Speaking and Humility

"It is not speaking that breaks our silence, but the anxiety to be heard. The words of the proud man impose silence upon all others, so that he alone may be heard. The humble man speaks only in order to be spoken to. The humble man asks nothing but an alms, then waits and listens." -- Thomas Merton in Thoughts in Solitude

Something Interesting from Dr. Markides

"It increasingly became clear to me that the secular assumptions about reality, dominant during my university training, were in fact a grand illusion, a materialist superstition that had kept Western thought stranded and imprisoned for the last three hundred years. It was a destructive superstition that led sensitive Western intellectuals by the droves into existential despair, and in some cases even to suicide and madness. The realization of the phoniness of scientific materialism had a tremendously liberating effect on my mind."

-- Kyriacos Markides, Ph.D. in The Mountain of Silence

Doing Theology

Doing theology is only useful if it can be nailed to the Cross. If it can't be nailed to the Cross, then it's just an intellectual exercise.

Two Theologies

This excerpt from Archimandrite Sophrony couldn't be more accurate. I think it shows graphically how some Christians go astray.

"There are two ways for theology: the one, widely familiar in previous centuries, appertaining to the professional theologian; the other, which means being crucified with Christ, knowing Him in the secret places of the heart. The first of these types is accessible to the majority of the intellectually endowed having a preference for philosophical subjects--genuine belief in the Divinity of Christ expressing itself in a life lived according to the spirit of His commandments is not needed. The second is the theology of the confessors, which is born of a profound fear of God in the firey flames of repentance, leading to existential reality through the appearance of Uncreated Light. Academic theology combined with living faith affords blessed results. But it can easily degenerate into abstract theory, and cease to be what we see in the lives of the Apostles, Prophets, Fathers--the direct action of God in us."
-- Archimandrite Sophrony, On Prayer

Some Thougts on Mission and Learning

"Evangelization is inseparable from professional teaching ever since the Word became flesh. Not even Eternal Wisdom could remain within the theological center of the Trinity, but He became a roaming teacher, and itinerant Instructor. Nature decreed that certain things kept to themsleves spoil. Almost everything in the universe was made to be spent. Wealth hoarded makes it keeper a miser. Learning for the sake of learning makes the student proud. University professors desiccate by never making their knowledge available to those who do not sit at desks. The Logos or Word of God taking a child on His lap will forever remain the misison of education--to share it as wealth must be shared." --Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Mind Weeds

Whenever you're sitting in meditation or contemplative prayer do you allow other thoughts to creep into your head and disturb your focus? That happens to all of us, especially if we're new to contemplative prayer. In Zen practice they call those thoughts Mind Weeds. I rather like that term, so I've stolen it and use it myself to refer to distractions during my spiritual meditation and contemplative prayer times. I like the term because weeds tend to be unwanted visitors in our lawns and we often have trouble getting rid of them. It's the same with Mind Weeds.

O.K., just what are Mind Weeds? Well, as I mentioned above, they're thoughts that disturb your contemplation, but they can also be sounds, or maybe you're starting to daydream. All of these experiences are Mind Weeds. They take you away from the true focus of your contemplation. Dealing with them is rather easy. Just let them come and go. Don't consider them as bothersome, because as soon as you begin thinking about them they have drawn you away from your focus. Pretty soon you'll see this is how the mind learns to settle down and as you practice contemplative prayer you'll find these disturbances come less often.

Whether you're a beginner at contemplative prayer, or have been doing it for some time, another technique to combat Mind Weeds is to use the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner." By focusing on the Jesus Prayer you can calm your mind and soon you'll find that peace that is part of the experience of contemplative prayer. Of course, saying the Jesus Prayer is always a good thing and should itself be a focus of your contemplative prayer life.

So, the next time you're in contemplative prayer and you experience distractions, just know they're Mind Weeds and let them go. It will be as though a pond has been disturbed and all of the muck and mire has settled to the bottom leaving the water clear and peaceful.

Coming and Going

Coming and going can be one of our biggest problems. It keeps us from being quiet and opening our hearts to God. Sometimes we just need to sit....most of the time we just need to sit. Quiet is the key.

More Merton

"We find God in our own being which is the mirror of God. But how do we find our being? Actions are the doors and windows of being. Unless we act we have no way of knowing what we are. And the experience of our existence is impossible without some experience of knowing or some experience of experience. Hence we cannot find the depths of our being by renouncing all activity...But when we act accordint to grace, our actions are not ours alone, they belong to God. If we follow them to their source, we will become at least potentially capable of an experience of God. For His actions in us reveal His being in us.

The whole of life is to spiritualize our activities by humility and faith, to silence our nature by charity."
-- Thomas Merton Thoughts in Solitude