If you do not answer the noise and urgency of your gifts they will turn on you. Or drag you down with their immense sadness at being abandoned. — Joy Harjo
If you do not answer the noise and urgency of your gifts they will turn on you. Or drag you down with their immense sadness at being abandoned. — Joy Harjo
Sometimes it is as though the praise of God filled with world; as if it went out to and enfolded all creation, as for instance in the Psalms of creation or in the response which those songs have found in the hearts of God-enraptured people sucYh as St. Francis of Assisi. … This is not […]
The name Barabbas means “son of the father” (bar-abba). Before Pilate and the crowd, there were two sons of the father, one innocent, one guilty. They chose one to free, one to condemn. Which son of the father was Adam, and the rest of us, suppose to be like? Two sons of the father, that […]
What then is it all about? In a brilliant sentence, Benedict carefully explained the broad sweep of our being to us: “God made the world so that there could be a space where he might communicate his love, and from which the response of love might come back to him.” This passage emphasizes the central […]
I remember this night like it was last night. In the midst of all the crying and pain and pleading with God, I heard the words, “Not yet.” Two simple words. Peace enveloped me. Healing from the depression progressed over the next 6 months. Five years later, as I was reading the first part on […]
The question “why is there something rather than nothing?” is not searching after a thing within the universe, but rather the being of the universe. It is wondering why (to use the technical term) contingent things exist, that is to say, things that do not contain within themselves the reason for their own being. You […]
What we choose to fight is so tiny… When we win it’s with small things, and the triumph itself makes us small. — Rainer Maria Rilke, from the poem “The Watching Man”
“Live as a contingent being” — caught this phrase from a post by Fr. Stephen. Interesting. con•tin•gent |kən’tinjənt| adjective 1 subject to chance : the contingent nature of the job. See note at accidental. • (of losses, liabilities, etc.) that can be anticipated to arise if a particular event occurs : businesses need to be […]
When someone deeply listens to you it is like holding out a dented cup you’ve had since childhood and watching it fill up with cold, fresh water. When it balances on top of the brim, you are understood. When it overflows and touches your skin, you are loved. When someone deeply listens to you, the […]
Asking people to pray is like telling the wind to blow the ear to listen the eye to see We cannot not pray anymore than not be once given the gift of existence We can only shut it out or deny it Prayer is simply the conscious dimension of being when it opens out to […]
somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond any experience,your eyes have their silence: in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me, or which i cannot touch because they are too near your slightest look will easily unclose me though i have closed myself as fingers, you open always petal by petal myself as Spring […]
Your grief for what you’ve lost lifts a mirror up to where you’re bravely working. Expecting the worst, you look, you look, and instead, here’s the joyful face you’ve been wanting to see. Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be […]
When your eyes are tired the world is tired also. When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you. Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own. There you can be sure you are not beyond love. The dark will be your womb tonight. […]
Oh do you have time to linger for just a little while out of your busy and very important day for the goldfinches that have gathered in a field of thistles for a musical battle, to see who can sing the highest note, or the lowest, or the most expressive of mirth, or the most […]
It doesn’t interest me if there is one God or many gods. I want to know if you belong or feel abandoned. If you know despair or can see it in others. I want to know if you are prepared to live in the world […]
I return to my favorite place along the river Sitting on the grass in the cool shade of a tree Watching, listening, being… An old philosopher said “You can never go to the same river twice.” I wonder— What changes What stays the same And what exactly is a river? The water, the banks, the […]
Silence is— the song of God, singing to every one and every thing to be, being, to be witness, with-ness, to each other, and to be with God.
From Br. Joseph — What is a person? Classical Christian theology and philosophy defines a person as one who has the ability to know, to love, and to choose (to will). This is the image of God in which we are made. (The angels, our spiritual kinsmen, are also persons made in the image of […]
From Br. Joseph — This is the last reflection of a series on seven signposts. The first reflection began Lent, and now this one bridges us into the Easter season and beyond. Signposts give us direction. They point to some place. They involve action, movement. Many signposts call us to remember something important, some thing […]
From Br. Joseph — This is the sixth reflection on seven signposts for the season of Lent (and for all seasons). Pray always. Prays always; if necessary, use words. Our words in prayer are very important, be them words of gratitude or of amazement, words for forgiveness, or words of need for others or for […]
From Br. Joseph — This is the fifth reflection on seven signposts for the season of Lent (and for all seasons). Gravitate to humility. This signpost points in the exact opposite direction the world points by pointing to the First Beatitude, the Beatitude from which all the Beatitudes spring forth—blessed are the poor in spirit. […]
Near the end of the film Into Great Silence (technically it is a film, but it is something more), there is an interview with an old, blind monk. The years of solitude do not wear heavy on him. He is truly happy, and peace envelopes him, coming to you even through the camera lens. His […]
What do you want of me, Lord? Where do you want me to serve you? Where can I sing your praises? I am your song. Jesus, Jesus, you are my Lord. Jesus, Jesus, you are the way. I hear you call my name, Lord, and I am moved within me. Your Spirit stirs […]
From Br. Joseph — The modern mind always tends to reduce the greater to the lesser rather than seeing the lesser as reflecting the greater. (Peter Kreeft) There is a grove of aspen trees that cover nearly 200 acres in south-central Utah. This grove, named “Pando”, was once considered the largest living organism in the world. […]
I don’t remember where I read it, but this one line has been stuck in my mind for the last few weeks. It was something along the lines of “gorging on emotions.” The idea of feeding upon my emotions is bothersome. It sounds self-cannibalistic. It sounds down right stupid (a word I use sparingly). I […]