#140 Charlie- Discovering Genuine Inner Pain

Show Notes  As regular listeners know I am prone to experiment with different forms of podcast. Most of the time I conduct interviews, sometimes I just talk and sometimes Producer Paul and I talk. Today is altogether different. MY dear friend Terry Hershey will interview me… well, sort of. I will still take the lead, but Terry will ask questions of the experience I recently encountered. From this point on, please know these thoughts today come from another, newly recognized state of consciousness. So expect meandering and ramblings. Because “soul talk” is not made for words.   You see, I just returned 3 days ago from a 10-day retreat, 6 of which were spent in sequestered silence. EXPLAIN Ceremony of Healing by song and led to the deepest of reflection. Richard Rohr Thomas Merton warned against confusing an introverted personality with being a contemplative. They are two different things. The introvert finds solitude quite comfortable, while the contemplative mystic and hermit use solitude to discomfort themselves. After several days in silence I concluded: that which cannot be recognized cannot be reconciled. Last week I discovered that recognition is steeped in discomfort. Recognition can be disgusting, shameful and reviling as well as the most blissful feelings imaginable. As I was confronted with my most threatening demons I was also provided with the solution—the only solution—love. For more with Charlie Hedges please visit www.thenextchapter.life