After the Carmelite Meeting--Detachment
Detachment. Detachment. Detachment.
You hear so much about detachment, you begin to think that detachment is the point of Carmelite Spirituality.
Detachment is a railway car,
a skateboard,
a surfboard, motorcycle, autobus.
Detachment is the airplane,
the skis, the toboggan, the sled,
the snowcat.
Detachment is the boat pulling the water skier,
it is the water-slide, the conveyor belt.
Detachment is not an end in itself. If it has become an end it is useless. Detachment is the means to an end--the means,in fact, to the only end that matters. Detachment is the vehicle that helps to convey us to God. But as with all the instruments above, they must be used and they must be used properly to advance toward God. One doesn't strap on skis to go rock clilmbing, neither does one fly an airplane to get to the next-door neighbors. We match the conveyance to the length and type of the journey. So with detachment. It is a conveyance--a means to an end. Union with God is the goal, if we become attached to detachment, we remain at a distance from the God of Holiness and Might--the God who can change our lives right down to the core.
Detachment is not pleasant, but "Todo lo puedo en Christo. . ." (Sometimes have to convey some of these things to our Latino community. Speaking of that--what a tremendous blessing--their obvious love of the Lord and Our Lady and their lack of fear about showing it. We could all do with a bit more Latino in us.)
