May Work with Meaning flourish on Earth

As we enable others to work
with meaning, mutual
fulfillment becomes a
building block to peace
and smiles become contagious.

We are asking,
May Work with Meaning
flourish on Earth.

July/August 2006 (Vol. XIX, No. 7)

SUMMER BLESSINGS, dear friends! Freedom is very much in our hearts and minds these days. Still freedom is just a word, a concept; an ideal until we will it in our individual lives. We cannot have outer freedom, however, if inwardly we are imprisoned by our fear and all its negative companions. Yet blessed are we who choose to face our fears, one by one. Each fear faced increases our love-quotient. Silence is the golden key that helps us open our heart-gate wider and deeper toward freedom: thus, we bless the world.

How can we discern the true freedom of our soul

How can we discern the true freedom of our soul, the freedom in which everything is given, from the promises and practices of personal liberation? Mystics who have given themselves to love know what is beyond the borders of culture and conditioning. They inhabit a region of the soul where love and service are given freely and there is neither striving nor achievement. Living a relationship of oneness, they recognize that the deepest longing of their heart belongs not to themselves but to their Beloved... Belonging neither to this world or the next, they are servants of love and carry the wisdom that comes from a commitment to love.

~ from THE SIGNS OF GOD by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee The Signs Of God freedom Buy on Amazon

Wings of freedom

Resting in the heart of God
births
wings of freedom.

~ Sue Robinson
Sue Robinson freedom

Most people want solitude because they want to discover their unconditional freedom

Most people want solitude because they want to discover their unconditional freedom, where they are free of all definitions.

~ William Irwin Thompson
William Irwin Thompson freedom

To lie fallow is a gift

To lie fallow is a gift. We don't really know how to do it. Rather we are done by it or undone by it. The moments we are allowed to be in that condition are times of gratitude. It is from these that our freedom comes. It is where authentic being exists. Any fruitfulness arises from that surrendered openness. It is there that God makes each of us a fertile ground, a bearing soil.

~ from A MYSTIC GARDEN by Gunilla Norris
Gunilla Norris A Mystic Garden freedom Buy on Amazon

Spirit's gift of freedom comes to us as a conscious rhapsody of being chosen and choosing

Spirit's gift of freedom comes to us as a conscious rhapsody of being chosen and choosing. We are journeyed through life by mysterious Spirit that will not let us be till we grasp our freedom, with fear and fascination, till we say yes or no. This is the glory of being human: experiencing being chosen to decide, and deciding, again and again, endlessly. This is the conscious rhapsody of our lives.

~ from OUR UNIVERSAL SPIRIT JOURNEY by John P. Cock
John P. Cock Our Universal Spirit Journey freedom

That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free

Someone was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool streams gushed over one hand, she spelled into the other the word "Water," first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly, I felt a misty caress as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew that "w-a-t-e-r" meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!

~ from THE STORY OF MY LIFE by Helen Keller
Helen Keller The Story Of My Life freedom

In the spiritual life, freedom is for nothing other than love

Freedom is not an end in itself. It is not just freedom from something; it must also be freedom for something. In the spiritual life, freedom is for nothing other than love. Human beings exist because of love, and the meaning and goal of our lives is love.

~ from THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL by Gerald May
Gerald May The Dark Night Of The Soul freedom

Those who are disciplined with joy and light

Those who are disciplined with joy and light within become one with God and reach the freedom that is God.

~ Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita freedom

To be in God at last made free

Heaven is to be
in God at last made free.

~ Evelyn Underhill
Evelyn Underhill freedom

Freedom from the mundane and ordinary, from the rational and need to know

Play is our contact with our love for life. It brings us back into our joy at being alive and shows us where our freedom is. Play moves us out of our fixed mindsets: it offers freedom from the tyranny of habit, freedom from the mundane and ordinary, from the rational and need to know and be in control. It is freedom from rigid identification with race, class, gender, and even species.

~ Gwen Gordon in "EarthLight," Vol. 13, No. 3
Gwen Gordon No. 3), Earthlight (vol. 13 freedom

To live in its knowledge is to know yourself to be free

The inner spirit is who I really am. My body is alive in this nature and exists in its frame. I do not need to be spiritual to find this. I only need to stop believing that the ego, the small self, is me. If I do, a different knowing emerges which has a largeness and a certain beauty. It is an expression of power and love beyond the usual definitions. To live in its knowledge is to know yourself to be free.

~ from A NEW SET OF EYES by Paula D'Arcy
Paula D'Arcy A New Set Of Eyes freedom Buy on Amazon

The struggle must be continuous, for freedom is never a final act

In the last years of his life, Rultin was fond of repeating a statement attributed to A. Philip Randolph: "The struggle must be continuous, for freedom is never a final act. "A few months before Rultin died, a young admirer asked how he kept hopeful in dismally conservative times. "I have learned a very significant message from the prophets," Rultin replied. "They taught that God does not require us to achieve any of the good tasks that humanity must pursue. What is required of us is that we not stop trying."

~ from LOST PROPHET by John D'Emilio
John D'Emilio Lost Prophet freedom

Find an inner freedom

Consider freedom: find an inner freedom and then,
however constraining the circumstances are,
it will not diminish your internal freedom.

~ Pir V. I. Khan
Pir V. I. Khan freedom

The tapestry of our lives is colored with freedom

There's such beauty in sharing the distinctive songs of our own souls as we dance with the grand web of life, each of us embodying particular forms, energies, and rhythms, bringing into the world our unique purposes, passions, and gifts. The tapestry of our lives is colored with freedom when we are guided by our own creativity and knowing.

~ JoAnne Dodgson
JoAnne Dodgson freedom

True freedom

Compassionate action is a requisite to true freedom.

~ Anonymous
Anonymous freedom

When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or no

When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or not. Freedom attracts wherever it appears. A free man or a free woman creates a space where others feel safe and want to dwell. Our world is so full of conditions, demands, requirements, and obligations that we often wonder what is expected of us. But when we meet a truly free person there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom. Where true inner freedom is, there God is. And where God is, there we want to be.

~ Henri Nouwen, with thanks to James V. Dolson
Henri Nouwen freedom

June 2006 (Vol. XIX, No. 6)

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

WARMEST GREETINGS, beloved friends! Out of the silence come songs of summer as day and night Nature's melded voices offer music when we pause to listen. Our own organ of the heart plays all the rhythms of our lives: from pain, loneliness, grief, sadness . . . to joy, praise, celebration, silence. At every moment we can listen inwardly for the music of our heart, body, and soul. And we can dance, wail, sing, pray, chant to its changing tunes. Just as birds naturally sing their various songs, so we, too, have heart-songs to share with one another and Life! May your own special heart-songs rise up out of the silence.

The world as symphony

The imagination is one of every thing in the universe as a song of praise ... the world as symphony. If one note in a musical composition is played off-key, the whole composition is off. If a musician decides to go his or her own way in the middle of a symphony in order to express freedom, the free play of the whole is destroyed. On the other hand, musicians find true freedom when their individuality harmonizes with the whole.

