Taste and See

Psalm 34 says Taste and see how good the Lord is; blessed the one who takes refuge in him.

Both tasting and seeing are used figuratively, of course, but imply good emotions brought on by taking hold, as it were, of the Lord. Our challenge is-to make God so real, we are able to have that tangible relationship with him. Impossible? No. Just demanding.

This physical relish of God is the expected result of constant seeking. It is the realm of the mystic. It is possible for any christian.

Taste and see. Taste and see, the goodness of the Lord. I've always loved that hymn. Perhaps its because I believe it possible.

Standing on the rock of Hope

Hope, writes Emily Dickinson, is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all. (from Poems of Inspiration and Comfort)

Each of us could define how we perceive hope. Few, I suspect, would look at it the way Emily Dickinson does. But I do like the image. Hope as light as a bird, flitting about in the breeze, singing endlessly a song without words as though it had not a care in the world. It makes hope a light that gives life meaning and fills it with joy. And regardless of your faith or lack of it, life is impossible without some form of hope.

And yet, who of us have not felt like the psalmist who cries out, "But you, O Lord...how long?" (Psalm 6:3).

Hope isn't a naive trust that God will only do good to us, or that he will prevent anything bad from affecting us. Hope actually is the ability to question our God, to ask for reasons why, to complain and even demand answers when we feel betrayed or let down or suffer. Because hope knows that God is big enough to understand our frustration, and he wants us to ask, even in annoyance or anger. He stands ready to give us an answer. Maybe not in our time frame, but in good time. And that is hope. Not endless optimism, expecting that if we believe, our life will be without difficulty.  Hope is rather that ability to stand strong, come what may, and know that our God is there for us. In that, I would image hope more like the rock jutting out of the shoreline, withstanding the crash of waves, whether it be gentle tides or raging storms.

And therefore I would re-write Dickinson's poem to go thus:  Hope is that rock buried deep within the soul, that bears our cries and mourning's loud, and never fails to hold.

Do you think she will mind?

Go Deep Within

Go deep within yourself, where you can find the life of your soul.  It's important, because it is there that the engine of your life operates. When it's working fine, you are enthusiastic, energetic, full of life. And when its bogged down, so are you.  It's in our soul that God reigns, albeit sometimes in secret. Getting in touch with the soul part of our being is what gives us direction and satisfaction in life.

In his book, Care of the Soul, Thomas Moore writes Most of us bring to everyday life a somewhat naive psychological attitude in our expectations that our lives and relationships will be simple. Love of the soul asks for some appreciation for its complexity.

That appreciate starts with meditation, quiet, and silence, to get in touch with our soulness. If you can sit quietly without the pressures of life distracting you, even for 10 minutes, you can get in touch with the deepest part of yourself. And in so doing, you can find the God within.

Dreaming your dream

Joseph of the Old Testament was a dreamer. It predicted his future. Joseph of the New Testament dreamed as well. His dreams gave him answers. Dominic Guzman dreamed too, wild dreams about founding a new Order that would be both monastic and active. How crazy was that? Yet Dominicans have existed over 800 years. Some dream.

Hans Selye is quoted as saying realistic people with practical aims are rarely as realistic and practical in the long run of things as the dreamers who pursue their dreams.

If the Gospels teach us anything, it is to believe. And part of believing come through dreaming...of what could be, of what we are meant to be, of where life can take us. Dreams can be the doorways to wonderful changes in our lives, to great events, to important changes. What they hold for us depends on how we deal with them. Do we look at the future in unrealistic ways? Do we look at it through our present down to earth situation? Do we take steps that bring us closer to realizing our dreams?  For a dream to become real, we must really believe in it.

Living water flowing out from within.

Jn 7: 37-38 says If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me; whoever believes in me, let him drink. Streams of living water shall flow out from within...

We can see that our spirituality is not for us alone. If properly attended to, it will flow out from within where it has been nurtured and fed, to spill out for others around us.

It is this concept that gave early monastics their confidence that their lives of prayer were powerful and fruitful for the world. Living in silence and solitude, they offered little to the world of activity. Yet, their lives were considered powerful.

Today, it is harder to convince others of the power of a life of prayer. Today, action and works dominate our culture, so much so that monastic life is seen as introspective and selfish. The attitude is, if we are not DOING something, than what use is our lives?

Yet, from Jesus words, we see that power does not come from works, but from willing abandonment to his will and his words.

