Soul Searching - The Journey of Thomas Merton
Alan Creech went to the first showing of Soul Searching, The Journey of Thomas Merton.
When your tongue is silent, you can rest in the silence of the forest. When your imagination is silent, the forest speaks to you, tells you of its unreality and of the Reality of God. But when your mind is silent, then the forest suddenly becomes magnificently real and blazes transparently with the Reality of God. For now I know that the Creation, which first seems to reveal Him in concepts, then seems to hide Him by the same concepts, finally is revealed in Him, in the Holy Spirit. And we who are in God find ourselves united in Him with all that springs from Him. This is prayer, and this is Glory!(From Bryan Sherwood's Blog)
Morgan Atkinson website.
posted by Dan Phillips @ 7:29 PM
13 comments
13 Comments:
....we all are on journey...
each one has his or her own path,
all to seek Him Whom the soul loves.
in silence, the words will come...
deep within, the soul shall seek Him...
in the beauty of His works
the soul shall rejoice even now...
"Where are you going?" they said.
"To Him Who has already found me."
Union with Him shall be not like any other joining...
I know not the reality
but I SHALL...
I shall not understand unless He expands my heart...I trust He shall do just that...
To rest in Him
To bring Him silence, not words endless
Stillness in His Presence
Nothing needs the utterance
In the sacred union
that He invites us to.
There is no need for
endless 'composing'
What the soul would sing
is already known by Him.
To abide in the glory that is God..
To be still in the sacred ultimate..
To find the greatest joy
To be thrill forever..
Is beyond us in this
life BUT promised in the next. He will not fail.......
The Long Road.......I walked slowly for I was tired. The road was long ahead and to hurry seemed pointless. Weary and all alone....so I thought. What a difference when He joined me... lighter my heart, shorter the route it seemed, full not empty as before,joyful silence, not bored emptyness. What a difference Your Companionship makes! Walk Thou with me...the whole way!
....silence of the tongue leads to a sacred silence of the interior...when we have found the sacred stillness, THEN the door is open for our hearts to truly welcome Him and embrace all that He embraces...this is only the very beginning.....
...in the silence of solitude, the heart can 'shout' to God...nothing will be in the way...in the no word prayer, we let HIM compose the prayer...we gladly give our Amen...to pull away from all the junk and stuff of life is a prayer in itself...it speaks to God in it's own manner...'Come' He says....'Yes, certainly' we reply.'.....
...be still, the Angel said..
come in utter silence..
come with awe..
come to be in union.
No words are needed, the Angel said.
He shall 'hear' the heart.
Feel the joy of solitude with Him.
You are so blessed to know this
and to understand....your emptyness draws His fullness to you!
...how to find Him when you do not know the way?...how to reach Him when you know the the path?
...how to speak to Him in silence?
...how to be in blessed union when you are so apart? "Trust," the Angel said, "He will teach you all that your
heart needs to know. Say 'yes'....again and again. He will do the rest."
...daily He invites...He bids me come in prayerful silence...He welcomes me in the place of sacred reverence...He places His hand upon His mouth to signal me that not a word is needed. A place of such rest...a place of deepest peace... words cannot explain...His door is always open...no need to knock..."Come in, come in...I have been waiting for you."
...we pray in the cloud of unknowing...there is a freedom there that we find not elsewhere...we are free just to 'be'....no need to 'become'...no need to arrange the thoughts...no need to make up the verses...free to sing the song that is there...free to rest in the stillness, perhaps...free to be united in Him, lost in His great heart...free just to be in total awe....free to join the angels in their silent adoration......Who shall tell the blessing well?
...Merton knew this so well and labored to spread the message. To be joined to Him in silent homage we are joined to all He has made..and cares for...and died for...and watches over...and shields...and dearly loves. The wholeness of contemplation is its treasure...Francis said it well: "My God and My All!."
...to realize that we are in the loving presence of God...there in His love and caring...in His concern and understanding...in His grace giving and blessing...........that is contemplation. Sometimes, we make it so needlessly complicated. Just awareness of the joy of His Presence and wishing to remain in that focus is the whole package. It is a gift and not a labor of ours..........
....union with God...our gift here below...our joy for all eternity. That He should deign to gather us to Himself...that He should bring us to His eternal dwelling place...that He should be so in love with us...that He should reach down to lift us up...Am I dreaming, Lord??
...silence so that grace may fill our hearts... Merton realized this: that the solitude and silence lead to a deeper union with God...sometimes, I place my fingers to my lips to remind me to be still...I touch my heart to remind me to let the heart 'speak' in silence before Him...interesting: the dialogue that is fostered by wordlessness...
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