Today is the one year anniversary of the passing of my dear friend, mentor, and partner in crime, Brother Elias Marechal, OCSO.
Last year I wrote about him at the time of his death, you can read that post by clicking here.
If you aren’t familiar with Elias, I encourage you to pick up his books. Tears of An Innocent God: Conversations on Silence, Kindness and Prayer came out in 2015 and is still in print in both paper and ebook formats. A bit harder to find (but worth the search) is Dancing Madly Backwards: A Journey Into God, published in 1982 under Elias’s secular name, Paul Marechal.
Fran and I are meeting several friends for lunch today to celebrate Elias, tell stories, and reflect on what a gift it was to have him as our friend and comrade. Meanwhile, I wrote a poem this morning and it felt like something that I would like to share with Elias, were he still alive. So I’m dedicating it to him. Scroll down to see it.
Requiem for an Innocent Monk
Don’t require me to choose between east and west.
Instead, stand with me in the ever-present center.
Don’t ask me to speak when silence is speaking.
Instead, let’s listen as one to how both are one.
Don’t insist on a conflict between science and faith.
Instead, imagine with me a world where both matter.
Don’t shout about how your faith is the one true way.
Instead, meet me in the valley of humility where everyone is our teacher.
Don’t tell me there is no hope or that hope cannot help us.
Instead, dare to help create a world where things get better than expected.
Don’t hold forth about what someone should or must do.
Instead, join with me in praying for a world without aggression.
Don’t obsess about the people you resent or who frighten you.
Instead, tell me how love shapes your most beautiful life.
Don’t decide you’re not important or that nobody cares about you.
Instead, join with me in seeking an encounter with infinite compassion.
Don’t say you can’t make a difference or change the world.
Instead, let us remember every revolution starts in one beating heart.
For Brother Elias, on the first anniversary of his passing
25 February 2024