I once was told the only person I had control over, the only person I could change, was myself. This concept is part and parcel of the monastic life. You live with yourself in an intimate way. Devoid of the usual distractions of job, family, home, you have to face yourself day after day, live with those glaring faults, come to grips with your bad points as well as your good points. Go forward even when all seems dark. If you give yourself over to the life, you do become transformed into a better person. And how better to change the world than to begin with oneself.

Then, too, you learn how to become deeply spiritual, and communicate with God through a real relationship with Someone neither tangible or containable. In effect, even as you change, you find the presence of God, or better put, the more acute awareness of the presence of God, transforms you whole being.

Never underestimate the good you have the power to do just by living your life of prayer and meditation. And though monastics have the medium for such a life of prayer, they do not hold exclusive rights to contemplation. If you have been baptized in Christ, you have the power to let living waters flow from you into the world around you.

The Greatest of the Prophets

John the Baptist. Radical, counter-cultural, wild. Such is the image Scripture gives us. John declared he was preparing the way for the Christ. If John's preparation was correct and timely, how does it affect us down the centuries?

Hans Urs Von Balthasar writes John was aware of his personal vocation as he grew up, and it is out of his awareness of having been called that he discovered his ineluctable symbol--baptizing in the River Jordan...

We are all called to some task destined for us, for me, and no one else. John learned his destiny through a life dedicated and directed toward his God. His vocation was unique, but his calling was not. Our very restlessness speaks to this issue, of having a destiny yet unfulfilled. Why are we waiting? Is it fear of the risk? Or perhaps we have yet to believe that discernment requires a willingness to fail.  John lost his head for speaking out in truth. What could possible be worse than that? And yet, John became the greatest of the prophets born of women.

Encountering ourselves in Truth

When Jesus said to seek the truth and the truth will set you free, he wasn't just talking about the Absolute Truth-God. He also meant the truth in our daily lives, often demonstrated in our relationships.To develop any kind of meaningful relationship requires an honesty and forthrightness that challenges our personal conceptions, and calls us to seek the truth about ourselves and our frailty.

Robert Wicks in Seeds of Sensitivity writes it's not so easy for me to have such truthful eyes. I guess it isn't for anyone who wants to be an honest, vulnerable healer in concrete situations rather than a person of love in the abstract sense. Abstract love never involves risk or failure, just good wishes and a rich imagination. Still, love in the concrete often is not pretty but its results are wonderful if we are willing to take the chance to encounter ourselves honestly as we open ourselves to others in ways in which we are willing to follow through on our promises and commitments. (81)

Strange how our encounter with someone else can only be as deep and meaningful as our willingness to encounter ourselves in truth. Our relationship with God is similar. We can only know him through truthful knowledge of ourselves.

We have heard that God is with you.

The scripture reading for Office of Readings for today is from Zechariah. I was particularly struck by the closing words of chapter 8. After telling the people of Judah of his protection, God, through the prophet, tells them ten men of every nationality, speaking different tongues, shall take hold, yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."

I would like that to happen to me...that I could so radiate the peace and love of Christ that people would come up to me and say, "Tell me what it is that makes you different. We can tell you have a power and tranquillity in your life that is unexplainable. Share your secret with us, for we too want to experience this peace." 

John Eudes Banberger writes the simplest realities frequently conceal the most mysterious of truths under cover of words...words that point to realities that lie beyond our ability sharply to define them. (CSQ 45:1) Maybe this is why we think of Jesus as "The Word". He, though his life, revealed the mysterious truths about life. He drew people, not so much by what he said, but by how he lived. Jesus literally had people clutching the hem of his garment in an effort to get close to him. And that flesh they sought was truly Word.

So what does all that mean for us? That our search for the truth about God isn't just for ourselves. No matter how many or how few people we touch, there are souls waiting for someone to help them find the way. They are looking for that sign, that person, that Word made flesh who is already on the road, and who can help them find their own way as well.

Stirring of the Soul

The eyes of all look hopefully to you, O Lord, says psalm 144:15. It would rather seem obvious few look to the Lord, in hope or any other way. We are taught that loving God requires faith, perseverance, trust. That to truly serve the Lord, we must work, and work hard.

Yet, Bernard Bro, OP agrees with the psalmist. He writes God calls us gradually, from one level to the next. He attracts us in some mysterious way. We become aware of it after it is done. In a sense, every time we seek good, we seek God, whether we are aware of it or not. When you consider how many people you know who seek to do what is right and good, it is encouraging to think, they are seeking God too.

