Posted on by Kurt Bodling

silence and surviving suffering

“In fact, silence can make it possible to survive in the most precarious situations. Tortures, ill treatment, and torments, however diabolical they may be, will start to be calmed by a silence that is directed toward God. In a mysterious but real way, he supports us by suffering with us. He is inseparably united to man in all his tribulations; it is one thing to rebel against God because he remained silent during our sufferings; it is another thing to entrust our suffering to him in silence, to offer it to him so that he might transform it into an instrument of salvation by associating it with Christ’s suffering.”

Sarah, Robert Cardinal with Nicolas Diat. The Power of Silence Against the Dictatorship of Noise. With an Afterword by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Translated by Michael J. Miller. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017. Thought 318. p. 166.

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a hermit’s dark night

“The solitary easily plunges to a cavern of darkness and of phantoms more horrible and more absurd than the most inane set of conventional social images. The suffering he must then face is neither salutary nor noble. It is catastrophic.”

Merton, Thomas. “Notes for a ‘Philosophy of Solitude’.” (1960) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013, p. 72.

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the true self and contemplation

“Aligning contemplative practices with this self-awareness brings about incredible personal liberation. Taking time to pause and create a spirituality marked by solitude, silence, and stillness reminds us who we truly are, in the best sense of our True Self.”

Heuertz, Christopher L. The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2017, p. 181.

When I first copied this note, I titled it “freedom in and from contemplation.” I don’t know now whether I meant ‘from’ as in ‘as a result of’ or as in ‘that protects us against.’ Maybe both senses of ‘from’ work. I mean, we don’t want to just pile on another legalism that demands we do contemplative practice this way or not at all. Where would the Gospel be in that?

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

the fullness of silence

"At first the quiet may feel like just another place of emptiness. We may even feel a sense of dread or fear that we are going to be judged or punished for parts of ourselves we have now brought into the light of day.

“But if we stay in this moment, eventually – like Elijah – we begin to notice that this silence is qualitatively different from the emptiness we experienced before. The silence that comes after the chaos is pregnant with the presence of God.”

Barton, Ruth Haley. Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2004, p. 110.

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the Church paradox

“The biggest paradox about the Church is that she is at the same time essentially traditional and essentially revolutionary. But that is not as much of a paradox as it seems, because Christian tradition, unlike all others, is a living and perpetual revolution.”

Merton, Thomas. New Seeds of Contemplation. Introduction by Sue Monk Kidd. New York: New Directions Books, 2007, ©1961, p. 142.

There are so many paradoxes (or apparent paradoxes) in the spiritual life. This is just one more: the Church – that is, Christianity – is traditional and revolutionary. It is liberal and conservative. It is active and contemplative. And it is one.

Posted on by Kurt Bodling

being Christian

“We who want to be God’s must be devout and holy so that God may not suffer because of our sin. If we won’t lead pious lives, he will punish us terribly and make us suffer for our sin. If we do not want to think of him as a God whom we must obey, then he, in turn, will not think of us as his people whom he must help and save.”

Luther, Martin. “Appeal for Prayer Against the Turks” (1541) Luther’s Works Vol. 43. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, page 234.

Christianity does bring with it some responsibility on our part. It isn’t a list of dos and don’ts, and isn’t a heavy burden or crushing legal obligation. It’s really more the responsibility to ‘act our part’ as freed, forgiven, loved beings; as people who are freeing, forgiving, and loving. With respect to God that means being devout, holy, pious, and obedient.

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when God thwarts our will

“God’s only purpose in thwarting our good will is to make of it a better will. And this is done when it subordinates itself to and conforms to the divine will (by which it is hindered), until the point is reached when man is entirely unfettered by his own will, delivered from his own will, and knows nothing except that he waits upon the will of God.”

Luther, Martin. “An Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer for Simple Laymen” (1519) Luther’s Works Vol. 42. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, page 47.

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spiritual dry spells

“Be content to remain in loneliness and isolation, dryness and anguish, waiting upon God in darkness. Your inarticulate longing for Him in the night of suffering will be your most eloquent prayer.”

Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. NY: HarperOne, 2003, p. 103. (NOTE: the text belongs to 1959!)

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living our lives

“The solution of the problem of life is life itself. Life is not attained by reasoning and analysis, but first of all by living. For until we have begun to live our prudence has no material to work on. And until we have begun to fail we have no way of working out our success.”

Merton, Thomas. Thoughts in Solitude. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1958. (pbk ed 1999), p. 74.

In a kind of spiritual “just do it” Merton warns those who are forever preparing, forever waiting for the right moment, forever hanging back until they think all the pieces are finally in place. The only way to be prepared, to actuate the moment, to see that the pieces are in place, is to let God worry about all that kind of stuff. Just step out in faith that God will indeed take care of both the big picture and the details.

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the entry point

“The doorway into the silent land is a wound. Silence lays bare this wound. We do not journey far along the spiritual path before we get some sense of the wound of the human condition, and this is precisely why not a few abandon a contemplative practice like meditation as soon as it begins to expose this wound; they move on instead to some spiritual entertainment that will maintain distraction. Perhaps this is why the weak and wounded, who know very well the vulnerability of the human condition, often have an aptitude for discovering silence and can sense the wholeness and healing that ground this wound.”

Laird, Martin. Into the Silent Land : a Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation. NY: Oxford University Press, 200, p. 117.