayer to mark the hours of the day, includes
Matins or Vigils (midnight to dawn), Lauds or Morning Prayer at dawn, Terce or
the third hour of the active day, Sext or the sixth hour, roughly corresponding
to noon, None or the ninth hour for a midafternoon break, Vespers or Evensong
at twilight, and Compline or Night Prayer.
For each of these sacred
pauses, Wiederkehr provides a theme, a personal reflection, and a selection of
prayers, poetry, chants, and antiphons to celebrate these seven “breathing
spells for the soul” (22).
The questions
Wiederkehr slips into her discourse caught me repeatedly and are relevant for
both spiritual directors and directees. Examples include the chapter “Living
Mindfully” where she writes: “Ask yourself: Is it possible to be less busy and
still productive?” (21).
Wiederkehr suggests that when we begin to feel stress
and push to accomplish more that we act counter-intuitively, and pause. Sext,
or midday, is called The Hour of
Illumination and it, too, brings questions for us: “Do we find ourselves
focusing on the fact that the day is half gone or feeling delighted that much
of the day is still ours with vast opportunities to use wisely?” (95). At The Twilight Hour during Vespers time,
Wiederkehr suggests she can “symbolically take off my work clothes and put on
the robe of prayer” (135). She asks many questions that would be helpful in
spiritual direction. For example: “Why do we stop working at the end of the
day?” (137). Certainly I am tired by then, but I also long for the time that
opens my heart to spirit. I believe I am responding to the natural rhythms of
life, a theme that underlies Wiederkehr’s emphasis on making room for pauses.
Finally, Wiederkehr
notes that when we grow up we lose our pure spirit and begin to question the
value of breaks during the schedule of our day. As children, when it was time
for recess, we were ready—and so, undoubtedly, were our teachers! She writes:
“It is doubtful you questioned the value of that pause” (75).
I do not question
the value of the “breathing spells for the soul” (22) celebrated in Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully
Through the Hours of the Day. It is a good and prayerful question to
determine if we can incorporate one, two, or possibly seven breathing spells
during the course of our day and evening. If so, perhaps we can enter The Great Silence with “eyes of mercy
and delight” (155).
Karen Frank graduated from Seattle University
in Washington, USA, and is a spiritual director in PortTownsend, Washington.
She writes a regional spirituality column. Contact her at kdf1404@olypen.com.
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