Dear Friends,
When we see the grateful leper return to Jesus to thank him, we, of course, think of gratitude. Which, in turn, makes me think of the oft quoted Meister Eckhart: “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it we be enough.”
Well, that got me thinking: there are lots of quotes that I share with those who come to Assisi retreats. They like the quotes so much that at the end of the week they always ask me to send the quotes to them. So, I figured, if they like them, you probably will too. These quotes have to do with prayer and quiet and presence. I hope they will encourage you to grow in your life of contemplation.
- We are here to awaken from the illusion of separateness. (Thich Nhat Hanh)
- It is only when there is no goal and no rush that the human senses are fully open to receive the world. (Alan Watts)
- The soul has been given its own ears to hear things which the mind does not understand. (Rumi)
- We rarely think of the air we breathe, yet it is in us and around us all the time. In a similar fashion, the presence of God penetrates us, is all around us, is always embracing us. (Thomas Keating)
- Slip into silence as you sit…doing nothing…watching breath…fall into the gap… in emptiness lies fullness. (Anu Mullick Kaul)
- Humanity, take a good look at yourself. Inside, you’ve got heaven and earth, and all of creation. You are a world—everything is hidden in you. (Hildegard von Bingen)
- It is very very simple: You sit, either in a chair or on a prayer stool or mat and allow your heart to open toward that invisible but always present Origin of all that exists. (Cynthia Bourgeault)
- All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well… for there is a force of love moving through the universe that holds us fast and will never let us go. (Julian of Norwich)
- We seek outside the wonders we carry inside us. (Rumi)
Not all of us are called to be hermits. But all of us need enough silence and solitude in our lives to enable the deeper voice of our own self to be hear at least occasionally. (Thomas Merton)
- And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. (Khalil Gibran)
- Whatever is impelling us is rooted in a mystery. . . Something new is being shaped that began before time itself was formed. We’re not causing it to happen. We are letting it happen in us. (William Martin)
- The human soul, deeply moved by the harmony of this divine world, is vibrant with a mystical ambition. (Teilhard de Chardin)
- A mystic is fundamentally the lover within us, someone deeply connected to the source of all life. . . who finds joy and wonder in existence and who turns this love into action. . . The lover in us who digs deeply to find the place where one encounters what they deeply love, which can be the self, God, Earth or the Universe itself. (Matthew Fox)
- Listen to the wind, it talks. Listen to the silence, it speaks. Listen to your heart. It knows. (Native American proverb)
I hope Eckhart’s words encourage you to be grateful every day!
And I hope these quotes stir in you a desire to grow in the mystical life- to let the lover within flourish and grow for your own good and for the good of all the world.
Peace and every good,
Father Liam