She,In the dark,Found lightBrighter than many ever see.She,Within herself,Found loveliness,Through the soul’s own mastery.And now the world receivesFrom her dower:The message of the strengthOf inner power. ‘She’ Langston Hughes In a meditation on the ‘night hour’, Macrina Wiederkehr includes Helen Keller’s description of her faith, in the midst of permanent silence and darkness, being aContinue reading “day 17”
Category Archives: Advent 2020
day 16
[Art is] contemplative because [it] ignites memories of the awe and wonder that we tend to discard after childhood. . . . When we decide to live in our heads only, we become isolated from the God who is closer than our next breath. To subject everything to rational analysis reduces the awe to ashes.Continue reading “day 16”
Sunday 3
We must recover the truth that was obscured by the Serpent: rather than being like God in his unlimited divinity, we are to be like God in our limited humanity. We are capable of bearing his image as we were intended only when we embrace our limits. Image-bearing means becoming fully human, not becoming divine. Continue reading “Sunday 3”
day 14
If grief can be a doorway to love, then let us all weep for the world we are breaking apart so we can love it back to wholeness again.” Robin Wall Kimmerer So often when I feel utterly joyless, and completely weighed down by the weight of my own pain and the weight of the suffering thatContinue reading “day 14”
day 13
You see, there is much I want. Perhaps everything: the darkness of each infinite fall, the scintillant play of each ascent. So many people live without wishes, calm of spirit, light of judgement, muted as princes. But you rejoice in every soul that thirsts and serves, rejoice in all whose hands reserve you for aContinue reading “day 13”
day 12
‘But I still don’t understand, Sparrowhawk. I have seen my brother, even his prentice, make light in a dark place only by saying one word: and the light shines, it is bright, not a word by a light you can see your way by!’ ‘Aye,’ Ged answered. ‘Light is power. A great power by whichContinue reading “day 12”
day 11
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being. Carl Jung Yesterday I wondered how the dark matter of my life might be a source of joy. Today I find myself wondering about ‘dark light’, which Wikipedia defines as:Continue reading “day 11”
day 9
What I fear and desire most in this world is passion. I fear it because it promises to be spontaneous, out of my control, unnamed, beyond my reasonable self. I desire it because passion has color, like the landscape before me. It is not pale. It is not neutral. It reveals the backside of theContinue reading “day 9”
Sunday 2
you need to be very stillto hear the concert of your body to think about what you contain salt and waterknows what it’s doingrenewing itselfback to earthit is a quiet thingthis is where our riches arewe are all red insidebrimming with loveall fluid and quiet and fire. ‘Core’ Kerrie O’Brien I am on the journeyContinue reading “Sunday 2”
day 7
this skin this Black skin a constant reminder of centuries of genocides in a world that kept/keeps silent every time it happens this Black skin a symbol of glory and triumph, symbolizing that despite all we conquered! a skin whose essence is made of honey and gold but who’s story has been summed up toContinue reading “day 7”