The Slow Build
"Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth." - Ps 86
As we circle through the liturgical calendar once more, how have my Lenten practices evolved or transformed over the years? To what depths of my soul have I traversed? With whom?
One year, I decided to sit and read a book that I watched my siblings grow up reading. Initially, I began reading the book and thought nothing of it. Absolutely nothing. So, I put the book down. It wasn’t until I went backpacking with my brother a few years later, that he encouraged me to sit and read while we were waiting for the train to our next destination. I, the eldest sibling, was impatient while waiting for our train due in three hours. He proceeded to open up his Kindle on his phone and shared with me the books he had in his collection. I downloaded the app and began reading the only book that stood out to me, The Little Prince.
This book has taken me several years to unpack and uncover its hidden treasures. Below is an example from my latest dig through The Little Prince.
“What does that mean – ‘tame’?”
“It is an act too often neglected,” said the fox. “It means to establish ties.”
“To establish ‘ties’?”
“Just that,” said the fox. “To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world…”
“One only understands the things that one tames,” said the fox.
“You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.”
The word ‘tame’ tends to have a negative association. Within the context of this book, it becomes the slooooooow work of building. Building a relationship with myself, with the people that surround me, with the environment around me, with the rest of the world, and perhaps, with the creator God. So, as I continue to build my relationship with God, does this mean God is taming me? Am I taming God?
Have I asked myself, who do I tame? And who tames me?
Tram Nguyen