The Spiritual Life is Not a Life of Quiet Withdrawal

Posted on June 18, 2022 by Daniel J. Miller

Today's Life-Line is: The spiritual life is not a life of quiet withdrawal, a hothouse growth of artificial ascetic practices beyond the reach of people living ordinary lives. It is in the ordinary duties and labors of life that the Christian can Read more [...]

All Saints Day

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Daniel J. Miller

It was because the saints were absorbed in God that they were truly capable of seeing and appreciating created things and it was because they loved [God] alone that they alone loved everybody. ~ Thomas Merton Read more [...]

Being Alive to the Aliveness of God

Posted on October 9, 2021 by Daniel J. Miller

If we want to be spiritual, then, let us first of all live our lives. . . Let us embrace reality. ~ Thomas Merton Nineteenth century American poet Emily Dickinson famously wrote "Tell the truth/ but tell it slant." These days, from where I'm sitting, Read more [...]

Listening for the Questions that Are Not Meant to Go Away

Posted on June 6, 2021 by Daniel J. Miller

Anxiety is the mark of spiritual insecurity. It is the fruit of unanswered questions. But questions cannot go unanswered unless they first be asked. And there is a far worse anxiety, a far worse insecurity, which comes from being afraid to ask the right Read more [...]

What I Am Living For – A Life-Line

Posted on February 1, 2021 by Daniel J. Miller

Today's Life-Line is: If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, and ask me what I think is keeping me from fully living for the thing I want to live Read more [...]

More Merton — How to Know God

Posted on December 28, 2020 by Daniel J. Miller

"You don't go looking for an object called God." You stop trying to reach God by educating your intellect. But you do try to awaken your heart. So, therefore, the great study of the monk* is to have an awakened heart. And, of course, you have to Read more [...]

We Should Not Divide Prayer Against the Rest of Our Life

Posted on December 26, 2020 by Daniel J. Miller

The following explanation of a LIFE-LINE was the preface to my first Life-Line posted on January 11, 2016: "As I am offering it, a Life-line is meant to point the way, to guide us to safety, to deliver food that nourishes us, or to keep us tethered Read more [...]

Remembering Merton

Posted on December 10, 2020 by Daniel J. Miller

Fifty-two years ago today, American Trappist monk Thomas Merton died by electrocution in Bangkok, Thailand (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968). Merton arguably was the most impactful Christian spiritual writer of the 20th century, if not in the world, Read more [...]

The Public Danger of a Lack of Self-Understanding

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Daniel J. Miller

A prophet is not a fortuneteller. But they do often seem prescient or years ahead of their time. This has little to do with being able to see down the road and much to do with being prayerfully self-reflective and with seeing things from a divine perspective. Read more [...]

Brother Weeps Witnesses a Miracle

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Daniel J. Miller

A student asked, “Brother, have you ever seen someone perform a miracle?” “I have, said Brother Weeps. The student’s eyes opened wide. “You have? Was it seeing someone walk on water or watching a healer straighten a woman’s crooked Read more [...]

The Sacred Braid

Helping Persons and Communities Weave Lives of Spiritual Depth.

Tag Archives: Thomas Merton