To Live the Question (Part II) His own personal experience taught Merton that solitude not only deepens our affection for others but also is the place where real community becomes possible. Although Merton himself lived as a monk first in a monastic community and later in a hermitage, it is clear from this and other writings that what really counts for him is not the physical solitude but the solitude of the heart. Without the
By slowly converting our loneliness into a deep solitude, we create that precious space where we can discover the voice telling us about our inner necessity-that is, our vocation. Unless our questions, problems and concerns are tested and matured in solitude, it is not realistic to expect answers that are really our own. How many people can claim their ideas, opinions and viewpoints as their own? Sometimes intellectual conversations boil down to the capacity to
Becoming a Missionary without Speaking “My dear man I am envious of you, I envy you. You can become the greatest missionary in the Monastery without speaking at all. You will pray for everyone in silence. You will pray for the whole Church, for the clergy, and for the Monks. Our Church is undergoing a crisis today. “Above all pray for your spiritual family.” “Leave your heart completely open to Christ, filled with love, and
By Father Stelyios S. Muksuris Perhaps I am preaching to the choir when I say that the older I become, the more I come to see that our world is full of paradoxes. Contradictions of all sorts abound in our lives — between individuals and their behavior, among ideologies and political systems, and so forth. I need not rattle off specific examples to prove my point. With age, we want to believe, comes wisdom and
In the same way as the early Church, the desert Christians were deeply committed to Jesus’ teachings and lived practice. Their chosen solitude and silence was not anti-social but a way to become better at seeing clearly and at loving deeply. Withdrawal was only for the sake of deeper encounter and presence. Diana Butler Bass describes the natural flow from solitude to prayer to active love: “[Jesus’ invitation to] ‘Come follow me’ was intimately bound
The desert tradition offers a rich teaching of surrender, through contemplation, to the wonderful and always too-much mystery of God. The desert fathers and mothers are like the Zen Buddhist monks of Christianity; their sayings are often like koans that cannot be understood with the rational, logical mind. The desert mystics focused much more on the how than the what. Note that this is very different from the primary emphasis of Christianity in recent centuries–the
A woman whose husband was an alcoholic had feelings of hatred toward him; she even thought of killing him. She accused herself of being thoroughly evil for even thinking such things. This happens to many people who blame themselves for their negative thoughts. The monks are more compassionate on this score. They say that the thought isn’t evil; it has a meaning. I just have to find the strength that lies within it. In the
The prayer then turns us to four key virtues Christians should struggle to attain. During Lent, we are to intensify our efforts to acquire them: humility, chastity, patience, and love. HUMILITY IF PRIDE IS, as all Christian teachers have believed, the ultimate spiritual sin that blinds us to our own sins and shortcomings, then humility is the virtue that sees things as they really are. Therefore, it is only when we humble ourselves that we
By Katherine Johnson Tremendous power lies hidden in the smallness of a single word. Seemingly insignificant, a word holds within itself the power to encourage or to unleash the demon of despair. All of creation came into being by the Word. It seems God’s creative example holds within itself the greatest model for the human tongue. I suppose that’s why I find myself in a constant struggle with my words. As an Orthodox writer I
Knowing the commandments of the Lord, let this be our way of life: let us feed the hungry, let us give the thirsty drink, let us clothe the naked, let us welcome strangers, let us visit those in prison and the sick. Then the Judge of all the earth will say even to us, “Come, O blessed of My Father; inherit the Kingdom prepared for you.” (Doxastikon of the Lity, Vespers of Meatfare Sunday) ANOTHER
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