Bro writes further But it is often very simple: our conscience is stirred...God arouses us, stirs us up, but we are aways free to prefer something else and not pay attention. It is the common error-we expect service to God to be painful, or difficult, or something esoteric. Daily living-no. And yet, Bro says, YES! Living out our daily life is a way of serving and loving God.

What is our problem? We find it hard to accept that God is closer to us that we realize.

Mysticism and religion

In his article, "Dry Bones: Why Religion Can't live without Mysticism" (Commonweal Feb. 26, 2010) Professor Luke Johnson makes some interesting statements. He declares that Christian mysticism that finds no center in the Eucharist or the Passion of Christ drifts into a form of self-grooming. This is a strong statement for our very spiritual times, a time when religion is seen as something stagnant and repressive, and spirituality as something freeing, uplifting, soul-stirring. Both spiritual people and religious people seek some form of mysticism. If they didn't, they would cease seeking God at all, for all seeking of the Diving springs from desires to become a mystical being.

Today more than ever, spirituality is seen as the "way to go" you might say. No church authorities to contend with, no power struggles to frustrate, no rules or laws to inhibit. That in itself seems freeing.  But Johnson believes such freedoms also lose the essence of what it means to be mystical. Mystics, properly speaking, are one with the community of believers, sharing the public practice of prayer, the study of sacred texts, and the deeds of charity. It is not by discarding these customs that they find deep spiritual being, but by moving beyond these acts, that they come to swim freely and dive deeply in an ocean bounded by public profession and practice.

Mystics show all of us that religion is not an evil to be avoided, but a springboard that can propel us far higher into the spiritual world. We are only tied down by religion if we live solely by its rules and obligations, and do not drink deeply from its spiritual waters. We can pierce that seemingly impenetrable wall of structure and come into a wide open space of spirit and truth and love and light and freedom.

Mysticism is like a sport. You don't enjoy it fully until you've given yourself enough time to learn, practice, and play. It means learning to be still, to find God within, to go beyond prescription and custom to experience and enlightenment. As with sports, the process can be painful; dark nights, doubts, insecurity. But if one pushes on, pushes the envelope, pushes through, not against, religion, you will find that wonderful light that is the reward of a constant faith.

Living the Mystery

We want answers. All of us. And yet, answers are not always readily available. They are not even always good for us. Sometimes, we must be content just to live out the mystery itself.

Answers represent what is tangible in life. It was kinda what the Israelites wanted from Moses when they asked him to give them food in the desert. But even when they were given manna from heaven, they were still discontented. The tangible didn’t satisfy, at least, not for long. They wanted more, different, new.

Life is a mystery. Sometimes searching for answers leads us to dig deeper and question more, and find truth, light and hope. But there is a dark side to questioning as well, one that leads to frustration and anxiety, even losing faith. There are some incidents in life for which we have no answer. These incidents perplex, even anger us. But those are times we should sit before God holding out our empty hands, realizing our humanness means limitations, even on understanding.

If answers offered solutions to life, than when Jesus came, he would have given them to us. But Jesus didn’t say, “I am the answer.” He said, “I am the Way.” The truth about life is, it is a journey, sometimes joyous beyond measure, sometimes painful beyond belief. And as we struggle to find our way, we need to be reminded that we don’t always need to know the answer to the question "why"; just as we cannot expect to always see life's journey clearly. Both are part and parcel of this mortal life of ours. The journey is itself a mystery full of twists and turns, light and darkness, faith and doubt. Our challenge is not to know why, but to hang in there for the long run.

Nature vs. Image

Yesterday's post was incomplete, and therefore liable and open to misunderstanding. It was not meant to be denouncing nature, or those who find God in nature. It was only meant to remind that as wonderful as nature is, the human person is still more wonderful because of its possession of the imprint of God, the very image of God, upon the soul.

In attempting to highlight the wondrous image of God upon the soul, Gregory of Nyssa goes to great length to explain how such an image can be found only in humankind. It is not to be found in any other created thing. He says The fact of being created in the image of God means that humanity right from the moment of creation was endowed with a royal character...The godhead is wisdom and logos [reason, meaning]; in yourself too you see intelligence and thought, images of the original intelligence and thought...the divine Creator has drawn this feature on our faces too. (PG 44,126-7)

It isn't that we can't find God's handiwork in creation and be inspired. If that were not so, monasteries would not seek places of quiet nature to complement their own spirit of solitude and silence. Nature is powerful, and can help us to understand God. There are many who see in nature God's own wondrous cathedral. It's the wondrousness of nature that can help us better understand our own soul; that we possess within ourselves a treasure even greater than the soaring mountains or the splendid sea coasts. Gregory is reminding us to also look within, and see that image of God, right there on our soul.

