Meister Eckhart and the Practice of Presence

Further to my previous post on solitude, I've just started reading a little of "The Talks of Instruction' by that reverred Dominican Meister Eckhart (1260-1327).  There is some pearls in a chapter in which he responds to the question: 'Some people like to withdraw and prefer always to be alone.  That is where they find peace, when they enter a church.  Is this the best thing?'  His answer is a definitive NO...his view is that solitude is not necessarily a problem but by itself it is certainly not the best thing.  The reason is that there is a greater and more substantial life on offer.

We should grasp God in all things and should train ourselves to keep God always present in our minds, in our striving and in our love.  Take note of how you are inwardly turned to God when in church or in your cell, and maintain this same attitude of mind, preserving it when you go among the crowd, into restlessness and diversity.

We should not content ourselves with a God of thoughts, for when the thoughts come to an end, so too shall God.  Rather, we should have a living God who is beyond the thoughts of all people and all creatures.  That kind of God will not leave us, unless we ourselves choose to turn away from him.

We must learn to maintain an inner solitude regardless of where we are or who we are with. We must learn to break through things and to grasp God in them allowing him to take form in us powerfully and essentially.

These are stirring perhaps confronting words for those of us in active family lives for example, preparing meals, attending household chores, intervening in sibling conflict, negotiating playdates and sex lives, arranging appointments and incomes and school drop offs and friendships etc.  The 'God of all things' is a common phrase in many Christian mystical writings in particular.  The all encompassing nature of this approach reminds that we are constantly called to express the love that already possesses us but that so often we are not present to.   In one sense it might be easy in moments of solitude in lonely places, with minimal distraction, to direct our attention to God and this is good training, but the real test of our loving attentiveness is in the restlessness and hurley burley of life where presence may find us.