Fourth of July and boredom

Today is American Independence Day, the 240th anniversary of the original 13 US colonies declaring
their independence from Britain. This is a piece of our Australian history too, as the US stopped receiving convicts from Britain, and after awhile of leaving prisoners in crowded ships moored in the Thames, Britain decided to send them elsewhere: Australia.

So last night we went down to the baseball stadium to watch the celebratory fireworks. Unlike New Years Eve in Sydney where you need to camp out all day, we just walked down, found some grass and sat. I've never been so close to fireworks before (not since "Cracker Night" was discontinued in the 80's). Not only did we get a great view, we could feel each explosion resonating in our chest cavities. It was loud!

By contrast we had a very quiet night a couple of nights ago. We had a dinner for the whole group, then everyone retreated back to their rooms to work on essays (this is the final week of first semester and everything is due). I was on top of my work and had nothing I needed to do, so I went for a walk around campus. It was dead quiet. No one around, nothing going on. And nothing I needed to do. I sat down and realised that I was bored. It took me a while to realise what I was feeling, because I never get bored at home. I'm always doing something or preparing for the next thing. And here, there was nothing that needed doing. It was an odd feeling, but as I pushed through the awkwardness I realised how wonderful it was to have this quiet and empty time and space to just be myself and be by myself. A most unusual experience - and I suspect lots of adult don't get time to be bored, but rather good for taking stock of my soul and going to God in prayer.


Comments

  1. Dominic10 July 2016 at 22:03

    I understand your boredom feeling. I would get this while driving home from Sydney. Not as often as I should I would have a conversation with God about what he wants me to do and what I'm thinking about. Other times I would call you or other friends. It takes discipline to use this time for good.
    Cheers mate.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown29 July 2016 at 13:30

    Very good points raised. Like Dom, I use my driving time, 2 x 45mins, as my quiet time with the Lord. I am still concentrating on driving, but at least not interacting with anyone else, so it is nice to catch up with the Lord - though yes I am also guilty of ringing Mum or friends when these calls are overdue!! Thanks for the great insight.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Spiritual Exercises

Image
Any way of prayer or mediation may be considered a spiritual exercise. Just like physical exercise it helps to have a plan, a coach and some discipline. The Spiritual Exercises (notice the capitals) are a series of meditations and contemplations which 16th century St Ignatius of Loyola composed from his own prayer experience, and then taught to his followers, who became the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits). The Exercises are mostly contemplations of scenes in the gospels, where we are to use our imagination to place ourselves within the scene so as to meet Jesus intimately, allowing the gospel account to unfold as we watch, listen, feel and take part. Following the contemplation of the scene is a prayer dialogue with Jesus about whatever we experienced and learned. Woven throughout the program of gospel scenes which Ignatius chose are some specific meditations on sorrow for sin, choosing to follow Jesus, and then giving yourself wholeheartedly to Jesus. The Exercises can be don...
Read more

Doing the Spiritual Exercises

Image
During my time in Omaha I studied the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius . It is one thing to study them, but another to do them.The exercises can be done as a 30 day intensive retreat, or a week by week program. Much as I would love to, there isn't a spare month I could be away from the parish again, so I am doing the 30 week version. I receive spiritual direction via Skype from my director (referred from the Jesuit retreat centre in Pymble ). Each week she sends me a list of scripture passages to meditate on and other prayer exercises, and then in an hour conversation via Skype we talk just about how I have been praying. It has been a very focused experience of prayer thus far. In other experiences of spiritual direction in the past we have talked about a broader range of issues of life, prayer and ministry, but this is just about prayer, nothing else. I am praying with passages of scripture which of course I have known, such as Jesus' declaration of bringing good news t...
Read more

Brian Wilson

Image
Brian Wilson was the brains behind The Beach Boys, who seem to feature in the soundtrack of most people's teenage years. Tonight I went to hear him in concert in Omaha as he played for the 50th anniversary of the Pet Sounds album, a record so groundbreaking that Paul McCartney cites it as inspiration for Sergeant Peppers. I wouldn't have known the concert was on except that The Beach Boys are my room mate Kevin's favourite band. I fell in love with Brian Wilson when I watched the biopic Love and Mercy last year. Wow. What  perfect concert. It was outdoors at sunset, but in a small amphitheater rather than a stadium. As befitting a concert by a 74 year old and attended by hippies of various generations it was over by 9pm so not a long late night (its a school night!) and close enough to walk the couple of miles home. Brian and his 10 piece band played the whole Pet Sounds album including the sublime God Only Knows plus all of the upbeat favourites like Good Vibra...
Read more