God's Image

Often I have heard people say that they don’t need to go to church to find God, they can find him in the woods, or on the beach, or wherever they want. This is true, we should be able to find God wherever we are. Yet, we cannot ignore the truth of the words of Gregory of Nyssa, who says The sky is not an image of God, nor is the moon, nor the sun, nor the beauty of the stars, nor anything of what can be seen in creation. (Second Homily on the Songs of Songs, PG 44, 765)

Though all creation shows the beauty of God, it is not made in God’s image. Gregory goes on to say You alone have been made the image of the Reality that transcends all understanding, the likeness of imperishable beauty, the imprint of true divinity, the recipient of beatitude, the seal of the true light.

Try as you might, you will not find God’s image within nature, for nature had not been endowed with it. It can lift up your spirit, inspire you to song or poem, allow you a freedom rarely found anywhere else. But it cannot tell you who God is. Why? Because to find God, you must start with his image.

Again, Gregory says When you turn to him you become that which he is himself…there is nothing so great among beings that it can be compared with your greatness…the earth and the sea are enclosed in the hollow of his hand. And although he is so great and holds all creation in the palm of his hand, you are able to hold him, he dwells in you and moves within you without constraint, for he has said “I will live and move among them’ (2 Corinthians 6:16).

Creation is in God’s hands. And God is in us. It’s no wonder Jesus says in Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father. Olivier Clement commenting on the writings of the early Fathers of the Church on this topic writes The Fathers never ceased to glorify this irreducible greatness of humanity, this ‘fathomless depth’ in the human being which is where God is. Humanity is in the image of God because, like God himself, it escapes all definition.

If you only seek God in the natural world around you, you miss the chance of seeing God face to face, within your own soul.

Relationship with God

Olivier Clement writes in The Roots of Christian Mysticism that People never cease to project on to God their individual and collective obsessions, so that they can appropriate and make use of him. (26) And yet the psalmist tell us to come before God, that the Light of your face may shine upon us.

How do we know which position we are in? Are we the best judge of our spiritual progress? But if we are not, then who is? Who knows our relationship with God better than ourselves? It's a good question to ask. I don't pretend to have an answer.

Clement writes further 'In him we live and move and have our being' (Acts 17.28) as St Paul said to the Athenians. But, enclosed as we are within ourselves and also enclosed 'in his hand', we can know him only if he freely establishes with us a relationship in which distance and nearness are made the setting for a Word, of Someone speaking to someone.

Gates of Holiness

Psalm 118 says Open to me the Gates of Holiness, and I will enter and give thanks.


The New American Bible uses the word victory in place of holiness, as though one were synonymous with the other. And perhaps they are; if you are holy or have entered into the place of holiness, then you have gained victory in life.

But what is holiness? A feeling of awe, where you are moved beyond the senses to the realization of an intangible world? Perhaps. But that could be something you ate too.

Holiness is what it implies, a wholeness of self, soul and body, mind and heart. If you enter a place of wholeness, then you enter a place where you are safe enough to face your fears, both those that are rational and irrational. You are in a place where you can speak the truth in love, and where that truth sets you free. You are in possession of a treasure for which you are willing to lose everything else. A place of wholeness is where you see in the mirror your real, authentic self, not somebody else's image or expectation. A place of wholeness invites you to be vulnerable, where getting hurt is not as bad as being dishonest, which always, and I repeat, always hurts others. Where bearing witness to the light is noble and honorable, and standing tall in your own weakness something to admire, as weakness is part and parcel of our human nature.

Enter into the gates that lead to wholeness. There you will find Jesus.

Daily Mysticism

In his book, Seeds of Sensitivity, Robert Wicks writes of the need for daily mysticism. In his opinion, daily mysticism, that is, an awarenss of the continual presence of God, starts with awareness of the natural life we have all around us. This implies giving heed to those we live and work with, and refusing to let unreasonable expectations about ourselves and others rule our lives. Wicks writes:

                                  We can't prevent time from moving along. We can't avoid the natural
                                  presence of expectations--unreasonable and sensible. But we can have
                                  a better sense of identity. This makes living sensitively in the time we
                                  do have a greater possibility. Without it we are like observers, watching
                                  ourselves live, wandering in a "fog." (58)

And so daily mysticism, according to Wick, begins with a better ideal of our own identity. Such identity cannot be found without a certain openness. To see oneself in a mirror of reflection isn't enough. That reflection must also be authentic, and accepted. Such tasks are accomplished when our identity is connected to the presence of God.

