"M" is for Midding
The feeling of being blissfully invisible
yet still fully included, safe in the knowledge
that everyone is together and everyone is OK
The arts of emotional intelligence, of spirituality, begin with recognizing the many ways in which people become alive and awake relative to the circumstances of your life. Process theologians speak of this aliveness and awareness as "richness of experience." Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat have done a marvelous job in helping us recognize those ways. In their spiritual alphabet, "m" is for meaning. But they know, and others among us do as well, that there is a bit more to spirituality than their alphabet contains. For example, "c" is for compassion, but we could also say that "c" is for courage.
I offer one example: the spirituality of midding. It is a word made up by John Koenig in his Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. Here's how he defines it:
I offer one example: the spirituality of midding. It is a word made up by John Koenig in his Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. Here's how he defines it:
midding v. intr. feeling the tranquil pleasure of being near a gathering but not quite in it—hovering on the perimeter of a campfire, chatting outside a party while others dance inside, resting your head in the backseat of a car listening to your friends chatting up front—feeling blissfully invisible yet still fully included, safe in the knowledge that everyone is together and everyone is okay, with all the thrill of being there without the burden of having to be.
-- from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
I wonder if Jesus ever felt blissfully invisible yet still fully included, safe in the knowledge that everyone was together and everyone was okay. i know that my mother in law, Martha Johnson, did. She was an introvert. She loved for her family to come to her home, sit down for a meal, and enjoy themselves. But she never needed to be the center of attention. I would watch her sitting at the dinner table, having prepared much of the meal herself, and then just enjoy watching her children and their families chat. You could tell she was midding by her quiet smile. I admired her tremendously and miss her today.
I am more of an extrovert and thus no as good at midding as Martha.
I wonder if God mids. I wonder if the very Soul of the universe ever feels blissfully invisible yet somehow included, safe in the knowledge that everyone is together.
-- from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
I wonder if Jesus ever felt blissfully invisible yet still fully included, safe in the knowledge that everyone was together and everyone was okay. i know that my mother in law, Martha Johnson, did. She was an introvert. She loved for her family to come to her home, sit down for a meal, and enjoy themselves. But she never needed to be the center of attention. I would watch her sitting at the dinner table, having prepared much of the meal herself, and then just enjoy watching her children and their families chat. You could tell she was midding by her quiet smile. I admired her tremendously and miss her today.
I am more of an extrovert and thus no as good at midding as Martha.
I wonder if God mids. I wonder if the very Soul of the universe ever feels blissfully invisible yet somehow included, safe in the knowledge that everyone is together.