~ from LOVE AND THE SOUL by Robert Sardello
Robert Sardello Love And The Soul music

How can I keep from singing?

My life goes on in endless song
above Earth's lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear its music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul;
How can I keep from singing?

~ Traditional hymn
Traditional Hymn music

Hear the sound of the Love to which you belong

Nothing prepared me for what I saw. I realized that the young voice was coming from 83-year-old Jonas, who was singing the "Sanctus" by Beethoven, with a beauty that could not be explained. It was like the Soul of all life summoning each spirit who listened: Here! Here is the sound of all that is true. Hear the sound of the Love to which you belong. That afternoon I learned that Jonas had been sent to Siberia as a young man because of that voice. Because of the remarkable gift he had been sent to build roads and live in obscurity. Now he was an elderly man, but the voice had never aged. Truly, it existed apart from any space and time.

~ from A NEW SET OF EYES by Paul D'Arcy
Paul D'Arcy A New Set Of Eyes music Buy on Amazon

It's a wonder to behold how human beings feel after making their own music

It's a wonder to behold how human beings feel after making their own music. It's been well-documented throughout history that people really put themselves on a higher spiritual level when they involve themselves in music or any of the allied arts. Our lives are so affected by what we do artistically. But too often we hold back because of our limiting image of success thinking: I don't know how to do this. We need to give ourselves the freedom to create our own sounds of music.

~ from "Playing for the Fun of It" by Jeff Wangenheim
Jeff Wangenheim Playing For The Fun Of It music

After listening to the music I was able to pray again

I am one of a new breed, a hospital musician. Last week a doctor who had come out of a difficult eight-hour surgery heard the piano and stopped to rest. He said the aria I was playing from Bach's Goldenberg Variations revived him by reminding him of the larger picture. He said he felt more accepting of the outcome of the operation he'd performed. The man who'd received a new kidney said, "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony reminded me how much I want to live, how much I love life. After listening to the music I was able to pray again."

~ from THE NATURE OF MUSIC by Maureen McCarthy Draper
Maureen McCarthy Draper The Nature Of Music music

You ARE the music while the music lasts

Music heard so deeply,
it is not heard at all:
You ARE the music
while the music lasts.

~ T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot music

You ARE the music while the music lasts

Music heard so deeply,
it is not heard at all:
You ARE the music
while the music lasts.

~ T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot music

Music comes first from my heart

Music comes first from my heart, and then goes
upstairs to my head where I check it out.

~ Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack music

I am carried by the movement of the sound

I am carried by the movement of the sound.
I go with it, listening.
It is a flow of music through the universe,
A flow of music into me.
It is a flow of harmonies,
Vast, beyond me.
Tremendum. A great word, a sound,
The music of life playing in the spheres beyond.
In the Silence, in the Silence.

~ from THE STAR/CROSS by Ira Progoff
Ira Progoff The Star/cross music

We're walking temples of noise

And we began to sing, "Why should I feel discouraged? Why do the shadows fall? "And Ranola watched Ken rather skeptically for a moment, and then her face began to melt and contort like his, and she went to his side and bent down to lift him up — lifted up this white rag doll, this scarecrow. She held him next to her, draped over and against her like a child while they sang. And it pierced me. I can't image anything but music that could have brought about this alchemy. Maybe it's because music is about as physical as it gets: your heartbeat; your essential sound, the breath. We're walking temples of noise, and when you add tender hearts to this mix, it somehow lets us meet in places we couldn't get to any other way.

~ from TRAVELING MERCIES by Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott Traveling Mercies music Buy on Amazon

Nothing remained in the world save this bird and God: God, and a beak that was singing.

A small bird with a red bonnet on its head came and perched on a rock opposite us. It waved its tail, turned its head anxiously in all directions, then glanced directly at us and as it did so, it grew bold and began to whistle softly, tauntingly at first; but soon it threw back its head, swelled its throat, and gazing at the sky, the light, burst into song with abandon. Everything vanished; nothing remained in the world save this bird and God: God, and a beak that was singing.

~ from ST. FRANCIS by Nikos Kazantzakis
Nikos Kazantzakis St. Francis music Buy on Amazon

The songs of whales ring wistful, even melancholy, to the human ear

The songs of whales ring wistful, even melancholy,
to the human ear. Perhaps this tone belongs to all
who plumb the depths.

~ Linda Sussman
Linda Sussman music

There is always music amongst the trees in the garden

There is always music amongst the trees in the garden,
but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.

~ M. Aumonier
M. Aumonier music

That which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music

After Silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

~ Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley music

Music has always been intimately connected with the numinous

For a composer silence is something pregnant with expectation ... the most naturally spiritual medium. The music grows in the spiritual life: the silence of monks, the silence of meditation, the silence of not knowing something, the terrible silence of God when we are confronted with evil in the world. Music has always been intimately connected with the numinous and the immaterial. I increasingly believe that the non-corporeal quality of music can be a direct challenge to the world and its materiality.

~ James MacMillan on "Silence," Symphony No. 3 with thanks to Frances Kellog
James MacMillan Silence (symphony No. 3) music

May 2006 (Vol. XIX, No. 5)

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

WISDOM is birthed in silence, rising up from the Mystery of the Unseen, a potential grace dwelling within us. At the same time, Wisdom greets us in our daily lives through nature, sacred spaces, the sages among us, a child at play, our creative work, our angels … and all that is holy. Wisdom is a seed planted by Love that buds and blooms in those whose hearts are receptive and vulnerable, in those whose minds are quieted in prayer listening for the Voice of Silence. Wonder, humility, beauty, peace are but a few of Wisdom's fruits.

Wishing you wisdom moments, dear friends!

Wisdom is a living stream, not an icon preserved in a museum

Wisdom is a living stream, not an icon preserved in a museum. Only when we find the spring of wisdom in our own life can it flow to future generations.
 

~ Thich Nhat Hahn
Thich Nhat Hahn wisdom

Cultivating our wisdom is one of our most important tasks

Cultivating our wisdom is one of our most important tasks. If we don't spend enough time alone listening to the counsel of our hearts, then we will never become wise. If we don't spend enough time in the presence of others who try to walk a path of heart, we will never become wise. If we do not cultivate, through prayer or meditation or spiritual practice, a stronger heart that can fly and endure, then we'll never become wise.

~ Marianne Williamson
Marianne Williamson wisdom

This mysterious Unity and Integrity is Wisdom

There is in all visible things
an invisible fecundity,
a dimmed light,
a meek namelessness,
a hidden wholeness.
This mysterious Unity and Integrity
is Wisdom, Mother of all,
"Natura naturans."

~ Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton wisdom

The ways of wisdom

The ways of wisdom bring peace.

