What matters most?

I have two friends named Ed: one a UU Minister, the other a religious contemplative, a monk in the world. As I think about their lives and what is going on in our world, I wrestle with the all-important question we all must answer “What matters most in my life?”

As I reflect on Rev. Dr Ed Brock's ministry, the lives of the people around me, the spirit of the age, and my own life, I deal with a nagging question. I hear it when I wake up in the morning. I hear it during the day. I hear it as I go to bed.

"What matters most to you?"

Time is flying. So many sunsets to see, so many bird songs to hear, so many flowers to smell, so much honey to taste, so much to touch and feel.

I work part time in a library. Every day, hundreds of books, DVDs, compact disks, and other media pass through my hands. I barely have time to read even the titles. For someone who grew up in an African village without libraries, someone who loves books, this is like being a child in a candy store--my wildest dream come true.

What I've learned handling this amount of media is that I can't read or watch or listen to everything. Here, too, the nagging question arises: "What matters most to you?"

Last Sunday, a friend, Ed Del Arroyo (the other Ed) took his vows to become a Peace Pilgrims monk. I met Ed three years ago at Seattle University's School of Theology and Ministry. It was at one of our reflection days where seminarians gather to prepare for the coming quarter. He, another student and I formed a triad for the "Shalem process." Ed had been a Benedictine monk, a mental health nurse, a TM practitioner, and had been to India. He came to STM for a graduate degree in theology. For over a year now, Ed and I, with Karen and Deb, two other STM students, have been meeting once a month in each other's homes.

After the ceremonies in what the Right Rev. Father Alan Kemp of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch Malabar Rite in Gig Harbor called the cathedral in nature in the middle of pine trees without walls, we had a reception for Ed at Deb's house where we wished him well. We ate and drank and talked. And we asked ourselves: What matters most?

We agreed that connecting with and maintaining a constant communion with our inner selves was the most important task for us and for the world. We said that all our actions should be premeditated and intentional. Without constant union with the Spirit within, our lives are shallow. Next come meeting our basic needs followed by our own service to the world.

I've experienced peace and disquiet simultaneously recently. Peace because all my life, I’ve worked to connect with my inner spirit for guidance and strength. Disquiet comes since there's so much to do to live from this center, to meet basic needs and leave the world a better place.

This disquiet alarms me as I perceive the conundrum of the age. We're the generation most likely to leave this world worse than we found it. We have made the greatest scientific discoveries but we've used these inventions for the most part to deaden the spirit, enslave others and destroy the earth.

What matters most for me, then, is reconnecting with my inner core, and with those who have connected with their inner spirit to create a positive global consciousness to take us out of the nightmare of the age.

Shalem Institute

Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry

Peace Pilgrim

The Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch: Malabar Rite

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