Wick gives a list of the obstacles that come to us in this quest. He writes:

                                  Life in general, sad to say, is...preoccupied with control, worry, and
                                  the need to see "purpose" in the things around us, and so we have no
                                 sense of balance in our lives. Our lives are not fed by a fresh spring of
                                 reality. Rather, we live a stagnant existence tethered to our needs, fears,
                                 and desires--much of which are fed by often well-meaning people around
                                 us. (52)

Such obstacles challenge us, because they are the "stuff" of everyone's life. In effect, Wick is telling us that daily mysticism requires that we approach life in a different way, a more reflective way, a more introspective way, a more sensitive way.

Suffering in metanoia

Trials are a part of life. And it is good to accept trials as an opportunity to suffer and prove one's love for Christ. Jesus did say, unless you take up your cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. The only danger comes from making that passivity the only response to troubles. Such an attitude will keep us from learning from our trials.

Each conflict has a lesson to teach us. Sometimes that lesson is: suffer for love of Christ. But there are times when that conflict reveals something about ourselves, something we need to address, change, or remedy. If we look at suffering, conflict, difficulties as just something else to offer up, we will miss the opportunities they offer for change. We need to remember that because we have never "arrived" we should keep our attitude of the necessity of conversion.

Life is a journey, meaning, life brings with it new occasions for renewal, conversion, adaptation, insight. Each struggle we deal with should be plumbed to its very depths to find out what is God's message to us? Is he telling us to move on? Or does he expect a resonse from this experience? Do we need to step up to the plate and stand strong? Or do we need to step back and give someone else some space?

These and similar questions require us to approach our experiences with reflection, discernment and prayer. We can do this only if we remember that conversion, metanoia, is a life long process, one always in season, one always helping us discern our journey.

Blessed in your human condition

If we read the Beatitudes carefully, we see what Jesus considers will make us happy: Blessed are they who mourn; blessed are the lowly; blessed are the poor in spirit. All these attributes can be summed up with; blessed are you in your humanness. Our very cries to be delivered from our weakness should be cries of gratitude for the realization of God's goodness to us. We are blessed not because of some virtue we possess, but because, when we see how very much God can work in our lives through our humanness, we become vessels of God. So we should realize that such frailties are not really limiting unless we stop with them, we keep our eyes on ourselves.

Jesus tells us to lift up our eyes, to recognize the goodness of God, who can do all things. Why should we be blessed to be human when we are seeking the divine? Because the first step to divinity is an openness to God, and realizing our need for God widens the door of our heart, if we take it in the right spirit. So instead of being discouraged, we should be full of joy that we are so human as to depend of God for everything. For he who created all things has no problem redeeming us. He just likes to get credit for it.

Repaying the Lord

For Evening Prayer II on the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, we read psalm 116. As the psalmist speaks of what God has done for him, saved him in time of trouble, protected him in danger, heard his cry, he comes to this wonderful sentence: How can I repay the Lord for all the good done for me? I will raise the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

The concept is wonderfully enlightening. God is good. How do we repay him? By giving our lives to serve him, by offering that life up to him, by calling on his name in confidence. The psalmist does not try to compete with God's goodness. He only tries to accept it by turning even more to the Lord.

Often we are given a spirituality that suggests God has given us much and expects pain and suffering in return as a proof of our gratitude. Yet, we know in scripture that God doesn't seek "sacrifice or oblation", but a heart open to his grace. The difference is in the realization that God doesn't need us; he WANTS us. He is quite sufficient unto himself. He desires our companionship because he is good. We do not add anything to God or Jesus or heaven. But by opening ourselves to God, he adds to our lives, souls, hearts and minds. It isnt' that simple: opening to God requires attention, attitude, simplicity, desire. These are the gifts God looks for.

I will raise the cup of salvation and call on the Lord's name, the psalmist says. This is my gratitude to all the lord has done for me. It should become our mantra.

Sacred Space

A monastery is unique because it offers its members Sacred Space. What is this space? It is a singular solitude and a profound silence kept inviolate. It is like the mother's womb, where life is nurtured in a special way, and the child growing there is protected from all outside dangers.

Sacred Space. It is so precious individuals give up the whole world, meaning, they give up family ties, opportunities for wealth, travel, careers, marriage, intimate relationships, home and generally, they give up living life the way they might prefer to, for the sake of gaining that Sacred Space.

