Good morning... "When we say to people, 'I will pray for you,' we make a very important commitment," observes Henri Nouwen on page 86 of The Way of the Heart. "The sad thing is that this remark often remains nothing but a well-meant expression of concern. But when we learn to descend with our mind into our heart, [...]
Good morning... "Silence guards the inner heat," writes Nouwen on page 45 in The Way of the Heart. "This inner heat is the life of the Holy Spirit within us. Thus, silence is the discipline by which the inner fire of God is tended and kept alive." Nouwen continues: "Diadochus of Photiki offers us a concrete image: 'When [...]
Good morning... This week the Summer Zoom Study group completed our first book, Henri Nouwen's The Way of The Heart. Thoroughly enjoying this read, we discovered several fascinating, new insights. One nugget of nourishment is found on page 63: "The Desert Fathers did not think of solitude as being alone, but as being alone with God. They did [...]
Good morning... After we shared deeply about the pain she was enduring, one friend prayed for another friend over the phone. Capturing the compassion in my journal, I jotted down many of her vulnerable words. Now in the middle of the night I revisit my notes, piecing together this heartfelt prayer. Dear gracious God, Raw and in process, [...]
Good morning... We meet monthly as a small group of spiritual directors, learning to listen keenly for the movement of God. Practicing a new-to-me way of focusing our attention, yesterday I said, "I would need to repeat this way of listening, regularly, by myself, processing my own experiences and gradually building up my inner resources, before I would [...]
Good morning... In these wee hours I am drawn to a poem, a poem widening a very sacred space in us. ****** The Great Reframe by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer Let this sorrow that has opened me to love be like a frame that has no photo— so I might know how to be this broken open, this tender, [...]
Good morning... Up in the middle of the night, I crafted a message with God. Then some technical glitch clogged up our communications, and, tired, I decided to go back to bed. I hoped things would work more smoothly after waking from my second sleep. Then an interesting thing happened. I was stirred awake by a song. A [...]
Good morning... By 10:00 am last Monday, three innocent 9-year-olds and three loving educators were killed in the safety of their small Christian school, before police put down the 28-years-old suicidal shooter. Then, by 10:00 pm that very same night, forty migrants (most from Guatemala) were left to die in their locked retaining cells as fire ripped through [...]
Good morning... Prayer is what happens when we listen, and wait, beneath words, for the outline of heaven and earth to emerge. —Wayne Muller, “Nourished by Prayer” Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work. When you find me, you [...]
Good morning... In yesterday's post, I revealed a strange truth: "I Feel Like Gumby." Stirred awake by the Spirit in the early morning hours, I stretch wide in prayer to hold the deep needs of many. Interestingly, my elementary drawing of this flexible green Gumby now morphs into a new form of creative expression with God. Through colorful, [...]
