Aligning with Grace

Advent - A Season for Peace (A Repost) I did not set out to write a series of Advent reflections. I write only when I am inspired to do so - and when I get a clear message that somehow something in my heart must be conveyed... And while I know that not everyone that reads this blog comes from the same spiritual or philosophical background - or even the same interests or convictions - I try to convey messages and values that are both timeless and universal, and accessible to all. And so today, I write of peace, because in the last few days, so many messages received have reminded me of its importance... As I mentioned a few days ago, I have been reading the daily reflections on a a site called "Following the Star," and this weeks entries focus on peace. Forty-two years ago today, Thomas Merton, perhaps the most prolific spiritual writer of all time - and most certainly of the 20th century - died accidentally, while attending a monastic conference in Thailand. ...

Silence is a superpower. I bet you never knew that! Neither did I, actually. I was just talking to my dear friend Lisa recently, and we discussed our different strengths. Sometimes we don't really see ours - or at least, they may not be immediately visible to ourselves or to others. My friend and I spoke about how some people come into the world to make a splash, but others affect the world more quietly. Some come in to anchor energy, and by their quiet, and unnoticed contributions, they still manage to make a big difference. Some of us shift energy quietly and gently. Some of us teach. And others listen and learn. But the truth is, we all do this at various times throughout our lives. We are teachers and students to one another over and over again. Some of us are here to be activists. Some of us hold space for others. And a rare few can serve both roles just as skillfully. Lisa described all of these abilities as superpowers that we have and can deploy as...

Recently, a friend suggested placing my intentions in a special container - a prayer box, or jar, or whatever I might find suitable. It is a practice that I've turned to time and time again, but it seemed to once more draw me, in this moment, in our world, where there is so much need on so many levels. I had a prayer jar I have used in the past, but wanted something different, so I re-appropriated a small box with dancing Sufis, or "Rumis," as I like to think of them, which I had gotten in Istanbul. I wrote my intentions, and put them into this box and lit a candle, and sat down to meditate. I have done this many times before. But this time, I added the practice of surrendering my intentions. This does not come easily to me. Yes, like many, I ask for things often. But I also seem to have a roadmap for how things should go - how they should be solved. The notion of asking and surrendering, and trusting that all would be resolved in its own time, in the best possi...

"I need to be silent for a while, worlds are forming in my heart." ~ Meister Eckhart "Let mystery have its place in you; do not be always turning up your whole soil wit the plowshare of self-examination, but leave a little fallow corner in your heart ready for any seed the winds may bring, and reserve a nook of shadow for the passing bird; keep a place in your heart for the unexpected guests, an altar for unknown God." ~ Henri-Frederic Amiel One of the suggested practices that I came across recently for the new year, is to listen for a word that may manifest in your heart as a guiding theme or principle for the year. As I listened on my walk today, the word that came was silence... Actually, everything I've read or come across in the last couple of weeks has served as an invitation to cultivating greater silence... Martin Scorcese's latest movie, now in theaters, is titled "Silence..." The song that shows up on my...

This New Year is calling me to greater Silence... I awaken several times this week, as the first rays of dawn trickle into my bedroom - slyly coaxing me to rouse - beckoning me to meditation and quiet contemplation, and to the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours, in solidarity with monastic communities everywhere... I move about this day - in total Silence... Everything I seem to stumble upon in my reading brings me back to the importance and necessity of Silence in this point and time... From those first rays of dawn to the first inkling of twilight - my day progresses - with its many domestic duties gently unfolding and spilling into each other, in total and simple Silence... I speak not a word, to anyone - save for my prayers, internally voiced, which I lay at the feet of the Divine... It is truly delicious for me in every way! Yes, I feel a call to greater Silence, to Quiet, to drawing more deeply Inward, and to spending less time online with its many distracti...

Recently, I came across these questions posited by Henri Nouwen, who was one of my favorite spiritual writers from the seventies, in addition to Thomas Merton, whose centenary happens to be today. Both of these prolific writers, teachers, priests and mystics, exerted a deep influence on my spirituality. I read and reflected on these questions, finding them to be quite powerful and a useful tool, and so I saved them, because they are truly perennial questions - meant to be asked over and over again - scrutinized, masticated, authentically pondered, and even verbalized out loud, until they become so deeply internalized that they become part of the fabric of our minds, our prayers, our hearts, and our spirituality. I can think of no better questions to ask myself at the end of my day as I take time to review  events experienced and encountered, before drifting off to sleep or finishing my night prayers. As I close out the first month of this still, fairly new year, I commit...

I did not set out to write a series of Advent reflections. I write only when I am inspired to do so - and when I get a clear message that somehow something in my heart must be conveyed... And while I know that not everyone that reads this blog comes from the same spiritual or philosophical background - or even the same interests or convictions - I try to convey messages and values that are both timeless and universal, and accessible to all. And so today, I write of peace, because in the last few days, so many messages received have reminded me of its importance... As I mentioned a few days ago, I have been reading the daily reflections on a a site called "Following the Star," and this weeks entries focus on peace. Forty-two years ago today, Thomas Merton , perhaps the most prolific spiritual writer of all time - and most certainly of the 20th century - died accidentally, while attending a monastic conference in Thailand. Merton was a Trappist Monk, an activist, a poet, a theo...