June 1993 (Vol. VI, No. 6)

BLESSINGS, friends! May the bird song of Spring awaken melodies of soul song within your hearts.
music

May 1993 (Vol. VI, No. 5)

May, the BLESSINGS OF PEACE be with you, friends!
contemplation

April 1993 (Vol. VI, No. 4)

"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard?"

nature

March 1993 (Vol. VI, No. 3)

May BLESSINGS and NEW LIFE come to you as the light begins to penetrate the dark days of winter ... hints of spring can be seen, heard and felt throughout the land ... promise of renewal and rebirth are with us.
darkness

February 1993 (Vol. VI, No. 2)

BLESSINGS BE WITH YOU in the words of Mechtild of Magdeburg:
love

January 1993 (Vol. VI, No. 1)

GREETINGS and BLESSINGS to you in this new year ... a good time to reflect on where we have been in our hearts and the road we would aim to travel in these coming months ... and, perhaps, the time for a new prayer of the heart.
simplicity

December 1992 (Vol. V, No. 11)

BLESSINGS of joy and peace! May the Promise of this season find a home in your heart!

light

November 1992 (Vol. V, No. 10)

GREETINGS, dear friends, and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Yes, next month will celebrate five years of this little newsletter being sent out to an ever-growing number of Friends of Silence: from one small contemplative community in the inner city of Detroit to many around the world ... from a few issues being distributed to almost 2700 sent out each month, including a number of Braille copies now available thanks to a friend of silence in prison with a ministry to the blind. Continued gratitude to each one of you who take time in the silence to become a radiation of peace, joy and love for the world!
gratitude

October 1992 (Vol. V, No. 9)

AUTUMN GREETINGS! Now is the time of the harvest. As the trees burst forth in glory, as the earth yields the fruits of spring promise and summer growth, we are reminded to reflect on the changes that occur in our lives in due season. Wise are those who, like Meister Eckhart, acknowledge and reverence the need for silence and solitude. For,
silence

September 1992 (Vol. V, No. 8)

May the BLESSINGS of inner peace and quiet joy be with you! And may times of silence and solitude invite you to smell the roses ... to listen to the breeze-sound ... to really see the changing seasons. And, as you slow down long enough to quiet the inner voices, you may begin to sense the great beauty of all that has been given for you to share.

beauty

July-August 1992 (Vol. V, No. 7)

BLESSINGS TO ALL! Gentle days of summer lend themselves to basking in the Presence, to taking quiet moments of just being and listening. For,
listen

June 1992 (Vol. V, No. 6)

BLESSINGS and PEACE be with you all! And an invitation to pause in your day and listen to the melodies your heart sings. For,
music

May 1992 (Vol. V, No. 5)

GREETINGS and BLESSINGS be with you, friends! Is your soul awakening to new life as you listen and attend the greening, budding and birthing of a new season? O, that we might slow down for moments each day to attune ourselves and listen! For,
attention

April 1992 (Vol. V, No. 4)

Ah, friends, Spring has come once again! BLESSINGS and PEACE be with you! As our thoughts begin to turn toward gardening and enjoying the new life coming to birth around us, we are invited to spend time in our own cloister garden of the heart. For,
nature

March 1992 (Vol. V, No. 3)

BLESSINGS be with you, friends, in this season that calls us to look within as we take time in silence and solitude.
prayer

February 1992 (Vol. V, No. 2)

Love be with you, friends!

love

January 1992 (Vol. V, No. 1)

BLESSINGS, dear friends, as we begin the fifth year of this monthly offering. Friends of Silence started as an inner-city contemplative community of individuals committed to pray in the Silence. Linked to a growing number of groups and individuals around the globe, we open our hearts to radiate love as one response to the violence, injustice and confusion in the world today. The outward, visible results of our silence are often difficult to discern or define. Yet, by faith, we continue to meet together in the solitude of our homes to pray in the Silence -- and, to experience the inward fruits of the Spirit at work in us ... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, gratitude ... May your own Silence of the inner being offer blessing, harmony and balance to Love's Creation in this new year!
contemplation

December 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 11)

BLESSINGS to all Friends of Silence this holyday season! ... a time for re-connecting to the Child within that leads us to our gifts ... our creativity ... our inner being where innocence, compassion and spontaneity dwell.

child

November 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 10)

BLESSINGS of peace, joy and gratitude be with you! How do we return to the Giver of Life the abundance of blessing we receive? Only in the Silence, where the Beloved abides, will the deep response be given. And so, we give thanks as we befriend the Silence, that out of the Silence the words we speak will reveal the Word.
compassion

October 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 9)

BLESSINGS and Peace be with you!
surrender

September 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 8)

AUTUMN GREETINGS! How quickly the seasons pass ... seasons of nature, seasons of life. 'Tis good to remember that in eternal time there is only Love, Peace, and Unity.
truth

July-August 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 7)

GREETINGS! The summertimes of our lives are times to rest and appreciate who we are, to relax and enjoy, to celebrate the extravagance and exuberance of creation, to remember to pause, to let the joy and wonder of becoming like a child again well up within us. Summer re-creation offers times to be free to be nothing, to be present in grateful receptivity, wordless awe, silent simplicity ... times to dip into the well of contemplation.

contemplation

June 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 6)

Warmest GREETINGS as we move into a new season. May each one of us take time to walk down the path that leads to the sacred Silence. And as we learn to treasure our inner awareness, may we come to know the immense love, the intense light, within the vastness of our own soul.
attention

May 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 5)

"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard?"
music

April 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 4)

GREETINGS! The long winter is over ... signs of nature's yearly renewal are seen all over the land ... earth giving birth to new life, new hope. May each one of us participate with awe and reverence, taking time to recognize a springtime renewal of our souls.
nature

March 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 3)

"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard?"
peace

February 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 2)

Blessings to Friends of Silence with prayers for peace to all peoples on Earth. Ironically, to pray is to go into the desert spaces of our hearts where, in solitude and silence, we can find peace as we commune with the Beloved. Today, when the desert is not silent, Carlo Carretto in LETTERS FROM THE DESERT reminds us that:
love

January 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 1)

ALL GOOD WISHES to friends of Silence around the world! ... with the hope of a peace-filled, joy-filled and grace-filled new year. After the busyness of the holiday season, 'til good to take time for inner reflection. Wordsworth describes it well in "The Prelude":
solitude

December 1990 (Vol. III, No. 11)

May the blessings of the holiday Spirit be with each of you!  Advent is a season to recall once again who we really are and to humbly accept it.  We are human beings, whose privilege it is to have God as our destiny ... human beings, to whom God has given Divine Life from the beginning ... and, in the process of becoming fulfilled, we must pass under the fiery glance of God.  Since we keep fighting off the approaching God, it is always God who must lay the groundwork for Love's approach, who must tame and train the wild human stallion for its advent destiny.  And only when we live panting in the corral, do we open up to God's life-giving breath.

waiting

November 1990 (Vol. III, No. 10)

GREETINGS IN ABUNDANCE to all friends of Silence this harvest season! As we recollect the gifts of this year, may we also be mindful of the Source of our deepest blessings. Edith Stein, in "Thoughts", a compilation of some of her writings, reminds us of how every moment is to be a time for giving thanks:

silence

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