Silence
SCRIPTURE:
“Be still,
and know that I am God.”
— Psalm 46:10
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Find a comfortable space – sit, kneel, or stand –
and simply be in God’s presence.
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Return to: The Monastery Experience
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Of Gulls and Men
I read Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck recently. There’s this terrific moment when one of the main characters, Pilon, has a sacred encounter with sea gulls: “These birds are flying across the forehead of the Father. Dear birds, dear sea gulls, how I love you all. Your slow wings stroke my heart as the hand of a gentle master strokes the full stomach of a sleeping dog, as the hand of Christ stroked the heads of little children. Dear birds,” he thought, “fly to our Lady of Sweet Sorrows with my open heart.” And then he said the loveliest words he knew, “Ave Maria, gratia plena –” There was, nor is, nor ever has been a purer soul than Pilon’s at that moment… A soul washed and saved is a soul doubly in danger, for everything in the world conspires against such a soul. “Even the straws under my knees,” says Saint Augustine, “shout to distract me from prayer.”
No Interpretation Needed?
Are you skeptical about biblical interpretation? Does it seem that someone can just "make it say anything?" Are you one of those who would prefer to just "read it for what it says"? You're not alone. Many are intimidated by the vast amount of study some seem to think reading the Bible requires. Can't I just take the "plain sense" of a text and arrive at what God is trying to say to me?
Thumb Drive: DNA to be used for data backups
If you're like me, you're constantly shifting stuff off of your aging laptop onto a hard drive that you hope will last long enough for the day you'll need to access it. What if you could store data on yourself? Like maybe your forearm, or —forehead? The latest in biotech says that may not be a stretch: A team of Harvard and Johns Hopkins geneticists has developed a new method of DNA encoding that makes it possible to store more digital information than ever before.
STATION: Fire
As you enter this space find a place to still yourself before the throne of God… whether standing, sitting, or kneeling. Flames Consider the candle flame, its warmth, its light. Let this light illuminate your thoughts and this warmth draw out your burdens.
The Return of Faith
Every once in awhile I run across a book that keeps me up late and has me excited to wake up in the morning. Harvey Cox's The Future of Faith is one such book. In the first chapter he notes that contrary to earlier predictions, faith and religion are as vibrant as ever. But things are shifting.