~ Guerric of Igny
Guerric of Igny wisdom

Holy wisdom embraces and enables our knowledge

Holy wisdom embraces and enables our knowledge, judgment, insight, even as it draws us beyond them. We are given words when we have nothing to say. We are kept silent when we ache to run off at the mouth. We reach out when we would otherwise pull back, cut off, turn away. Our own wisdom is rooted in God's gift of wisdom to us. The soil it grows in is our daily lives, including our relationships with God, ourselves, and others. Only by trusting what little we know, by pushing the edges of our own wisdom, will wisdom grow.

~ Jean M. Blomquist in "Weavings" - July/August 1997
Jean M. Blomquist Weavings (july/august 1997) wisdom

Wisdom is not found on a computer chip

Wisdom is not found on a computer chip. It pulses within our heart, in the flow of being, through the precision of stars keeping their courses. Wisdom is not the possession of any one person or group but is found when we realize our relationship to everything that is.

~ from POETIC MEDICINE by John Fox
John Fox Poetic Medicine wisdom Buy on Amazon

There is a goodness, a WISDOM that arises

There is a goodness, a WISDOM that arises, sometimes gracefully, sometimes gently, sometimes awkwardly, sometimes fiercely, but it will arise to save us if we let it, and it arises from WITHIN us, like the force that drives us into a great blossoming like a pear tree, into flowering, into fragrance, fruit, and song, into the wild wind dancing, sun shimmering, into the aliveness of it all, into that part of ourselves that can never be defiled, defeated, or destroyed, but that comes back to life, time and time again, that lives — always — that does not die. Into the Divine.

~ from THE BOND BETWEEN WOMEN by China Galland
China Galland The Bond Between Women wisdom

The best methods of uncovering the wisdom of the spirit

Meditation and the "seeking of the silence within" are the
best methods of uncovering the wisdom of the spirit.

~ Hilarion;
Hilarion wisdom

The wiser one is, the quieter one is

The wiser one is, the quieter one is, for the truly wise one knows, "I know nothing except that I must listen and through listening learn to speak and act. "


~ from TURNING by Claire Blatchford
Claire Blatchford Turning wisdom

Wisdom comes

Wisdom comes with the ability to be still.

~ Anonymous
Anonymous wisdom

We adore your wisdom and pray that it may order all our life

We were created for You by yourself,
and towards You our face is set.
We acknowledge You,
our maker and creator;
we adore your wisdom and pray
that it may order all our life.
We adore your goodness and mercy, and
beg them ever to sustain and help us.

~ William of St. Thierry
William of St. Thierry wisdom

The distillation of all wisdoms: we can rejoin our isolated wills with Love's Will

The knowing heart is receptive to the intelligence of Being and is guided by Being. When the heart is awakened and purified, it establishes a connection to Spirit; our finest and noblest capacities are unlocked, our sacred humanness is revealed. What it comes down to, the distillation of all wisdoms, is this: we can rejoin our isolated wills with Love's Will through the knowing of the heart.

~ from THE KNOWING HEART by Kabir Helminski
Kabir Helminski The Knowing Heart wisdom

In our sleep, against our will, comes wisdom

Pain that cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart,
and in our sleep, against our will, comes wisdom through the
awful grace of God.

~ Aeschylus
Aeschylus wisdom

Surrounded by infinite powers of love and wisdom

Humanity is not alone in the universe, but
surrounded by infinite powers of love and
wisdom.

~ Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy wisdom

We do not learn such wisdom on our own

In the immense field of divine compassion, countless small life fields are interwoven with each other. When human hearts deepen through some form of contemplation, there emerges in them an intuition of human oneness prior to all separation ... a "communion of saints."In each religion's communal story, there is a way of handing on from generation to generation this transforming perception of universal solidarity in the Mystery. We do not learn such wisdom on our own. We receive this wisdom from someone else.

~ from THE ART OF SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE by Carolyn Gratton thanks to June Schulte
Carolyn Gratton The Art Of Spiritual Guidance wisdom

Wisdom has been defined as crystallized pain

Wisdom has been defined as crystallized pain.
It is the distilled essence of experience: of
pain and pleasure, sorry and joy, darkness and light.

~ from THE COSMIC HARP by Corinne Heline
Corinne Heline The Cosmic Harp wisdom

True wisdom

True wisdom emerges silently.

~ Anonymous
Anonymous wisdom

Who will teach the young wisdom?

"Who will teach the young wisdom and discipline? "

Wisdom is not taught, systems are taught. Wisdom comes from experiencing life, or it never comes at all. And life is its own discipline.

"What produces growth and progress? "

Perhaps if we are not pushed and prodded or made to feel ashamed, we will achieve our growth — and our joy as well.

~ from CELEBRATE THE SUN by James Kavanaugh
James Kavanaugh Celebrate The Sun wisdom Buy on Amazon

April 2006 (Vol. XIX, No. 4)

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

BLESSINGS of another Spring season, dear friends!

From the fallow earth new life is springing up as Love's ever-giving, ever-renewing gift to humanity new creation birthed from holy ground, a Sacred trust. Wherever we are — whether traveling afar or in our own backyard — all is Sacred space when we recognize our Oneness with Love Consciousness. And in the silence we can rest in the Sacred Chapel of our heart and gently BE who we are at the core. Be still, and know Love. 

True sacred space allows alternative consciousness to emerge

Sacred space is by definition liminal space. Because we are not in control and not the center, something genuinely new can happen. Here we are capable of seeing something beyond self-interest, self-will, and security concerns. True sacred space allows alternative consciousness to emerge.

~ Richard Rohr
Richard Rohr sacred place

That sacred space between our thoughts and judgments

In order to access the grace and power of heaven, we must first learn to live within the gap, that sacred space between our thoughts and judgments.

~ Rocco Grecco
Rocco Grecco sacred place

I entered a silence of green

In the forest
was a path
which led on,
and on as if an access
to a deeper realm —
a place where peripherals,
the eddies at the edge of things,
were all forgotten,
and I entered
a silence of green,
became a soundless vortex
moving through stillness.

~ from MARROW OF THE FLAME by Dorothy Walters
Dorothy Walters Marrow Of The Flame sacred place

Every part of the Earth has a spirit and is sacred

Most indigenous people will tell you that every location, every part of the Earth, has a spirit and is sacred. They would also say that this sacredness can be intuited, and can directly influence our choices. We can all learn from this wisdom.

~ from "Trusting the Web of Life" by David La Chapelle
David La Chapelle Trusting The Web Of Life sacred place

How filled with awe is this place and we did not know it

Days pass and the years vanish and we walk sightless among miracles. O Holy One, fill our eyes with seeing and our minds with knowing. Let there be moments when your Presence, like lightning, illumines the darkness in which we walk. Help us to see, wherever we gaze, that the bush burns, unconsumed. And we, clay touched by Thee, will reach out for holiness and exclaim in wonder, "How filled with awe is this place and we did not know it. "

~ from MY GRANDFATHER'S BLESSINGS by Rachel Naomi Remen
Rachel Naomi Remen My Grandfather's Blessings sacred place Buy on Amazon

Home is where the heart is not famished, the eye not starved

Home is where the heart is not famished, the eye not starved, the Sacred not banished or desecrated. The Sacred cannot be caught in formulas. It cannot be analyzed, not even in terms of ecology, as beauty cannot be caught in the semantics of esthetics. Fingers pointing toward the Transcendent need no vocabulary, for they do not preach. Beyond the dialects of all religions they witness to a religious attitude toward life itself.
 

