Thomas Merton’s life without care

What does the solitary life mean? It is the same as all monastic life. There is one basic, essential thing in the monastic life and in the Christian life, the thing that we all seek in one way or another, and it is some assurance that it is possible in this kind of life to put … Continue reading Thomas Merton’s life without care →

Training day for spiritual directors

Where is God?

Where is God? “Where is God in all this?” I am running a training day for spiritual directors entitled, “Where is God in all this?” It is being hosted at the London Centre for Spiritual Direction, as part of their Developing Direction programme. Here is the blurb: “Where is God in all this?” is a … Continue reading Training day for spiritual directors →

An affirming source (6): Empowered

[See Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, inter-mission, & 5] Spiritual direction relocates authority from out there to in here. It’s about an authority that emerges from yielding not to an alien will but an affirming source … [We] are empowered, emancipated, to use the transforming energy we can exercise by acknowledging our dependence upon an unconditional source of affirmation.Rowan Williams: … Continue reading An affirming source (6): Empowered →

An affirming source (5): Relationship

[See Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, & inter-mission] Our human identity therefore becomes one in which we both acknowledge in prayer this dependence [upon God] and respond to the gift that sets up not only our being but our renewed being in Christ; and in acknowledging that dependence we are empowered to ‘do the work … Continue reading An affirming source (5): Relationship →

An affirming source: Inter-mission

[See Parts 1, 2, 3, & 4] If people destroy something irreplaceable made by mankind, they are called vandals;if they destroy something irreplaceable make by God they are called developers.Joseph Wood Krutch (quoted in David R Loy, Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis, p. 16) You may be wondering why I am banging on … Continue reading An affirming source: Inter-mission →