Silence – Heather Choate Davis

Word

I, who live by words, am wordless when I try my words in prayer. All language turns To silence. Prayer will take my words and then Reveal their emptiness. The stilled voice learns To hold its peace, to listen with the heart To silence that is joy, is adoration. The self is shattered, all wordsContinue reading “Word”

So Teresa of Avila & Martin Luther walk into a bar….

Two years ago this month, I spent a glorious five days at my favorite Benedictine monastery learning more about a 16th-century Carmelite nun who reformed much of the monastic community of her day by training the women—and then many of the men—in prayer. Not the verbal kind of prayer but the practice of meditation, contemplation,Continue reading “So Teresa of Avila & Martin Luther walk into a bar….”

Silence my soul, these trees are prayers. I ask the tree, “Tell me about God”; then it blossomed. —Rabindranath Tagore

Beyond The Limits of Knowing

Another glorious jolt in my inbox this morning from Richard Rohr’s new series on The Wisdom Tradition. This passage in particular spoke to me. “Alongside all our knowing, accompanying every bit of our knowing, must be the humble “knowing that we do not know.” That’s why the great tradition of prayer is balanced by bothContinue reading “Beyond The Limits of Knowing”

Silent Retreat

As some of you may have noticed, I haven’t written anything for a few weeks. It wasn’t just that I needed a rest——though the rest was nice. It was more that I don’t believe in speaking when I don’t feel I have anything to say. At least not something of value. The trouble is thatContinue reading “Silent Retreat”