~ from FINGERS POINTING TOWARD THE SACRED by Frederick Franck
Frederick Franck Fingers Pointing Toward The Sacred sacred place Buy on Amazon

May the nourishment of the earth be yours

May the nourishment of the earth be yours.
May the clarity of light be yours.
May the fluency of the ocean be yours.
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow wind work
These words around you
As an invisible cloak to guard your life.

~ a Celtic Prayer
A Celtic Prayer sacred place

There is nothing so secular

There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred.

~ Madeleine L'Engle
Madeleine L'Engle sacred place

Remember, remember the sacredness of things

Remember, remember the sacredness
of things: running streams and dwellings
the young within the nest
a hearth for sacred fire
the holy flame.

~ Omaha Indian Chant
Omaha Indian Chant sacred place

Above all, the whispers signal change

Suddenly I heard the sound; it was
the sacred whispers. The whispers
come to me from the land, the
sky and the sea, and often they
urge me to be still. Above all,
the whispers signal change.

~ Margaret A. Renner
Margaret A. Renner sacred place

The entire creation was sacred ground

… a fire was lit in my heart. My rational doubts and hesitations went up in smoke. My tepid faith, which had become that of the indifferent believer, was rekindled.

I was in front of the flaming bush. I wanted to take off my shoes. It was sacred ground. God was this sacred ground. God was within the entire creation. The entire creation was sacred ground.

~ from CIRCLING TO THE CENTER by Susan M. Tiberghien
Susan M. Tiberghien Circling To The Center sacred place Buy on Amazon

When we hear the songs the places sing, we hear our own most ancient voices

I began to think of sacredness as a kind of dialogue between the human spirit and certain designated places. These sites that call forth reverence, awe, humility, and wonder — we make them sacred. It is a way of honoring those feelings in ourselves. And when we hear the songs the places sing, we hear our own most ancient voices.

~ James D. Houston
James D. Houston sacred place

The contemplation of sacred mountains

The contemplation of sacred mountains with their special power to awaken another, deeper way of experiencing reality, opens us to a sense of the sacred in our own homes and communities — a sense that we need to cultivate in order to live in harmony.

~ from SACRED MOUNTAINS by Edwin Bernbaum
Edwin Bernbaum Sacred Mountains sacred place

The world globes itself in a drop of dew

The world globes itself in a drop of dew. … The true doctrine of omnipresence is that God appears with all parts in every moss and cobweb.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson sacred place

Love speaks in Sacred spaces

Love speaks in Sacred spaces:
within and without.

~ Anonymous
Anonymous sacred place

Sacred spaces help us access our own spirits

To be sacred, a place must be honored, treated with respect. It must gather and hold energy; be alive with the seen and unseen. Above all, a sacred place must be safe — for cells to open, boundaries to expand, what is normally hidden to come forth.

Sacred spaces help us access our own spirits. They offer us doorways through which we can pass, gateways to deepening our connections with nature and our elemental beginnings. Those connections lead us to wholeness; the more we experience the interconnectedness of our bodies and Earth's body, the more we heal spirit.

~ Meg Beeler in "EarthLight" - Spring 2000 #37
Meg Beeler Earthlight (spring 2000) sacred place

March 2006 (Vol. XIX, No. 3)

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

BLESSINGS OF THE SILENCE be with you, dear friends! Our deepening heart-prayers are acts of radical and continual abandonment to the Divine Guest abiding within our Inner Sacred Chapel. Here we trust with confidence — whether alone or with others, waking or sleeping, working or resting. Extended periods spent in the silence basking in Love's Presence or yearning in loneliness can open the space for the Prayer of the Heart to well up and radiate the love and light that we are at the core. May we open our hearts in the Silence each day . . . and just BE.

As blood is to the body, prayer is to the soul

I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. God is the friend of silence, so we need to listen. For, it is not what we say, but what God says to us and through us that matters. Prayer feeds the soul — as blood is to the body, prayer is to the soul — and it brings us closer to God.

~ from A SIMPLE PATH by Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa A Simple Path prayer Buy on Amazon

To pray is to pay attention to something or someone other than oneself

To pray is to pay attention to something or someone other than oneself. Whenever we so concentrate our attention that we completely forget our own ego and desires, we are praying.

~ W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden prayer

When prayers are lived fully

Our prayers make the most sense when they are lived fully.

~ Anonymous
Anonymous prayer

Prayer is a dipping of oneself toward the light

And as with prayer, which is a dipping of oneself toward the light, there is a consequence of attentiveness to the grass itself, and the sky itself, and to the floating bird. . . . I too dip myself toward the immeasurable.

~ from "Winter Hours" by Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver Winter Hours prayer

Prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world

To clasp one's hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.

~ Karl Barth
Karl Barth prayer

Prayer obtains what it is due to obtain

Prayer obtains what it is due to obtain — not what I personally want to obtain, which is different. It is useful that islands of prayer exist in the world, even if they are composed of only one person, or two, or three, or four.

~ from THE INNER ADVENTURE by Louis Calaferte
Louis Calaferte The Inner Adventure prayer

Where Presence can be felt and where you can be submerged in unceasing prayer

My son opened my eyes to the unceasing nature of prayer in joyful moments which sometimes lie dormant in our hearts. I learn from him each day that God is in the little things — the things that can be found in the ordinary, here and now of life. Look in the minutiae of daily life in your everyday places, where Presence can be felt and where you can be submerged in unceasing prayer.

~ Yvonne Martinez Ward
Yvonne Martinez Ward prayer

What we need is here -- we pray to be quiet in heart

Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.

~ Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry prayer

Prayerfulness is an awareness of Presence

Prayerfulness is an awareness of Presence … our "You are" to God in the quiet of our hearts and in the busyness of our lives. This awareness births a gentle passion within us — an ache and a longing of the heart — that is palpable. Through our prayerfulness, we become able to say to the One who is, "You created me in your image. You are. You have called me by name. You are. You provide for me. You are. You love me. You are. "Through our prayerfulness we discover that there is no place You are not.

~ from KNITTING INTO THE MYSTERY by S. S. Jorgensen and S. S. Izard
S. S. Jorgensen, S. S. Izard Knitting Into The Mystery prayer

Being prayer includes time and space for lightness and beauty

There is a way of BEING prayer that is fully grounded in a personal relationship with the divine. It is the way of trust, in which we do not feel separate from the Source. The entrance to this way has everything to do with the sincerity and intention of the practice and little to do with the particular form of practice. Being prayer includes time and space for lightness and beauty.

~ from THE INSPIRED HEART by Jerry Wennstrom
The Inspired Heart prayer Buy on Amazon

Prayer is the motion of a hidden fire that trembles in the breast

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire,
That trembles in the breast.

