Silence Is
· 4 June 2008 | 28 words
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....
Tag: being (20 entries)
Personhood
· 2 May 2008 | 202 words
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...
All is Gift
· 27 March 2008 | 421 words
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...
Pray Always
· 18 March 2008 | 251 words
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...
Gravitate to Humility
· 13 March 2008 | 406 words
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...
Blind Monk’s Interview
· 28 January 2008 | 608 words
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...
Servant Song
· 22 November 2007 | 197 words
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....
A Part of Something
· 1 October 2007 | 407 words
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...
Gorging on Emotions
· 1 September 2007 | 637 words
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...
The One Thing that Never Changes
· 25 August 2007 | 439 words
Reality is flowing. This does not mean that everything moves, changes, becomes. Science and common experience tell us that. It means that movement, change, becoming is everything that there is. There is nothing else; everything is movement, is change....
I love, therefore I am
· 18 July 2007 | 271 words
When I was younger, late high school and especially in college, I identified with Descartes' "I think, therefore I am." It was the motto for the Age of Rationalism. It is still often used in today's postmodernism. After finding faith,...
God Whispers
· 12 July 2007 | 168 words
What did God whisper to the bird to make him sing? What was said to the rose to make her unfold? And to the tree to stand tall and spread its canopy? What did the cricket hear to make him...
Accepting Meaninglessness
· 3 July 2007 | 298 words
In The Courage to Be, Paul Tillich writes (after page 148): The act of accepting meaninglessness is in itself a meaningful act. It is an act of faith. We have seen that he who has the courage to affirm his...
As Kingfishers Catch Fire
· 28 May 2007 | 122 words
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one...
If the Right Thing is Revealed
· 7 May 2007 | 339 words
Listening to the song "Epiphany" by Staind on the iPod. The music is loud enough to drown out the background noise. At this line, I drift off... But I know I'll do the right thing If the right thing is...
Patience
· 12 April 2007 | 10 words
Slow is patience taught; Waiting teaches non-doing; Instilled is wisdom....
God and Hell
· 2 April 2007 | 235 words
Is God in Hell? The modern explanation likes to say that Hell is the absence of God. But can such a place exist? The very existence of reality is grounded in God. Being or existence itself is in and of...
Useless
· 13 February 2007 | 196 words
From James Finley's Merton's Palace of Nowhere: In prayer we are "useless." We do not "do" anything, but rather open ourselves to be the person God calls us to be. The Moslems say, "God does nothing and therefore there is...
Doing Nothing
· 17 January 2007 | 101 words
"...What I like doing best is Nothing." "How do you do Nothing," asked Pooh after he had wondered for a long time. "Well, it's when people call out at you just as you're going off to do it, 'What...
Being
· 31 December 2006 | 189 words
Father, I just want to be with you. I'm tired of words. I want the clutter of thoughts in my mind to stop for awhile so that I can just pray, just exist with you. No asking for anything. No...
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us