Dwelling in Anxious Times

For many years now books have been some of my best mentors and guides. Of course I have favorite authors and poets like Mary Oliver, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Marge Piercy, Denise Levertov, and Parker Palmer. And I almost never travel without one or more of these. I also enjoy reading journals and memoirs. These writings remind me that I do not make this human journey alone and I am especially grateful for those who journal about the inner landscape and prayer.

Etty Hillesum kept a diary for two years during the Holocaust and her entries on prayer are some of the most powerful I know. As a twenty seven year old she was wise and well travelled in the inner life. One Sunday morning she wrote this prayer in her journal: “Dear God, these are anxious times….I shall promise You one thing, God: I shall never burden my today with cares about my tomorrow….What really matters is that we safeguard that little piece of You, God, in ourselves. And perhaps in others as well. We must help You and defend Your dwelling place inside us to the last.” She then goes on to write about bringing the smell of Jasmine and the beauty of the clouds to God who is inside her.

So often we conceptualize God as outside of us and that prayer is bringing ourselves to God. But Etty knew that prayer was a deep act of hospitality—making a home for God within us, creating a sanctuary of the soul where God can live and dwell with us, and recognizing that little piece of God in our neighbor too. Every age seems to have its ‘anxious time’ and we are no different with the current economic crisis. The dwelling place of God in each of us is a place that cannot be foreclosed on or downsized.