Which Desk?
Since this blog is entitled “From Sr. Gabriela’s Desk, I figured it out to begin with some thoughts about my desk. The problem with that is that there are several desks in my office. There is the desk with the laptop and its immediate printers; there is the desk with the business matters; there is the desk with the line-up of matters to be deal with’ the is the desk that is actually the top of a couple of filing cabinets and is loaded with papers waiting to be filed; there is the desk with “outside matters”. Finally there is the catch-all desk just inside the door that has everything coming or going and all the various things that I don’t know what to do with because they don’t fit into any of the aforementioned categories.
It looks like a disaster area, and one that is only waiting for Congressional approval to receive emergency aid! In fact, the apparent chaos is actually under control, at least so far, because I do know what is where. Of course, some things have been in their place so long that I have forgotten what they are there for, but I do remember what they involve when I take a look at them. I will get around to them at some point, unless by then they no longer need my attention
You may ask what this has to do with a Carmelite website. I will advance the theory that the desks in my office are a valid illustration of the surface of my mind: a chaotic mess of all sorts of thoughts, ideas, impressions and opinions. I confess that the illustration is valid, but I stand up for the order in my office. It has one superiority over the disorder of my mind: the windows of my office are closed, and nothing gets put in the office unless I put it there.
My mind, on the other hand, is unfortunately open to the air, and the winds blow into it all sorts of “stuff”:. Some of it is good “stuff” and some of it is not so good. From time to time, I go through my office and remove whatever no longer needs my attention. My mind, however, needs constant attention as I clear out all the mental junk that is not helpful in my spiritual life. This interior house-cleaning allows the priceless ideas and insights that were blown in by the Holy Spirit to shine out in my mind and become the moving guides of my life.
“Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. “ (Phil. 4,8)
Sr. Gabriela of the Incarnation, O.C.D.