Painless penance

[Swainl12]

Painless penance? I had a slight struggle with that until I came to a realization that painful penance possibly does have many facets. Let me explain myself. I have a blog on blooger.com. I am King David Hair Shirts. On my blog, I share my daily reflections and experiences.
Today, I came to the realization that my relationship with God is a bit unbalanced. While my faith is not the tantamount issue, its my lack of trust in God that I became aware of. For me, it's that sense of uncertainty, uncertain about where I stand with God, that is a hindrance. That lack of trust is penance self-imposed. And if given reflection, that lack of trust is spiritually more painful to me than any physical flogging, disciplines, or hairshirts can even attempt to approach.
Prayer helps but at times I find it difficult to pray, very often. I think, erroneously, that if I pray there is a good chance that God won't hear my prayer, or He will be slow to respond. Or not respond. I have looked at this and I now realize that my relationship with God is based on template that is at work in my relationships with others, including family and friends. At times, I feel unseen, unheard. When I am with people, I think that they can't hear or see my fear, or they don't want to hear me. Unfortunately, I treat God with that same sense of disconnection.
That sense of disconnection and lack of trust has kept me up more nights than any physical penances have. I guess I need to grow more in trust, this done by learning to trust that voice in me that says all will be well. And that God does trust me.
William

http://www.buyhairshirts.com

[sisterPenitnce]

I'm new to this forum and I find it's fantastic to share experiences on penance.

Apart from my physical mortifications, we do in my convent a lot of painless but no less difficult penances. But sometimes it's difficult to tell them apart. Like walking barefoot all the time, especially because the floor is of very rough stones some of which get very hot under our tropical sun. In 13 years as a sister I haven't yet got used to the coarse stones…

We scrub the floor on our knees, in fact, we never sit down, we only kneel down, stand up and lay for sleeping. I wash toilets, which I take as a painless penance.

We enjoy no pleasures, none at all. We live in a very strict and austere setting. We have no electricity (except in the library for the computers) and no running water, which we have to get and carry from a well. There's no need of heating as we live in the tropics, but as we're in the Andes it's quite cold in the night and sometimes during the day. Our habit is heavy for cold but too heavy for hot days…Let alone the hair shirt!

I don't take into account the painless physical discomforts, as the puncturing cilices, the tight cords, etc. I take humiliation as a kind of painless penance, like showing off the knotted cord we use for light self-whipping, which we use as a belt, like a Franciscan cord. People know we punish ourself with that… Strict chastity is also a kind of painless penance. Obeying unpleasant orders is a also a painless penance.

And so on and so forth.

My two cents…

[PenitentElaine]

Welcome, sisterPenitnce! This forum has been pretty quiet for a while, but I have found it very valuable to learn from the thoughts and experiences of others here. It is good to see a new member posting, especially someone who is as experienced as you. Perhaps your words will inspire others here to share more of their thoughts.

What you said about painless penances was very interesting. Sometimes, I have found, those can be the most difficult, especially when they are regular and protracted. If you can, I hope you will have more to say about these methods and their effects.

Yours humbly,

Elaine, a sinner

I'm new to this forum and I find it's fantastic to share experiences on penance.

Apart from my physical mortifications, we do in my convent a lot of painless but no less difficult penances. But sometimes it's difficult to tell them apart. Like walking barefoot all the time, especially because the floor is of very rough stones some of which get very hot under our tropical sun. In 13 years as a sister I haven't yet got used to the coarse stones…

We scrub the floor on our knees, in fact, we never sit down, we only kneel down, stand up and lay for sleeping. I wash toilets, which I take as a painless penance.

We enjoy no pleasures, none at all. We live in a very strict and austere setting. We have no electricity (except in the library for the computers) and no running water, which we have to get and carry from a well. There's no need of heating as we live in the tropics, but as we're in the Andes it's quite cold in the night and sometimes during the day. Our habit is heavy for cold but too heavy for hot days…Let alone the hair shirt!

I don't take into account the painless physical discomforts, as the puncturing cilices, the tight cords, etc. I take humiliation as a kind of painless penance, like showing off the knotted cord we use for light self-whipping, which we use as a belt, like a Franciscan cord. People know we punish ourself with that… Strict chastity is also a kind of painless penance. Obeying unpleasant orders is a also a painless penance.

And so on and so forth.

My two cents…