winter

You are prayer

Edward Hays | March 1996 (Vol. IX, No. 3)

You are prayer. You are a special and sacred word of God made flesh. To pronounce your own unique word is to pray the most beautiful -- if not the holiest -- of prayers.

~ Edward Hays

Meditation is not a means to an end

Krishnamurti | March 1996 (Vol. IX, No. 3)
Meditation is not a means to an end; It is both the means and the end.
~ Krishnamurti

Come! Spirit of Love!

Evelyn Underhill | March 1996 (Vol. IX, No. 3)
Come! Spirit of Love! Penetrate and transform us by the action of Your purifying life. May your constant, brooding love bring forth in us more love and all the graces and works of love. Give us grace to remain still under its action, and may that humbles stillness be our prayer. Amen.
~ Evelyn Underhill

O God of wonder and myster

Richard J. Foster | March 1996 (Vol. IX, No. 3)

O God of wonder and mystery, teach me by means of your wondrous, terrible, loving, all embracing silence.

~ from PRAYERS OF THE HEART by Richard J. Foster

Prayer begins in us the restoration of the divine image

Alan Jones | March 1996 (Vol. IX, No. 3)

Prayer begins in us the restoration of the divine image, in all its hiddenness and wonder. It brings us closer to the "region of likeness" and every prayer is an act of letting the old self go. It involves "dying". The grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies. Dead, it is destined to bear much fruit.

~ Alan Jones

The gift of contemplation

John W. Groff, Jr. | March 1996 (Vol. IX, No. 3)

The gift of contemplation is eternally given; it is always there... It is that moment when the ache in my heart becomes so intense that I can no longer bear it. And in that moment, I cry out in my agony to the One I never knew and have always known. It is the moment when the depth of the ache becomes the depth of the knowing, the moment when I know that I am in the Presence of God.

~ from THE SMELL OF INCENSE, THE SOUND OF SILENCE by John W. Groff, Jr.

Love solitude and silence

Jean-Pierre de Caussade | March 1996 (Vol. IX, No. 3)

In order to make it easier to keep your thoughts continually on God in accordance with your wish and your need, this is what you can do. First, love solitude and silence, which greatly help the spirit within, and sacred meditation. Second, choose to read books that are sound spiritually. Pause frequently, trying to appreciate rather than understand or remember them. And third, throughout the day turn to God in prayer about all that takes place... All will be well in time.

~ from THE SPIRITUAL LETTERS OF JEAN-PIERRE de CAUSSADE with thanks to Joyce Lang

Mindfulness is meditation in action

Joan Borysenko | March 1996 (Vol. IX, No. 3)

Mindfulness is meditation in action and involves a "be here now" approach that allows life to unfold without the limitation of pre-judgment. It means being open to an awareness of the moment as it is and to what the moment could hold. It is a relaxed state of attentiveness to both the inner world of thoughts and feelings and the outer world of actions and perceptions.

~ from MINDING THE BODY, MENDING THE MIND by Joan Borysenko

Memo to God

Susan Howatch | March 1996 (Vol. IX, No. 3)

Memo to God: I've been demanding and demanding things from You, often quite rudely, in fact often very rudely, like an ill-bred spoilt child, but I think prayer must have made me better mannered or perhaps it's helped me grow up a little and now I should like to say politely: "thank you very much" -- not just for staying with me no matter how unpleasant I was, but for actually moving closer and surrounding me with people who care.

~ from ABSOLUTE TRUTHS by Susan Howatch
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