~ James Montgomery
James Montgomery prayer

Pray hypocritically, full of doubt and dry-mouthed

If you can't pray a real prayer, pray
hypocritically, full of doubt
and dry-mouthed.

God accepts counterfeit money
as though it were real.

~ Rumi
Rumi prayer

Prayer is not a mechanical activity, but a confrontation

The elder warned us not to pray while our hearts were steeped in unprayerful feelings, without thoughts wandering as they chose. Prayer is not a mechanical activity, but a confrontation, a conversation with the Holy Presence. Pray humbly, then, in awe of God.

~ from AN EARLY SOVIET SAINT, trans. by J. Ellis
J. Ellis An Early Soviet Saint prayer Buy on Amazon

Prayer as a simple trust in that presence

There was simply silence. And in that silence, as I gazed up at the sunlight sparkling through those high upper windows, or followed a secret tug drawing me down into my own heart, I began to know a prayer much deeper than "talking to God."

"Somewhere in those depths of silence I came upon my first experiences of God as a loving presence that was always near, and prayer as a simple trust in that presence.

~ from CENTERING PRAYER AND INNER AWAKENING by Cynthia Bourgeault
Cynthia Bourgeault Centering Prayer And Inner Awakening prayer Buy on Amazon

When we pray least

We pray least when we say most.

~ St. Augustine
St. Augustine prayer

Dear Pray-er

Dear Pray-er,
A soul not nourished by prayer is like
a barren desert:
Pray when you work.
Pray over every problem.
Pray when you are at home,
Pray with your family.
Pray when you watch the news,
Pray over the nations, the planet.
Pray in the Silence,
Become the Prayer.

~ Anonymous
Anonymous prayer

My silence communing with the silence of God

Prayer is not so much conversation with God as my silence communing with the silence of God.

~ William Shannon
William Shannon prayer

The desert challenges us to travel with prayer as our best companion

The Saguaro (barrel-chested cactus), arms uplifted as though in prayer, might remind us that for countless ages its desert home has been viewed by spiritual seekers as a special prayer space. In the long history of prayer, the desert has often been seen as a holy locale where seekers can travel light and encounter spiritual realities. The desert, whether of sand or of our inner souls, challenges us to see more clearly and to travel with prayer as our best companion.

~ from ONE HUNDRED CRANES by William J. Fitzgerald
William J. Fitzgerald One Hundred Cranes prayer

February 2006 (Vol. XIX, No. 2)

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

WARMEST GREETINGS, dear friends! The Love-quotient of our world needs to be heightened. Remember: Love is who you are! May our lives become Love-in-action. Authentic Love is not limited, but a blessing that so enhances our beingness that we are compelled to Serve with integrity and right action. This is not an impossible dream; yet, it does take commitment, prayer and practice moment by moment in thought, word and deed. Silence and solitude are ever friends to guide you on the road to Love, to being a beneficial presence in the world.

Love is spirit incarnate

Love is spirit incarnate: powerful, courageous, and splendid. It is light in dark times, a spring in dry times, a fire in cold times, and a gathering of allies in the fearful and questioning times. It is not ignorant of consequences or uncaring of effects. And, it is passionate and disciplined, wild and domesticated, a demanding task and a delightful play … a paradox, a presence with many faces.

~ from PARENT AS MYSTIC by David Spangler
David Spangler Parent As Mystic love

The love that will gather is much more important than anything else on earth

Holidays are about families, and families can be a bit of a mess under stress. But the love that will gather is much more important than anything else on earth, and bigger than anything else on earth, too. Because finally, that love is sovereign.

~ from PLAN B by Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott Plan B love Buy on Amazon

When the two shall become one the one is still the two

When the two shall become one
the one is still the two:
sound and silence together thrill the flute —
Each heart must have its mind or the circle is not true.
When the One has seen the Other —
a voice not his, a passion not hers —
together in God they are now, as such,
written on a single page in lines not made to touch.

~ from THE POET OF TOLSTOY PARK by Sonny Brewer
Sonny Brewer The Poet Of Tolstoy Park love Buy on Amazon

Love is an activity

LOVE is an activity … not a feeling.

~ Anonymous
Anonymous love

Love does not necessarily require words

An individual sitting in an emergency waiting room noticed a man in a wheel chair in considerable pain with his wife by his side. For a half hour the couple never exchanged a word; they just held hands, looking intently at each other. Once or twice the woman patted the man's face. The person watching said the feeling of love was so tangible in the room that she felt she was sharing their silent communion. Their silent love was also joyful and portrayed the fullness of a human relationship. That's what spiritual silence is all about. Love does not necessarily require words. It often requires silence.

~ from "Contemplative Silence" by Paul Harris in Schola (March 2001)
Paul Harris Schola (march 2001), Contemplative Silence love

Love is as love does

Love is the WILL to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth. Love is as love does … both an intention and an action.

 

~ Scott Peck
Scott Peck love

Love is WHO you are

Love is your immortal name, the essence of true beingness. Love is not something you do or don't do, give or don't give, receive or don't receive. In other words it is not a commodity, not a derivative substance. Love is not something that is subject to the laws of abundance or scarcity. Love is WHO you are.

~ from LOVE WITHOUT END by Glenda Green
Glenda Green Love Without End love

The greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love

I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease.

~ the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama love

The Sun never says to the earth, You owe me

Even
After
All this time
The Sun never says to the earth,
"You owe
Me. "
Look
What happens
With love like that,
It lights the
Whole
Sky.

~ Hafiz
Hafiz love

How tenderly You dwell in my heart with love

How gently and lovingly
You wake in my heart,
where in secret You dwell alone;
and in your sweet breathing,
filled with good and glory
how tenderly You dwell in my heart
with love.

~ THE LIVING FLAME OF LOVE by St. John of the Cross
St. John of the Cross The Living Flame Of Love love

Be the love

BE the Love you are.

~ Anonymous
Anonymous love

Love. Compassion. I must practice.

The little orphan and I walked down the mountain to the city to buy shoes. She slipped out of her small rubber sandals into a new pair, carefully counted 45 rupees (less than one US dollar) into the shopkeeper's hand, and walked away.

"Wait! " I called, as I reached for the discarded shoes. "You've forgotten your old sandals. "

She glanced back at me, "No, leave them," she firmly replied. "I only need one pair. Leave them for someone who has none. "

Love. Compassion.

I must practice.

~ from TRIBE OF WOMEN by Connie Bickman
Connie Bickman Tribe Of Women love

Our lives become the sum of all whom we have loved

When we're old, our lives become the sum of all whom we have loved. It is important not to waste anyone. One task of living out the last half of life is excavating and recovering all of those whom we loved the first half. Thus, the recovery of lost loves becomes an important way in which the past affects the present.

~ from AGING WELL by George E. Vaillant in "Spirituality & Health" - Fall 2001
George E. Vaillant Spirituality And Health (fall 2001), Aging Well love Buy on Amazon

Love must lower itself even unto nothingness

For Love to be fully satisfied,
it must lower itself even unto nothingness,
and transform this nothingness into Fire.

