This quote comes from the Merton Institute’s weekly mail that I receive on Mondays. As you can see I’m a Merton fan and the Merton Institute keeps me thinking. Though there is no use in placing our hopes on a totally utopian new world in which everyone is sublimely merciful, we are obliged as Christians … Read more
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem. How often these words are with me and in particular lately. January 7, 1979 was my first visit to Abbey of the Genesee. I wanted to join the community at … Read more
In just six days it’ll be three years since I started blogging. My first post on January 9, 2006 contained this quote from Thomas Merton. My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.Nor do … Read more
True contemplation is the work of a love that transcends all satisfaction and all experience to rest in the night of pure and naked faith. This faith brings us so close to God that it may be said to touch and grasp Him as He is, though in darkness. And the effect of such a … Read more
That is how Thomas Merton describes his ultimate call to solitude. I just got through watching PBS’s Thomas Merton special. I’m glad I found it. I missed much of the program, but what I did see was interesting and informative. I drove to Abbey of the Genesee again today. I completed some of my Christmas … Read more
I owe this quote to Gerry Straub’s blog. I keep coming back to Thomas Merton. Today more than ever we need to recognize that the gift of solitude is not ordered to the acquisition of strange contemplative powers, but first of all to the recovery of one’s deep self, and to the renewal of an … Read more
Sometimes I question whether this is the place I’m supposed to be. I question whether I’m doing what I ought to be. This Merton quote puts some of that in perspective. I too like to listen to the wind and to live in as much silence as possible. Everything about this hermitage simply fills me … Read more
I remember when I used to look for all I could read about meditation. Imagine writing a book about Zen. Zen seems to be the antithesis of definition. When this quote came in today’s mail, it struck a chord with me. Contemplation cannot be taught. It cannot even be clearly explained. It can only be … Read more
Here’s something timely that came in the mail today from a Christian monk who died nearly forty years ago. How would the pundits describe him today? People demand that the government “interfere” in nothing, just pour money into the armament industry and provide a strong police for “security”. But stay out of everything else! No … Read more
Today was one of those lovely October days that invited me to stop at a public park along the Allegany River in the Village of Allegany, New York. I took the picture with my Blackberry Curve and it captures the beauty of my surroundings. I stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts across from St. Bonaventure University and … Read more
