Silence, Solitude and Verbal Diarrhoea

I, who live by words, am wordless when
I try my words in prayer. All language turns
To silence. Prayer will take my words and then
Reveal their emptiness. The stilled voice learns
To hold its peace, to listen with the heart
To silence that is joy, is adoration.
The self is shattered, all words torn apart
In this strange patterned time of contemplation
That, in time, breaks time, breaks words, breaks me,
And then, in silence, leaves me healed and mended.
I leave, returned to language, for I see
Through words, even when all words are ended.
I, who live by words, am wordless when
I turn me to the Word to pray. Amen.

Madeleine L’Engle, The Weather of the Heart, p. 60

I'm learning to listen before I speak, rather than speak, to listen. I'm learning to be still and quiet, and be silent. God is there.

Marinating....

I'm taking a course in Spiritual Formation and we are focusing in theory and practice on creating "space for God" and meditating on him, his word.

I have always been pretty good and making time to feed my mind, heart, but it seems I would fill and then move to the next piece, next reading, next book, without really integrating, letting sink into my soul.

Waiting, meditating, marinating in the spirit on a phrase, on a word from the scripture reading, on nature are becoming more precious.

Connecting at a deeper level - where we are not even conscious - those streams below.

When shall I come unto the healing waters?
Lifting my heart, I cry to thee my prayer,
Spirit of peace, my comforter and healer,
In whom my springs are found, let my soul meet thee there.

Yah, Ivany is into marinating???? Yes I am!!!! Good for the soul.

Attitude of gratitude...

So my hard-drive contents have disappeared - all those good pictures, and tunes, and sayings and book summaries - gone.

However they have left an imprint on my mind. And there is something liberating about starting all over. And keeping it simple as well.

Joy, thanksgiving and prayer - that trio figures prominently in scripture - its a dynamic triumvirate.

To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His Love, every moment of existence is a grace for it brings with it immense graces from Him.

Gratitude is a response to grace. The compassionate life is a grateful life, and actions born out of gratefulness are not compulsive but free, not somber but joyful, not fanatical but liberating

Gratitude takes nothing for granted.

It acknowledges each favour, each gift – it also recognizes the giver, the labour behind it, the thought behind it.

May we live in constant dependence upon the merciful kindness of the Father, and thus live our lives in gratitude – in response to his help which comes to us at every moment.