Discernment

I am scared, sometimes, to own anything, even a name, let alone coin, or shares in the oil, the munitions, the airplane factories. I am scared to take a proprietary interest in anything, for fear that my love of what I own may be killing somebody somewhere

Our difficult and now urgent task is to realize that nature is not a possession to be conquered but a gift to be received with respect and gratitud

Beauty by its very nature is fragile. Touch it too roughly and it’s gone, grasp it too firmly and its petals fall away. It must be held onto lightly and gazed on attentively or it slips away.

Communion with God alone in prayer leads inevitably to community with God’s people, and then to ministry in the world

To discern means first of all to listen to God, to pay attention to God’s active presence, and to obey God’s prompting, direction, leadings, and guidance.

When we are truly listening, we come to know that God is speaking to us, pointing the way, showing the direction.

At the Abbey of the Genesee I began to see the utter necessity of life in community. I learned to bake bread, haul stones, and pray with the brothers. My capacity for intimacy with God was interrelated with my ability to love and live with the others in my community

I realize that I am still struggling with the same problems I had all those years ago. Notwithstanding my many prayers, periods of retreat, advice from friends, and time with counselors and confessors, it seems that very little, if anything, has changed. I am still the restless, nervous, intense, distracted, and impulse-driven person I was when I set out on this spiritual journey. I am still searching for inner peace and unity and a resolution to my many internal conflicts. At times this obvious lack of spiritual maturation depresses me as I enter into the “mature” years

If some [monks] are still dominated by their former bad habits, and yet can teach by mere words, let them [continue to] teach. But they should not have authority as well. For, perhaps, being put to shame by their own words, they will eventually begin to practice what they preach

You can only be humble if you have a deep self-respect