~ Therese of Lisieux
Therese of Lisieux love

We cannot learn unconditional love

Love is the principle of action, not a quality of behavior. We cannot learn unconditional love. To love unconditionally, we must become Love. And love is the natural outcome of union with the Inner Self or Soul.

~ from BODY OF TIME, SOUL OF ETERNITY by Jerry Thomas
Jerry Thomas Soul Of Eternity, Body Of Time love Buy on Amazon

Allow love to guide

Allow Love to guide your actions

~ Anonymous
Anonymous love

An overwhelming amount of love started flowing through her

Julia Butterfly Hill spent 738 days 180' high in a 200' redwood estimated to be 1,000 years old. One day, through her prayers, an overwhelming amount of love started flowing through her, filling up the dark hole that threatened to consume her. She suddenly realized that what she was feeling was the love of the Earth, the love of Creation.

"Everyday we, as a species, do so much to destroy Creation's ability to give us life. But the Creation continues to do everything in its power to give us life anyway. And that is true love."

~ from THE LEGACY OF LUNA by Julia Butterfly Hill
Julia Butterfly Hill The Legacy Of Luna love

January 2006 (Vol. XIX, No. 1)

“Is there enough silence for the Word to be heard?”

DEEP PEACE be with you in the inner Silence of your heart-prayer, dear friends!  In this new year, may we continually be awakened to the Inner Light which shines through the darkness of fear and ignorance.  Thus, we will radiate the LoveConsciousness that we are — albeit all too often unacknowledged — and where we are in harmony with the joy of our soul’s creative Work toward true enlightenment.  Bask in the light of your times in the blessed Silence!  Awaken and shine!
 

The Light that flows through your system is Universal Energy

The Light that flows through your system is Universal Energy. It is the Light of the Universe. You give Light form. What you feel, what you think, how you behave, what you value and how you live your life reflect the way you are shaping the light that is flowing through you. They are thought forms, the feeling forms and the outer forms that you have given to Light. They reflect the configurations of your personality, your space-time being.

~ rom SEAT OF THE SOUL by Gary Zukov
Seat Of The Soul light

When you see from the consciousness of light

When you see from the consciousness of light, you project a flow of Light energy that becomes a healing influence.

~ Eric Butterworth
Eric Butterworth light

Finding every face luminous with godliness

. . A Baby's cry
shatters barriers
women, men
of every creed,
culture, race
gaze across
the rubbled walls
in wonder finding every face
luminous with godliness!

~ Irene Zimmerman
Irene Zimmerman light

Do everything in your power to let your light shine

Light is knowledge; where there is no knowledge, there is darkness. Light is the presence of day, where things can be seen and appreciated. Light is the power of Love, the presence of life that is sustaining and nurturing. … Become the light of the world — the loving light. Do everything in your power to let your light shine.

~ From IN THE MEANTIME by Iyanla Vanzant
Iyanla Vanzant In The Meantime light

We receive in peace the Incomprehensible Light, enfolding us and penetrating us

When love has carried us above and beyond all things, into the Divine Dark, we receive in peace the Incomprehensible Light, enfolding us and penetrating us. What is this Light, if it be not a contemplation of the Infinite, and an intuition of Eternity? We behold that which we are, and we are that which we behold; because our thought, life and being are uplifted in simplicity and made one with the Divine Truth which is God.

~ From THE SPARKLING STONE by Jan Van Ruysbroeck
Jan Van Ruysbroeck The Sparkling Stone light

Soul gifts are the means through which we manifest our individual sparts of divine light

Soul gifts are the means through which we manifest our individual sparts of divine light. By practicing our gifts with wisdom, love, and compassion, we can contribute to a spiritual renaissance: one in which our creativity reflects the true light of divinity. This renaissance can remake the world.

~ Judith Cornell in THE SOUL OF CREATIVITY
Judith Cornell The Soul Of Creativity light

So when the faculties are empty, the heart is full of light

Look at this window: it is nothing but a hole in the wall, but because of it the whole room is full of light. So when the faculties are empty, the heart is full of light. Being full of light it becomes an influence by which others are secretly transformed.

~ Chuang Tzu 4
Chuang Tzu light

Only the light of amber and pale gold that comes from the Hills of the Heart.

In the hollows of quiet places
we may meet,
the quiet places where is neither
moon nor sun,
but only the light of amber and
pale gold
that comes from the Hills of
the Heart.

~ Fiona MacLeod
Fiona MacLeod light

The desire to love God

The desire to love God is the fulfillment of all desires.

~ Jerry Thomas
Jerry Thomas light

Inner light is not hidden

Inner light is
not hidden.
Myriad openings
lead to it.
In passing from
darkness to light
One moves freely
between eternity.

~ Frederick Lord
Frederick Lord light

Allowing our small stories to be like icons, transmitting a Great Light

To acknowledge the Sacred within is humbling. One's ego portrays itself as the captain of its separate destiny, like an intrepid explorer, seeing things and naming them for the first time. Ego doesn't care for the idea that MY hunger for love, MY grief, and MY thankfulness are not only mine but also God's in me. As our egos die into Love, we see that our personal stories are transparent to an infinitely larger story within us. Suffering "in God" is allowing our small stories to be like icons, transmitting a Great Light.

~ from REBECCA: A Father's Journey by Robert A. Jonas
Robert A. Jonas Rebecca: A Father's Journey light

All the while the Light gives each soul what it is calling forth

What heals one soul, searches another soul, what comforts one, drives another to the brink of darkness; and all the while the Light gives each soul what it is calling forth. No one can withstand the Word of Truth echoing through the corridors of the soul. The Light is searching, healing, self-revealing; thus in the Light clouded conditions are revealed, self-conscious fears loosened.

~ from THE ANGEL OF THE PRESENCE by E. N. Morgan
E. N. Morgan The Angel Of The Presence light

The more darkness it finds, the more light it uncovers

In the seed, the genes whisper: stretch out for the light and seek the dark. And the tree seeks the light, it stretches out for the dark and the more darkness it finds, the more light it uncovers.

~ from "Horologium" by Reide Eknar (Swedish)
Reide Eknar Horologium light

The gate that silence opens up within us leads to light

If we allow silence to open up within, we shall see the gate and be free to open it. The gate that silence opens up within us leads to light. Light exposes us with an almost merciless radiance and, in the exposure, reveals the beauty of the real.

~ S. Wendy Beckett
S. Wendy Beckett light

Shine

We are reflections of the Divine Light . . . SHINE!

~ Anonymous
Anonymous light

Feeling the Light within

Feeling the Light within,
I walk.

~ Navajo night chant
Navajo Night Chant light

You will not see the light that you bring, for it is hidden from your eyes

Grandma smiles at her. "The light has not departed from you. Never turn from the knowledge of it, little piece of my heart."

"Oh, let me come to you."

