Stay Put

A saying, and it may be Irish, is "Birds do not hatch their eggs when they are on the wing."  That is, if you want the contemplative life to produce results you have to stay put, in one place, a bit more.  A person who is very busy getting a lot of things done, chores, bucket list, may have a short term sense of accomplishment, but it is not the "egg."  The egg is a product of the interior life which we all have, believer it or not.  If we are always busy, "on the wing" then we develop little of the interior life.  I could be very busy and helpful at the monastery, but that is not why I am here.  Yes, there is work to be done, but it is not all day, and we do get up early.  If I were to stay up and watch something on my computer at night I have pretty much decided what tomorrow will be...shallow interior attention.  I will be too tired, or I will sleep in, and miss the early opportunity for meditation.  Internet binging is really a form of being on the wing, and the results will be obvious///no egg.