January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

Anne Strader

NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS, Dear Friends of Silence.  What is your deepest, most heartfelt hope for this year?  No doubt we all have many hopes and wishes as we usher in yet another new year.  It is traditional to make "New Year’s Resolutions" when the year changes, but what if we made a list focused on our hopes for the year instead of making resolutions?  What if we made only one resolution: to dwell in hope?  How might we (and the world!) change if we truly live in hope?  As we sit in silence daily, let’s reflect deeply on our hopes, for the world and for ourselves.  We may be surprised by how it affects our lives and those around us!

Read Email Newsletter
 

Hope looks steadfastly

Morton Kelsey | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

Faith is a gift that comes, the gift of assurance that the powers of light have conquered and will keep on defeating the darkness.  Hope is our own attitude of looking steadfastly toward that victory and trying to order our lives toward it.  Faith and hope are far easier attitudes to live with than despair and disillusionment . . . so I deliberately choose to hope.  Through hope and faith the inner journey has direction and a goal and meditation becomes a process of discovering the reality of Divine Love.

~ from THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE by Morton Kelsey

Hope is what sits by a window

Joan Chittister | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

Hope is what sits by a window and waits for one more dawn, despite the fact that there is not one ounce of proof in tonight's black, black sky that it can possibly come.

~ by Joan Chittister

How could we tire of hope?

Denise Levertov | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

We have only begun
to imagine the fullness of life.
How could we tire of hope?
So much is in the bud.

~ from CANDLES IN BABYLON by Denise Levertov

Pure hope

David Steindl-Rast | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

The hope that is left after all your hopes are gone -- that is pure hope, rooted in the heart.

~ from GRATEFULNESS: THE HEART OF PRAYER by Br. David Steindl-Rast, thanks to Liz Stewart

So simple a thing as hope

Daniel Berrigan | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

The gift we can offer others is so simple a thing as hope.

~ by Daniel Berrigan

Called to communicate a mystery of hope

Br. Roger of Taize | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

Are we not called to communicate
a mystery of hope
to those around us
by the lives we lead?

~ by Br. Roger of Taize, in "Thin Places" September/October/November 2010

Hope is a rest from labors

Hieromonk Damascene | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

The power of love is in hope,
For by it we await the reward of love.
The failing of hope is the disappearance of love.
Hope is a rest from labors in the midst of labors.
Toils depend on it.
Mercy encircles it.
Experiencing the gifts of the Giver of Life engenders hope.
But he who is without experience remains in doubt.

~ from CHRIST THE ETERNAL TAO by Hieromonk Damascene

Hope is the chorus

Sr. Mary Frances Fleischaker | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

Narrow is the boundary
of "now" and "not-yet"
Deep and dark it stretches
like an ancient passageway
no map has ever marked.
One by one we walk it
step by solitary step.
Not hand in hand,
Not side by side,
But sounding the distance with our tears.
Hope is the chorus sounding, "Come!"
Hope is the embrace, waiting to welcome.
Hope is the companion,
In-Between . . .

~ Sr. Mary Frances Fleischaker, thanks to Muriel Benz

Hope is the foundation of the spiritual life

Simone Weil | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

Waiting patiently in hope and expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.

~ by Simone Weil

Hope and silence

Thomas Merton | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

Silence is the strength of our interior life . . . if we fill our lives with silence, then we will live in hope.

~ by Thomas Merton

Hope is the realization of connectedness of all things

Benjamin Creme | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

Hope is the realization of the inner connectedness of all things; of your life and your daily activity with the cosmic scheme of things. The awareness of who you are, that you are the self--that gives you hope. Faith and hope stem from the same inner, intuitive realization of who you are, that you are here for a purpose and that nothing on earth can shake that.

~ from "Maitreya's Mission" Vol. II by Benjamin Crème

Those who live in hope

George Herbert | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

Those who live in hope, dance without music.

~ by George Herbert

Hope is rooted in emptiness

Catherine de Hueck | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

Hope is rooted in emptiness, in poverty, in a waiting that belongs to the pure in heart. Hopeful silence is patient, thirsty, yet withal dynamic, for it desires to become One with God. In this kind of silence of hope lies our strength.

~ by Catherine de Hueck

Hope is what the breath is to our bodies

John R. Claypool | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

Hope is essential for us. What the breath is to our physical bodies, hope is to our human spirits.

~ by John R. Claypool

True hope is rooted in a reality beyond ego

Nan Merrill | January 2012 (Vol. XXV, No. 1)

True hope is rooted in a Reality beyond ego and illusion. Hope that rises in our hearts is like a buoyant bubble of champagne; for some, it brings tears of relief, while others, may sense a new way to the future that will bring healing to us -- personally, communally, nationally, globally -- to all of Creation. Hope recognizes that many challenges await us on the path, obstacles and possible pitfalls that may delay outcome. In hope we are made new; for it is a sure and steadfast anchor of our soul that enters "the inner shrine behind the curtain," where the Divine Guest abides. So, in the Silence, let us embrace Love and dare to hope: the promise for all of Creation.

~ by Nan Merrill