In prayer we are neither on the one hand dialoguing with an outside source who utters messages from without, nor are we simply talking to ourselves. We are reaching deeply into ourselves and sensing more clearly that we are in God's knowledge and love. We are discovering the Divine within us. We are experiencing ourselves and our lives as uttered by God, and we listen.
~ from PRAYING OUR EXPERIENCES by Joseph F. Schmidt
May BLESSINGS and NEW LIFE come to you as the light begins to penetrate the dark days of winter ... hints of spring can be seen, heard and felt throughout the land ... promise of renewal and rebirth are with us.
GREETINGS and BLESSINGS to you in this new year ... a good time to reflect on where we have been in our hearts and the road we would aim to travel in these coming months ... and, perhaps, the time for a new prayer of the heart.
GREETINGS, dear friends, and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Yes, next month will celebrate five years of this little newsletter being sent out to an ever-growing number of Friends of Silence: from one small contemplative community in the inner city of Detroit to many around the world ... from a few issues being distributed to almost 2700 sent out each month, including a number of Braille copies now available thanks to a friend of silence in prison with a ministry to the blind. Continued gratitude to each one of you who take time in the silence to become a radiation of peace, joy and love for the world!
AUTUMN GREETINGS! Now is the time of the harvest. As the trees burst forth in glory, as the earth yields the fruits of spring promise and summer growth, we are reminded to reflect on the changes that occur in our lives in due season. Wise are those who, like Meister Eckhart, acknowledge and reverence the need for silence and solitude. For,
May the BLESSINGS of inner peace and quiet joy be with you! And may times of silence and solitude invite you to smell the roses ... to listen to the breeze-sound ... to really see the changing seasons. And, as you slow down long enough to quiet the inner voices, you may begin to sense the great beauty of all that has been given for you to share.
