“I began to see photography as a way to slow down and gaze deeply, noticing things I missed in my rushed life. For me, the camera provided an encounter with the eternal moment — that place in which I was able to suddenly become so present to what I was gazing upon that I lost track of time, allowing eternity to break in.”
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice
Take five minutes today to slow down and gaze prayerfully upon the world.
To register for the self-study companion retreat to the book with extra resources and guidance, click here. Use code HEART20 to take 20% off through May 31st.
A theology of weakness is a theology that shows a God weeping for the human race entangled in its power games and angry that these same power games are so greedily used by so-called religious people. Indeed, a theology of weakness is a theology that shows how God unmasks the power games of the world and the church by entering into history in complete powerlessness. But a theology of weakness wants, ultimately, to show that God offers us, human beings, the divine power to walk on the earth confidently with heads erect. — Finding My Way Home: Pathways to Life and the Spirit
Last evening I was trying to count all the deer that were up at the other end of the field from where I was … I counted at least five of them. It is wonderful to have wild animals for neighbors, and it is a shame that people can’t think of anything better than to go and shoot them.
The lesson of that is that we Americans ought to love our land, our forests, our plains, and we ought to do everything we can to preserve it in its richness and beauty, by respect for our natural resources, for water, for land, for wild life. We need men and women of the rising generation to dedicate themselves to this. — from a letter from Thomas Merton to Jim Forest (January 7, 1964) / The Road to Joy: Letters to New & Old Friends, p. 330
We all reflect God’s love in different ways. Together we are like a mosaic. In a mosaic one stone is bright, another stone is gold, another stone is small. If we look at it closely we can admire the beauty of each stone, but if we step back from it, we can see that all the little stones reveal a beautiful picture and tell a story that none of the stones can tell by itself. Together the different stones reflect the face of God to the world. — Following Jesus: Finding Our Way Home in an Age of Anxiety
We must be wary of ourselves when the worst that is in [humankind] becomes objectified in society, approved, acclaimed and deified, when hatred becomes patriotism and murder a holy duty, when spying and delation are called love of truth and the stool pigeon is a public benefactor, when the gnawing and prurient resentments of frustrated bureaucrats become the conscience of the people and the gangster is enthroned in power, then we must fear the voice of our own heart, even when it denounces them. For are we not all not tainted with the same poison? — Emblems of a Season of Fury (A Letter to Pablo Antonio Cuadra Concerning Giants), p. 71
Once again, the prophetic voice of Thomas Merton speaks from 1961 to our current situation in this country. May the Lord indeed cleanse our hearts…
“Perhaps this is the truest resistance to empire, the one we must first cultivate within ourselves—to choose vulnerability over violence, peace over power, love over fear.”
—Kat Armas, Liturgies for Resisting Empire: Seeking Community, Belonging, and Peace in a Dehumanizing World our Lift Every Voice Book Club selection for March and April
What within yourself needs dismantling to make space to become whole?
Read or view our conversation with the author here.
Verse of the day
We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed.
– 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Voice of the day
Don’t ever be surprised to see a rose shoulder up among the ruins of the house: This is how we survived.
– Mosab Abu Toha, “A Rose Shoulders Up”
Prayer of the day
Christ our cornerstone, if we are forced to start anew, make a new way from the remnants of what is lost.
“Ultimately your heart is the inner temenos and sanctuary space. It is where the ancient mystics tell us the spark of the divine dwells. It is where we can retreat to and savor the experience of being, of being held, of being met exactly as we are.”
—Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Birthing the Holy: Wisdom from Mary to Nurture Creativity and Renewal
What do you savor in the deepest sanctuary space of your heart?
To register for the self-study, companion retreat to the book with extra resources and guidance, click here.
A culture of encounter and dialogue, marked by wisdom, insight, and breadth of vision, is essential for building a more just and fraternal world. — Against War: Building a Culture of Peace, p. 49
No one can be indifferent to the pain of millions of men and women whose sufferings trouble our consciences today. No one can turn a deaf ear to the plea of our brothers and sisters in need. No one can turn a blind eye to the ruin caused by a culture incapable of dialogue. I ask you to join in praying each day for the conversion of hearts and for the triumph of a culture of life, reconciliation, and fraternity: a fraternity that can recognize and respect diversity in the quest for a common destiny. — Against War: Building a Culture of Peace, p. 43
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 