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poverty and simplicity along the way

“Our goal is the renewal of the presently corrupt creation. This makes it clear that the route through the wilderness, the path of our pilgrimage, will involve two things in particular: renunciation on the one hand and rediscovery on the other.” (p. 190)

“The problem is that it is by no means clear what we are to renounce and what we are to rediscover. How can we say ‘No’ to things which seem so much part of life that to reject them appears to us as the rejection of part of God’s good creation? How can we say ‘Yes’ to things which many Christians have seen not as good and right but as dangerous and deluded? How can we (the same old question once more) avoid dualism on the one hand and paganism on the other?” (p. 191)

Wright, Tom. Simply Christian. London: SPCK, 2006.

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silence and awareness

“Silence is not simply about the absence of sound waves. It is concerned with attention and awareness. Silence and awareness are in fact one thing.”

Laird, Martin. A Sunlit Absence : Silence, Awareness, and Contemplation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 44.

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contemplation, koinonia, liturgy

“In our spirituality, then, there is not to be an opposition between ‘liturgy’ on the one hand, and ‘contemplation’ on the other, with the former being merely communal and outward, for beginners, and the latter being solitary and truly mystical, for the advanced, or something like that. Rather, in the one Christian koinonia our contemplative life is also to be eucharistic and liturgical, and our Eucharist and liturgy are also to be contemplative.”

Hale, Robert. “Koinonia: The Privilege of Love.” in Belisle, Peter-Damian, editor. The Privilege of Love: Camaldolese Benedictine Spirituality. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002, p. 102.

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persisting in a community of contemplation

"Once a man has set foot on this way, there is no excuse for abandoning it, for to be actually on the way is to recognize without doubt or hesitation that only the way is fully real and that everything else is deception, except insofar as it may in some secret and hidden manner be connected with ‘the way.’

“Thus, far from wishing to abandon this way, the contemplative seeks only to travel farther and farther along it. This journey without maps leads him into rugged mountainous country where there are often mists and storms and where he is more and more alone. Yet at the same time, ascending the slopes in darkness, feeling more and more keenly his own emptiness, and with the winter wind blowing cruelly through his now tattered garments, he meets at times other travelers on the way, poor pilgrims as he is, and as solitary as he, belonging perhaps to other lands and other traditions. There are of course great differences between them, and yet they have much in common. Indeed, the Western contemplative can say that he feels himself much closer to the Zen monks of ancient Japan than to the busy and impatient men of the West, of his own country, who think in terms of money, power, publicity, machines, business, political advantage, military strategy–who seek, in a word, the triumphant affirmation of their own will, their own power, considered as the end for which they exist. Is not this perhaps the most foolish of all dreams, the most tenacious and damaging of illusions?”

Merton, Thomas. “The Contemplative Life in the Modern World.” (1965) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013, p. 228.

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in suffering

“In suffering, exasperation may get the better of us, but it is important to keep silent by remaining in the presence of God.” Thought 338.

Sarah, Robert Cardinal with Nicolas Diat. The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017, p. 175.

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the false self

"Our basic style is often built around the things that were reinforced for us as children. It usually starts with things that we do well. …

"The problem is not that we do certain things well and have competencies and qualities that make us special. The problem lies in the inordinate investment that we place in this image and way of being.

"At the core of the false self is a desire to preserve an image of our self and a way of relating to the world. This is our personal style–how we think of ourselves and how we want others to see us and think of us. … Typically the trait that we prize is in fact part of who we are. But the truth always is that this trait is simply one among many. We live a lie when we make it the sum of our being.

“Our false self is built on an inordinate attachment to an image of our self that we think makes us special. The problem is the attachment, not having qualities that make us unique. Richard Rohr suggests that the basic question we must ask is whether we are prepared to be other than our image of our self. If not, we will live in bondage to our false self.”

Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2015, p. 70.

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vitally important

“One vitally important aspect of solitude is its intimate dependence on chastity. The virtue of chastity is not the complete renunciation of all sex, but simply the right use of sex.”

Merton, Thomas. New Seeds of Contemplation. Introduction by Sue Monk Kidd. New York: New Directions Books, 2007, ©1961, p. 87.

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from true self to vocation

"The discovery of our true self does not simply produce freedom. It also generates vocation. …

"First, we are called to be human beings. … (p. 87)

"A second level of calling is to be Christians. …

“But we can also think of our calling in terms of our mission in the world, the way of living out our uniqueness within the more general call to become fully human as we follow Jesus toward union with God. Gordon Smith notes that–much bigger than a career, job or occupation–our unique calling will be based on our gifts and abilities, will grow out of our deepest desires, and will always involve some response to the needs of the world.” (p. 88)

Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2015.

The true self is not your vocation, not your life’s purpose. But knowing your true self can reveal your vocation. That’s where your unique mixture of gifts and interests in your unique place and time blossom and bear fruit. Finding the vocation starts with recognizing your core identity as a loved and redeemed child of God.

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God’s schedule

“As we have taught so often, we should not tempt God, that is, we should not determine the when and where and why, or the ways and means and manner in which God should answer our prayer. Rather, we must in all humility bring our petition before him who will certainly do the right thing in accordance with his unsearchable and divine wisdom. But by no means doubt that God hears our prayer, even if it may appear that he does not do so.”

Luther, Martin. “Appeal for Prayer Against the Turks” (1541) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, pages 230-231.

God answers our prayers on God’s own schedule. Not ours. And in God’s own way, not ours. Our schedule for praying should be ‘without ceasing.’ And our way of praying should be believing that God hears us.

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enneagram and core sin

"The assumption behind the Enneagram is that underlying every thing we do is one major temptation that is particular to us. And until we see it for what it is, we will inevitably give in to this temptation and live in bondage to it.

"The core sins identified by the Enneagram are each associated with a core need. The needs are basic human needs, such as a need for love, for security or for perfection. The sin consists in making these something of ultimate value–that is, making them into God.

“Fives need knowledge, long for fulfillment, and are tempted by greed, stinginess and critical detachment. Thomas, the so-called doubting disciple, fits this pattern.”

Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself. Expanded ed. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2015, p. 64.

I/we need to remember that the value of tools like the Enneagram is not that it describes our strong points or valuable assets, but that it points out our weaknesses, our core sin. In this tool the core sin is connected with a need I have (because of my upbringing or whatever). What’s sinful is when I turn that need into something more important to myself than God is. The need – in my case, a need for knowledge – is fine, okay, good, even admirable when met; but it has to be unbent. The need isn’t more important than my relationship with God. Meeting that need can be done in ways that honor the relationship with God or dishonor it. Our choice.

(I also remember one of my Easter season sermons in which I called “Doubting Thomas” the patron saint of scientists and other researchers. He was not so much a doubter. He was just, you could say, using his God-given intellect to gather evidence and then once he had it, he was convinced.)