Gentle JourneyMan

Last night, a number of church folks gathered to spend some time with Kent Groff, our favorite spiritual director from Denver. He is a world-class author with a deep, deep soul. Kent led two events at our church, both focused on a line from the poet Rilke:

I am the rest between two notes, which are somehow always in discord

It is a pungent phrase, appropriate for the musical nature of this upcoming sabbatical. Kent led us in an exploration of the discords in our lives. Where is tension and discord? What are the uneven demands? What - or Who - is the rest we desire?

Thanks, Kent, for sounding the tones and pointing to the Rest. We were blessed to have him in our zip code. And for those who want Rilke's poem, here is one translation:

My life is not this steeply sloping hour,
in which you see me hurrying.
Much stands behind me: I stand before it like a tree;
but I am only one of many mouths
and at that, the one that will be still the soonest.
I am the rest between two notes,
which are somehow always in discord
because deaths note wants to climb over -
but in the dark interval, reconciled,
They stay here trembling.
And the song goes on, beautiful.