12 September 2009

Shut up and Know Me

Ok, not the best translation of "Be still and know that I am God." But sometimes perhaps what we should hear. Lately I have been thinking that the somewhat more abrupt phrase is the one we should use.

The desert fathers and mothers got this, Julian of Norwich got it, St. John of the Cross and his friend St. Teresa got it, Frs. Keating, Merton and Hosmer (contemporary monastics) got it, and mayhap we need to. Just be quiet and let God talk or not as God chooses.

I have linked here to a short introduction to one of my own prayer discipline -- Centering Prayer. It is one path to shutting up.



So I shall be quiet for a while. Then in a few days, I may write a bit more about prayer. I think we need, all of us, to do some.

FWIW
jimB

3 comments:

Göran Koch-Swahne said...

Father Matthew is clever! I like his take on things very much. Gospel without Works.

RonF said...

This concept is one that I tried to communicate to 4 young men I took to do their Ordeal this last weekend. It's rather a novel concept to the hyper-connected youth of our area, where to not communicate is to not exist.

JimB said...

Ron,

For me, perhaps because I am a lay mystic, Ordeal was a very spiritual moment. 24 hours of silence is a good thing to undertake from time to time. I hope the Ordeal Candidates learned something from the experience.

FWIW
jimB

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