"If you were to come to me, a sliver of light would be absent from the earth. You are sent down into the cold dark world to bring it light, though you are but a reflection. In many times and many places you will not see the light that you bring, for it is hidden from your eyes so that others may receive it."

~ from A CRY OF STONE by Michael O'Brien
Michael O'Brien A Cry Of Stone light Buy on Amazon

The flow to the Spirit will rush in and there will be freedom

If we can be perfectly quiet and perfectly still with no attempt to overcome, destroy, remove, or escape from any situation or condition, the flow to the Spirit will rush in and there will be freedom.

~ Joel Goldsmith
Joel Goldsmith freedom

December 2005 (Vol. XVIII, No. 11)

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

Wishing you a heart full of JOY, dear friends!!

The potential for Holy Joy is ever within us.  While happiness comes in outward, ephemeral moments, deep inner joy can be a lasting gift. For silence is like a garden of gentle joy that grows and radiates out connecting us to one another and, indeed, to the world. Joy is a healing balm that awakens us to our innate wholeness and holiness.  May we each cultivate and activate the seeds of joy gestating in our own unique heart-garden of silence.

Joy is both in the front row and in the bleachers

The further I wake into this life, the more I realize that Love is everywhere and the extraordinary is waiting quietly beneath the skin of all that is ordinary. Light is in both the broken bottle and the diamond, and music is in both the flowing violin and the water dripping from the drainage pipe. Yes, Love is under the porch as well as on the top of the mountain, and JOY is both in the front row and in the bleachers, if we are willing to be where we are.

~ from THE BOOK OF AWAKENING by Mark Nepo
Mark Nepo The Book Of Awakening joy Buy on Amazon

An upwelling of heart-opening joy

When we are able to accept being accepted, able to receive the loving, listening presence of God b oth embodied in others and hidden in their hearts, we experience God as Love, resulting spontaneously in gratitude, praise and joy. I mean an upwelling of heart-breaking, heart-opening thankfulness and joy that such Love could be, that we could be in it, that it could be in us, that we are all in it together.

~ from LISTENBING SPIRITUALITY, Vol. 1 by Patricia Loring
Patricia Loring Listening Spirituality joy

The only true joy on earth

The only true joy on earth is the escape from the prison of our own false selse, and enter by Love into union with the Life who dwells and sings within the essence of every creature and in the core of our own souls.

~ by Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton joy

Joy is our goal

Joy is our goal, our destiny. We cannot know who we are except in joy. Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things can be. Joy is not necessarily what happens when things unfold according to our own plans... Joy demands that we have the audacity to embrtavce the knowledge of just howbeautiful we really are and how infinitely powerful we are right now -- without changing a thing -- through the grace that's consistently born and reborn in us.

~ by Marianne Williamson
Marianne Williamson joy

The practice of joyousness

Practice is everything; you practice to acquire facility in every art; but not one of these will repay you to the extent that the practice of joyousness will.Fall asleep at night, awaken in the morning; in the silence know, "All is joy." Then one day it will begin to work within you; you'll retain that joy as a permanent consciousness. Seek ye the realm of joy -- one of Love's holy attributes!

~ by Cyril Scott
Cyril Scott joy

The joy of discovering that joy exists

Jeremy found joy in the midst of Block 57. He found it during moments of the day where we found only fear. And he found it in such great abundance that when he was present we felt it rise in us. Inexplicable sensation, incredible even, there where we were: joy was going to fill us. Imagine this gift which Jeremy gave us! ... The joy of discovering that joy exists, that it is in us, just exactly as life is, without conditions and which no condition, even the worst, can kill. We did not understand, but we thanked him, time and time again.

~ from AGAINST THE POLLUTION OF THE I by Jacques Lussayran
Jacques Lussayran Against The Pollution Of The I joy Buy on Amazon

Full of you, full of joy

O thou dweller in my heart,
Open it out, purify it, make it bright, beautiful,
Awaken it, prepare it, make it fearless,
Make it a blessing to others,
Rid it of laziness, free it from doubt,
Unite it with all, destroy its bondage,
Let thy peaceful music prevade all its works,
Make my heart fixed on thy holy feet
And make it full of you, full of joy, full of joy,.

~ by Mohandas Gandhi
Mohandas Gandhi joy

The fulness of joy

The fulness of joy is to behold God in all things.

~ by Julian of Norwich
Julian of Norwich joy

Joy and woe are woven fine

Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine,
Under every grief and pine,
Runs a joy with silken twine.
It is right it should be so,
We were made for joy and woe,
And when this we rightly know,
Through the world we safely go.

~ by William Blake
William Blake joy

Joy is the happiness of the soul

Happiness is the joy of the heart;
joy is the happiness of the soul.

~ by Daphne Rose Kingma
Daphne Rose Kingma joy

Joyful are the poor

Listen and I will tell you who are the people open to Joy whom God has blessed. Joyful are the poor, for nothing stands between them and the Realm of Love. Tilled with Joy are the sorrowful, for their souls are made strong through suffering. In Joyful surrender are the humble, for they receive the whole world as a gift. Joyful are they who long for holiness as one longs for food, for they shall enjoy Love's plenty. Joyful are the mercifully judged.Filled with Joy are they who establish peace for they share God's very nature. Joyful are the single-hearted for they know Love.

~ by Dorothy R. Sayers, adapted thanks to Elsa Walberg
Dorothy R. Sayers joy

The uncovering of deeper levels of joy

The spiritual life is the uncovering of deeper and deeper levels of joy until that joy that streams from the God-head itself is realized and known in every breath. Every increase in joy is an increase in strength and peace of soul and an increase in all the powers of creativity that reveal life as a divine dance.

~ from THE MYSTIC VISION by Andrew Harvey and Anne Baring
Anne Baring, Andrew Harvey The Mystic Vision joy

A life of joy is not in seeking happiness

A life of joy is not in seeking happiness, but in experiencing and simply being the circumstances of our life as they are.

~ by Charlotte Joko Beck
Charlotte Joko Beck joy

Just itself must have been the impelling force

I felt first of all joyous. I felt that which joy is made of, and I realized that Joy itself must have been the impelling force, that which was before we were there, and that somehow Joy was in every part of our making. When the world was an ooze without any shape or direction, there must have been Joy reaching out and expressing itself everywhere.

~ from SILENCE AND LIGHT by Louis I. Kahn
Louis I. Kahn Silence And Light joy

Seeing joy where I expect only sadness

I have made a friend who is so deeply connected with God that he can see joy where I expect only sadness. He travels much and meets countless people. When he shares, he tells of the hidden joys he has found: someone who brought him hope and peace, little groups of people who are faithful to each other in the midst of turmoil, the small wonders of Gexhilerating od. At times I realize that I am disappointed because I want to hear "newspaper news," exciti9ng and stories. But he never responds to my need for sensationalism. He keeps saying: "I saw something very small and very beautiful, something that gave me much joy."

~ from RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON by Henri Houwen
Henri Nouwen Return Of The Prodigal Son joy Buy on Amazon

The perfectest herald of joy

Silence is the perfectest herald of joy.

