Chewing Your Cud

Throughout my life it has always seemed that the contemplative lifestyle belonged to the ones who lived within the walls of monastery, or perhaps, to the mystics who manage to see things invisible to the rest of us.  I always lived with something more to do and was in a hurry to get it done so I could get on to whatever was next.  When retirement came some ten years ago, it brought me to a moment which invited me to a different approach to living.  And while I would not label myself a contemplative, it is a lifestyle that certainly has its beckoning call.

The cows that share the farm and graze in the pasture have been my primary source of hearing this call to consider the contemplative life.  All day the cow do what cows are created to do.  They do cow stuff.  They eat grass, drink water, and over the long haul, they make calves.  Along the way as they graze they tear the grass with their tongue, swallow it with little chewing, and then later they lay down, regurgitate what has been eaten, and chew on it until it is ready for the digesting that provides nurture.  They are quite a sight as they all sit there chewing their cud which is cow language for what they do. 

While there are many ways to describe the contemplative lifestyle, surely it involves chewing your cud.   We move through the day receiving all sorts of inspiration from the Holy One and encounter His presence in the ordinary things around us.  We listen to both the sacred Word and the Word being sounded through the silent voice of the creation.  At some point what is taken into the inner part of our being is brought back to the front part of our mind and heart that we might live with it, or chew on it for a spell before it is digested within our spirit in a way that provides nurture for our spiritual life.  It may be a bit too simple for some, but it works for the cows and it seems to work well for those who are willing to sit a spell and just chew their cud.