My God, I give up my attachment to peace, the delight and sweetness of contemplation, of Your love and Your presence. I give myself to You to love Your will and Your presence. I give myself to You to love Your will and Your honor alone.
I know that, if You want me to renounce the manner of my desiring You, it is only in order that I may possess You surely and come to union with You.
I will try from now on, with Your grace, to make no more fuss about “being a contemplative,” about acquiring that perfection for myself. Instead I will seek only You, not contemplation and not perfection, but You alone.
Then maybe I will be able to do the simple things that You would have me do, and do them well, with a perfect and pure intention in all peace and silence and obscurity, concealed even from my own self, and safe from my poisonous self-esteem.
Thomas Merton, Dialogues with Silence, 39
While sorting books, I came upon this one and opened it at random. I fell upon this page which seemed to be the perfect message for that day, for this time, as I turn my heart and mine toward Holy Week, and the Holy One who will walk it and Whom I will follow.
A shower of blessings on your own climb to the Jerusalem in your heart.
Claire, this message is perfect for me at this time. I need to focus only on the Lord and not on being better at meditation and contemplation. How easy it is to let our spiritual practices become so important when in reality, it is our relationship with God that is central.
Today we facilitated a retreat for the RCIA and it is such a blessing to hear them share the journey with God – one young gentleman even shared what God had said to him today – you will never be alone for I will always be with you. What a message he received in the stillness of the day. I thought about you and the retreat that you had recently facilitated. It certainly is a privilege to see the Lord working in the lives of other people.
Blessings to you and Paul during this most holy time of our year.
Thank you so much for sharing this moment during the RCIA retreat, Lynda! How very precious… Yes seeing the Lord working in the lives of other people, and how those same people impact us, is a privilege.
Thank you for your blessings 🙂