Our Real Vocation: Becoming Human

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Daniel J. Miller

“Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny.” ~ Thomas Merton As most of you know, next to Jesus, Abraham Heschel is my Rabbi of choice and much of that Read more [...]

Love: To Know as We Are Known

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Daniel J. Miller

“You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother's womb. For so many marvels I thank you; a wonder am I, and all your works are wonders. You knew me through and through, my being held no secrets from you, when I was being formed in Read more [...]

The Mystic: Proficient at Being Loved

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Daniel J. Miller

We love because God first loved us. ~ 1 Jn. 4:19 Whatever else contemplative prayer is, it is the experience of allowing oneself to be loved by God.~ djm William Johnston, the Jesuit teacher and specialist in East-West mysticism, asserts that mysticism Read more [...]

Dear Mystic

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Daniel J. Miller

The mystic is not a special kind of person. Every person is a special kind of mystic. ~ William McNamara Who me? Mystic? I think you have the wrong address. One of the sad if not tragic and costly losses within Read more [...]

The Fear of Self-Exploration

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Daniel J. Miller

◊ Listening to Boredom (continued) "We cannot become ourselves unless we know ourselves." ~ Thomas Merton ~ First, there is the fear of self-exploration. The work meant by this hyphenated word goes by many names these days: inner work, the journey Read more [...]

The Book that is My Life

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Daniel J. Miller

. . . continued from previous post Frederick Buechner encourages us to listen to our lives. Master storyteller, he knows the narrative quality of life, that we are not merely storytellers but storied-beings. So it behooves us (how often do I get to Read more [...]

Veriditas: The Greening Power of God

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Daniel J. Miller

Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose. . . ~ James Taylor I am a Northwesterner at heart. Born and raised in Seattle, I went to the university only 50 miles south. My first place of employment and my first home had views of 14,400 foot Mt. Rainier. Read more [...]

Thanksgiving Eve

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Daniel J. Miller

"Thanking is a true understanding of who we really are." ~ Julian of Norwich "It seems to me in the light of the Divine Goodness . . . that ingratitude is the most abominable of sins . . . . For it is a forgetting of the graces, benefits, and blessings Read more [...]

Holiness: Love in Action

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Daniel J. Miller

Holiness as Love in Action What saints risk the most, simply stated but not so simply lived, is to be enlivened by love – the giving and receiving of it. In an anthology of mystical writings from various world religions, Andrew Harvey titled each chapter Read more [...]

Holiness: No Accident, No Achievement

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Daniel J. Miller

Holiness is Not an Accident

In the mid-1980’s Anne Tyler wrote a novel called The Accidental Tourist. While it is possible to be an accidental tourist, it is improbable if not impossible to be an accidental saint (nor, I might add, much to my chagrin, Read more [...]

The Sacred Braid

Helping Persons and Communities Weave Lives of Spiritual Depth.

Tag Archives: Thomas Merton