February 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 2)

Nan Merrill
Blessings to Friends of Silence with prayers for peace to all peoples on Earth. Ironically, to pray is to go into the desert spaces of our hearts where, in solitude and silence, we can find peace as we commune with the Beloved. Today, when the desert is not silent, Carlo Carretto in LETTERS FROM THE DESERT reminds us that:

Love which must give unity to what is divided

Carlo Carretto | February 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 2)

... the affairs of the world, like those of the stars, are in God's hands -- and therefore in good hands. And yet it is so difficult to have genuine faith in God's action in the affairs of the world. And so, the poor life of our soul goes on, in the light of unreal faith and sentimentalism. Halfway between God and the world there is a confusion of aspirations, contradictions and compromises.

Yet, in the depths of our hearts we know ... it is love which must determine our actions, love which must give unity to what is divided. Love is the synthesis of contemplation and action, the meeting-point between heaven and earth, between God and us ... I have known the satisfaction of unrestrained action, and the joy of the contemplative life in the dazzling peace of the desert, and I repeat St. Augustine's words: 'Love and do as you will.' Don't worry about what you are to do. Concentrate on loving instead. And by loving you will find out what is for you. Loving, you will listen to the Voice. Loving, you will find peace. In the end, Love is the solution to every problem, the motive for all good.

May the day soon come with all peoples of the world will choose to walk in the direction of Love! Amen.

~ from LETTERS FROM THE DESERT by Carlo Carretto

Oh, Lord of the Light

Unknown | February 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 2)

Oh, Lord of the Light,
Lord of the Shining Worlds,
the One Light.
within each One...
the One Light moving
across the face of the Earth...

Awakens souls
in the shadow of illusion,
Awaken love
and forgiveness
in every heart,
Awaken Peace on Earth...

~ Source Unknown

A heart which has burned itself empty

Irina Tweedie | February 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 2)

It is the task of the teacher to set the heart aflame with an unquenchable fire of longing ... and, to keep it burning until it is reduced to ashes. For only a heart which has burned itself empty is capable of love.

~ from THE CHASM OF FIRE by Irina Tweedie

The inextinguishable light

Tito Colliander | February 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 2)

The saints speak of something they call the inextinguishable light. It is a light not of the eye but of the heart that never ceases to walk in purity and clearness. It swiftly leaves the darkness behind, and constantly strives towards the day's height. Its constant quality is to be continually purified. This is the light of eternity that can never go out, and that shines through the veil of time and matter. The saints never say that this light is given to them, but that it is given only to those who have purified their hearts in love for the Lord, on the narrow way which they have freely chosen.

~ from THE WAY OF THE ASCETICS by Tito Colliander

I asked God for strength

Unknown | February 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 2)

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve,
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things,
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy,
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of people,
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I as given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for -- but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men and women, most richly blessed.

~ Prayer of an unknown confederate soldier

Love is love

Edith Stein | February 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 2)

Life is love: love overflowing, that has no limits and that gives itself freely; love that yields mercifully to every need; love that heals the sick and rouses to life what was dead; love that protects, defends, nourishes, teaches, and forms; love that is afflicted with the afflicted and glad with those in joy; that is ready at the service of each one in order to fulfill the plan of the Beloved, in a word: the love of the divine Heart.

~ from ESSAYS ON WOMAN by Edith Stein

We have to be on our guard

Edith Stein | February 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 2)

We have to be on our guard against wanting to judge for ourselves what point we have reached in the way of pure love. Only God knows this. What we recognize of ourselves, also of our faults and failings, is only the illuminated part of the surface. The deep roots are also hidden from us. God, who knows these, can purify them.

~ "Letter 143" by Edith Stein

Love is the beauty of the soul

St. Augustine | February 1991 (Vol. IV, No. 2)

Love comes from within you. When you ask for love from one another, you miss the very source of love. When you give love to another, you find the source of love within you.

Inasmuch as love grows in you, so in you beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.

~ St. Augustine