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	iThe Rosary
	iMarch 06th, 2018
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	i
	iI like to pray the rosary. I didn't understand it for a really
	ilong time. Even when I made my way back to Catholicism it never
	imade any sense to me. The formal, stilted prayer of my childhood
	ididn't sit well with me. It felt like a performance and not
	ia connection to the divine.
	i
	iThe first time I tried it was more of a lark than an honest
	ieffort. The repetition, the monotonous droning of voices, it all
	iadded up to nonsense. I tried it anyway.
	i
	iAt first I was lost in the specifics, the order, which comes next,
	iand what is a Sorrowful Mystery. Somewhere around the second
	idecade--that is, the second set of 10 Hail Mary prayers--I lost
	ifocus on the words I was saying and felt my mind snap shut onto an
	iintention. I thought of a close friend who needed the kind of help
	ithat comes from God, the kind that's deep inside. I said the words
	iand before I knew it the decade ended. As the Our Father began
	iagain my mind flashed to someone else and held fast. Ten prayers
	irepeated without a single distracted thought stepping in the way.
	i
	iIt is the way of a mantra. It is the spirit of the mandala. It is
	ifound in a thousand traditions in a thousand faiths in a thousand
	iforms. The repetition, the effort spent on the menial to provide
	ifocus for the sublime, that is the spirit I find in the rosary.
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	i - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
	i
	iTonight I completed work on a small stick that my son picked up on
	ia walk. It's about 9 inches long and not much more than a twig. It
	ihas been cleaned of bark, soaked in boiled linseed oil, waxed, and
	ithen carefully wrapped in about 4,000 individual threaded knots.
	iThe colors are purple and orange, as he picked them. I'll share
	ia picture of it on Mastodon without any description so the only
	iones in-the-know will be gopher.club.
	i
	iI made one of these for myself years ago while on a silent
	iretreat. It became, in a sense, a focus of prayer and intention
	imuch like the rosary. My mind was free to engage on one special
	ithought because my body was burning away distraction through
	iprecise, monotonous physical actions.
	i
	iThe meaning behind the sticks isn't important to others, but
	iI thought the idea something you all might relate to. I suspect
	ithere's some element in the passion of knitters, bikers, and
	irunners. I'm glad I was able to finish this for him tonight.
	iI think I needed the prayer as much as he'll enjoy the result.
	i