Why such a space? Because it hold a silence so golden one can sense the presence of God. It contains a charity so profound that one is carried along by it to offering selfless acts and generous giving. It offers one a presence so tangible you are drawn out of yourself to dialogue with it. It operates with a rhythm and a harmony so in sync, you find you have the ability to follow through with your resolutions because such harmony offers unique strength.

Sacred Space. For such a place, the Gospels tells us that Jesus often climbed the surrounding mountains in the darkness of the night to pray to his father in secret and solitude, away from his disciples. The Abbas and Ammas of ancient times left the cities teaming with life for the harsh wilderness of the desert. Men and women of every generation have walked through that cloister door precisely because Sacred Space offered to them a better life such as they could find no where else.

Sacred Space. It is truly the treasure hidden in the field, which a person, for want of that treasure, sold all that she had, in order to possess it.

The path to Divinization

Mind and heart. Flesh and spirit. Seen and unseen. Natural and spiritual. It would seem we are always dealing with dualities in this life of ours. Perhaps that is why Jesus gave himself to us in both bread and wine, his body and blood.

St. Thomas tells us that the spiritual food of communion is given to us to make us divine. A mere mortal is capable of divinity! It's no wonder devotion to the Eucharist has spread throughout the church down through the centuries. What greater calling can we have than divinity? Yet, after years of receiving, why are we still so terribly mortal, fallible, sinful?

Divinization requires purification and a total surrender to Jesus. It is not so hard as it is constant. Once we become habitually conscious of Jesus, we enter into a realm of union with him we never dreamt possible. And that is when heaven begins here on earth.

Trusting in the Lord

Lord, save us, we perish! the disciples cried out, according to the Gospels. The story is all the more remarkable because Jesus is sitting right there in the boat with them. So, if they have Jesus in their midst, why all this fear and terror?

This account highlights how Jesus' presence does not take away our own human frailty. Just as certain as the sun will rise, so too will there be times when the pressures of this life will overwhelm us, the immediacy of problems will burden us, the fragility of our own human nature will fail us.

The good news is, that Jesus is far more aware of our frailty, our burdens, and our pressures than we are. He is not surprised when we cry out. For he is there already, before we call, ready to steady our hearts and souls. Our cries actually bring to our own mind the need we have for a Savior. Recognizing that need, now that is good.

Monastic Silence

Silence. It is an essential monastic observance. Monasteries are houses of silence. Why?

Silence makes you deal with yourself, without distractions or interruptions. When you are silent, your thoughts and emotions are more perceptible. You have an opportunity to address those things that need to be changed in yourself, to take stock of your actions, to reflect on your life.

Silence is also necessary to find God. He dwells in the silence of your heart. You can find him in that silence; in fact, it is almost impossible to find him otherwise.

Monastic silence is not a lack of sound; monastic silence is an exterior manifestation of interior reflection, meditation, examine, and prayer.

If you would be a monastic, wherever you are or whatever your life style, you need monastic silence. Be still, without a prayer book open in front of you, or earplugs jammed into your ears, and sit quietly. Learn to listen to that silence. Learn to open your heart to that silence. It takes time. But you reap rich rewards from the lesson, learning to perceive a world that is neither tangible nor common.

Discerning Destiny

Ever think you knew what God's plan was for your life, gone forward with assurance, seen signs of God's approval, had doors opened, wonderful events happen, and then have everything fall apart? That's good. Because such is the stuff of learning discernment.

Discernment is not a sure or hard science. It's an intuition. It is hearing that small whisper within the heart, and translating what it is saying. It is stepping out when you think you understand. But most of all, it is taking a chance at being wrong. You cannot learn discernment without a willingness to make a mistake.

Each baptized individual has the spirit within, through the powerful presence of God that dwells in the soul. Discernment requires an awareness of that spirit, with sensitivity to its inspirations and enlightenment. Discernment is not hearing a voice or seeing a vision; it is recognizing a Way. The first step toward that recognition requires knowledge of our own frailty. Going forward means you are searching, not that you are succeeding. In fact, acknowledging a mistake and turning again to discernment is a sure signal you are learning to listen. Only those who listen carefully can discern better.

Life is a journey. One's path can lead in convoluted directions. Yet, as sure as God is God, each of us has a destiny to fulfill. Precisely because each person's destiny is different, he or she will find fulfillment only through learning careful discernment. Because no one knows where God wants you or what His plans are for you. Only he can tell you that, in the deep recesses of your heart.