Daily Meditations Archives - Page 324 of 350

“BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK” (REV 3:2, Part II)

03/06/2013

As our practice deepens we see that thoughts are as porous as screen, porous to their grounding Silence. Realizing this, we are not quite so compelled to react or push away or grasp. Yet the externals of our practice remain basically the same; whenever we are aware that the attention has been stolen, we bring the attention back, whether or not we need to repeat the prayer word. While the externals of our practice are

“BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK” (REV 3:2, Part I)

03/05/2013

“Delve deeply into the Jesus Prayer,” says the Russian monk Theophan. He obviously intends the Jesus Prayer as the prayer word. At an earlier doorway of practice such a statement would have made no sense. We might have recited it, been dedicated to it, been consistent in bringing the attention back, but to “delve deeply into” it would imply that the prayer word had some sort of dimension or depth. This is precisely the sort

The Challenge of the Bible

03/04/2013

There is a necessary and inherent dissonance in many of the texts in the Bible (Jesus calling a woman “a dog” in Mark 7:27). We largely remain unwise if we avoid these conflicts, dilemmas, paradoxes, inconsistencies, or contradictions; and I want to say those contradictions are in the Biblical text itself and presented to you for serious consideration—until you get the point. This is the real meaning of what we call Lectio Divina, or spiritual

Saint Isaac the Syrian: Desperation, Prayer at Night

03/01/2013

Desperation Nothing is so strong as desperation. It knows no defeat at the hand of any, whether on the right hand or the left. When someone has cut off in his mind all hope of life, no one is more daring than he; no foe can face him, no rumors of affliction can weaken his purpose, for every affliction which may come is less than death, for he has resolved to accept death for himself.

LOST AND FOUND

02/28/2013

HE WHO FINDS HIS LIFE WILL LOSE IT, AND HE WHO LOSES HIS LIFE FOR MY SAKE WILL FIND IT. —MATTHEW 10:39 Has it ever struck you that those who most fear to die are the ones who most fear to live? That in running away from death we are running away from life? Think of a man living in an attic, a little hole of a place with no light and little ventilation. He

Heal me, Please. Reveal my Real Self to me.

02/27/2013

Heal me, Please Jesus, what else should I ask from You more than healing? Please release me from the recent illness that is tormenting me. Outside the sun is shining, my God. Life is pulsing. And I am lying down exhausted with a fever and aches waiting for the return of health. I am torturing my own family. They are sick and tired of caring for me in my infirmity. They have high expenses. They

Father Maximos on Spiritual Practice

02/26/2013

“What do you mean by ‘things of this world,’ Father?” Maria asked. “Material possessions, career, success, ideological fixations, everything that steals the heart. The result is one: our passion for God is transformed into the passion for created things of no ultimate and eternal value, be they power, fame, politics, smoking, sex, money, and so on.” “This is the meaning of idolatry,” I added. “We worship our own creations.” “Yes, precisely.” “Is fasting a way

Eucharist as Touchstone

02/25/2013

The hiding place of God, the revelation place of God, is the material world. You don’t have to put spirit and matter together; they have been together ever since the Big Bang, 14.6 billion years ago (see Genesis 1:1-2 and John 1:1-5). You have to get on your knees and recognize this momentous truth as already and always so. The Eucharist offers microcosmic moments of belief, and love of what is cosmically true. It will

The Search for the ‘Place of the Heart’: A Life-Giving Discipline

02/22/2013

Our whole spiritual progress is a ‘search for the place of the heart’. Little by little, the conscious self frees itself from idols, strips away the dead layers and illusions, and ‘descends’, like Psyche holding a lighted lamp, into the dark crypt of the heart. Sanctuary, crypt and tomb become the bridal chamber; the ‘heart-spirit’ is remade in the fire of grace, it trembles with joy, it bursts into flames, the world and humanity are

Zeal

02/21/2013

Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, Abba Joseph, as far as I am able I say my little office, I keep my little fasts, I pray my little prayers, I meditate a little, I live in peace, and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do!” Then Abba Joseph, stood up and stretched his hands toward heaven. His fingers became like ten torches of