~ by Shakespeare
Shakespeare joy

Tasting the peace of paradise

If we want to live like a feather on the Wind, we must strive at least once a day to taste the peace of paradise that dwells within us. We need to find some time each day to sit quietly in peace, in stillness, savoring the mystery of God within us. Such silent sitting will not only prepare us to find "eternal rest" at the time of our death; it will help us find infinite peace in the midst of the problems of life.

~ from FEATHERS ON THE WIND by Edward Hays
Edward Hays Feathers On The Wind peace Buy on Amazon

November 2005 (Vol. XVIII, No. 10)

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

Blessings in and of the Silence, dear friends!

In silence and solitude you will come to meet the Beloved of your heart. For Silence is power, the power of the Divine Lover blesswing and, in the depths, transformin gyou. Seek always the Eternal Flame ever shining in your heart. And let yourself be nourished and refreshed in the Silence.

Silence is a work in progress

We are all joined in the holiness of the mind that God created. I therefore never consider myself alone in the silence. I'm 90 and live alone in a four room house surrounded by open space. I have no T and have always luxuriated in silence. The exterior silence is here. The i8nterior silence is a work in progress.

~ from Hazel, a Friend of Silence
Hazel silence

Let us not speak of silence

Friends,
the wise tell us that God abides in silence --
that God speaks in the silent serenity of the heart.
Let us not speak of silence; rather,
let silence speak to us of God.

Together, let us enter through the door of serenity,
the silence of our heart: a heart that is free,
peaceful, quiet and calm, a heart that is one ...
a heart so large and wide it embraces God
of all and the all of God,
the God who in silence speaks all languages,
the God who in silence speaks in all creatures,
the God who in silence speaks one word:
the God who speaks of Love.

~ by John Hammond, thanks to Beth Parfitt
John Hammond silence

Begin each day anchored in stillness

Begin each day anchored in stillness, taking nothing for granted, open to whatever the coming day's gift may be. Listen to the silence for ten minutes or so and realize how filled it is, filled with the breath of God! Su8ch silence wants to draw from you a quiet prayer that leans on that presence and seeks to harken to it throughout the day.

~ from RISE UP WITH A LISTENING HEART by the Monks of New Skete
Monks of New Skete Rise Up With A Listening Heart silence Buy on Amazon

Silence is the indispensable climate for all revelation

Silence is the indispensable climate for all revelation;
noise renders it absolutely impossible.

~ Anonymous
Anonymous silence

In the vessel of silence inner transformation can occur

For sheer adventure, exploring the inner space of the human spirit has to equal the exploration of outer space. Inner space holds a realm of existence not readily apparent when we are in the grip of the strident external world. A powerful launching vehicle for the discovery of the realm within is silence. It is in the vessel of silence that inner transformation can occur.

~ from SITTING STILL by Patricia Hart Clifford
Patricia Hart Clifford Sitting Still silence

Those who practice a watch of silence each day

Those who practice a watch of silence each day find their devotion takes them into ever-deepening realizations of God's immediate presence.

Silent watch periods are momentous opportunities that call for alert, expectant, and reverent participation. They are a foundation for prayer and an altar of awareness in the temple of reception.

They constitute the practice of our realization of God's immediate presence. The high moment of silence is that of consciously realizing God's envelopment.

~ from THIS DAY IS FORTIFIED by Flower A. Newhouse
Flower A. Newhouse This Day Is Fortified silence

Wallowing in the quiet

I sat in the cafeteria alone wallowing in the quiet. I didn't realize how much I missed being silently alone. This place is full of noise. Hard noises and constant noises. Prison is full of people, angry people and people afraid, but always people crowded in rooms and herded like cattle from place to place. I sat down in the cafeteria and closed my eyes and felt God in the silence. I stayed there until they made me leave.

~ by Frank Turner Hollon
Frank Turner Hollon silence

When we are wrapped in silence most profound

Let candles burn, both warm and bright,
Which to our darkness Thou has brought,
When we are wrapped in silence most profound,
May we hear that song most fully raised
From all the Unseen World that lies around
And Thou art by all Thy children praised.

Night and morning, You are by us faithfully
And surely at each newborn day.

~ by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer silence

In a spell of utter silence, there am I

Beside a river, in a spell
Of utter silence, there am I.
Alone I sit within a cell:
The midnight hours are passing by ...
I gaze into the distance, staying
Focused on night's formlessness;
The heart is begging to be praying --
In holy calm, how effortless!
All problems seem so far from me;
The world seem foreign and unreal.
Up in the heavens, You I see;
Within my heart, deep peace I feel.

~ from "In the Midnight Hour" by A. Thaisia
A. Thaisia In The Midnight Hour silence

Silence is listening to love's speech

Listen to Love's speech in God's wondrous,
terrible, gentle, loving, all-embracing
SILENCE.

~ from Catherine de Hueck Doherty
Catherine de Hueck Doherty silence

I would not speak out of fear of silence

With my rent miraculously taken care of, my life went deeply inward. I hardly spoke for over a year. Many visitors came, sat in silence, and left. Sometimes I spoke, but mostly I did not. The unwritten rule seemed to be that I would not speak out of discomfort or fear of silence. I would speak only when I felt that somehow a compassionate word might help someone I was with. Fasting, silence, and reading defined my life for several years... I didn't know if I was giving myself to foolishness or saintliness.

~ from THE INSPIRED HEART by Jerry Wennstrom
Jerry Wennstrom The Inspired Heart silence Buy on Amazon

Silence is the cornerstone of character

What are the fruits of silence?
They are self-control, truth, courage or endurance,
patience, dignity, and reverence.
Silence is the cornerstone of character.

~ by Ohiyesa, Santee Sioux thanks to June Sweeney
Ohiyesa silence

Intimate silences filled with comfort

We are often bombarded by so many extraneous stimuli that it is difficult to pray, much less remain attentive in the silence. I can't help but wonder how many times God has called my name and has caught me in my distraction. Perhaps the sum and substance of our conversations with God are being able to talk together as we would with our closest friend. In any good conversation, there are moments of silence -- intimate silences filled with the comfort of the presence of the other.

~ sent in with thanks to L. H. Doar
L. H. Doar silence

Elected silence

Elected silence,
sing to me.

~ by G. M. Hopkins
G. M. Hopkins silence

Children grow tall in silence

Like trees, children grow tall in silence.

~ Anonymous
Anonymous silence

Be silent about great things

Be silent about great things;
Let them grow inside you.

~ by Baron Freidrich von Hugel
Baron Freidrich von Hugel silence

What then is silence?

"In my family there was much speaking and much silence. The speaking of words flowed from the speaking of our silences."

"What then is silence?"

"It is being. Spoken language and silence are keys."

"Keys to what?"

"To communion."

"What do you mean by communion?"

"At-oneness. each individual IS a word. As you are a word to me. As we are all words for one another."

~ from SOPHIA HOUSE by Michael O’Brien
Michael O'Brien Sophia House silence

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