PONDERINGS FROM THE ETERNAL NOW January 2005 #18

My dear friends,

In many ways, I don't know where to begin. Here we are at the beginning of a new year when we should be filled with hope and people are desperate in so many ways.

According to Rev. Karen Hunt we can live up to 70 days without food, nearly 10 days without water, 6 minutes without air but not at all without HOPE !

This past month I've been pondering God, energy and miracles. One of my Dominican sisters sent me a meditation she wrote about a Japanese man who took photographs of water exposed to both positive and negative energy. The results were astounding!

Since science was never one of my favorite subjects in school I don't have a clue what it means for water to be exposed to positive and negative energy. However, I do understand the difference between beauty and chaos, war and peace.

My friend goes on to say that we all need a lot more positive energy these days and I couldn't agree with her more.

If we believe that God is in our midst maybe that's what miracles are – positive energy that flows out and changes things.

And speaking of energy, this comes from www.sfgate.com : The U.S. Air Force is quietly spending several millions investigating ways to use a radical power source – antimatter, the eerie “mirror” of ordinary matter – in the future. Antimatter is the most powerful potential energy source presently believed available to humanity. Plans include antimatter bombs small enough to hold in one's hand, and antimatter engines for 24/7 surveillance aircraft. More cataclysmic possible uses include a new generation of super weapons – either pure antimatter bombs or antimatter triggered nuclear weapons; the former would not emit radioactive fallout. Another possibility is anti-mattered-powered “electromagnetic pulse” weapons that could fry the enemy's electric power grid and communications network, leaving them literally in the dark and unable to operate their society and military.

Last January I shared my Thanksgiving through New Year's time with you. In looking back on that letter I realize how little has changed. The few changes we had were based on budgetary cuts – no Thanksgiving meal for the families visiting that day and, as part of our Christmas treat, only one pint of eggnog instead of a quart.

The major difference for me was that I chose not to participate in any of the institutional church services. A variety of reasons led me to this decision some of which I'm still pondering and others that shouldn't be printed.

My Christmas Eve was spent in the library watching the Reader's Digest video “Yellowstone – First Nation al Park .” It was a magnificent piece of God's Creation with beautiful scenery and music. I also listened to lots of Christmas music on public radio.

Christmas morning and Sunday morning we were treated at breakfast to doughnuts – decorated red, white and blue! They were most likely leftovers from the Fourth of July!

Thus far we have had a mild winter and no accumulation of snow!

The latest in our housing unit is that all the windows, including bathrooms and TV room have been nailed shut! We wonder if this is legal.

Your cards and letters have meant so much to me this past month. Your sharing has strengthened my faith and deepened my hope. My only regret is that I can't answer each of you with a personal note, a phone call or that we can't share a cup of tea or glass of wine!

I'll close with this poem from Rumi as we enter this New Year…

The Silk Worm

I stood before a silk worm one day.
And that night my heart said to me,
“I can do things like that, I can spin skies,
I can be woven into love that can bring warmth to people;
I can be soft against a crying face,
I can be wings that lift and I can travel
On my thousand feet throughout the earth,
My sacks filled with the sacred.”
And I replied to my heart,
“Dear, can you really do all those things?”
And it just nodded “Yes” in silence.
So we began and will never cease.

And so our 2005 journey begins, one day at a time, not knowing what lies ahead, except that we nodded “yes” in silence.

My deepest gratitude and tears,
Carol Gilbert , O.P. #10856-039
Federal Prison Camp
PO Box A