Joseph Burgess

If there is poetry in my book about the sea, it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry.

But I don’t hesitate to say that I mainly did it because—as a solitary endeavorer in a so far unproven second career, my old laurels wilting on the shelf—I wanted a quick way to remind myself of at least one lingering excellence.

Without missing a beat, Brother Paul answered in his joyful tone, “God cannot love you more. God already loves you infinitely. You just need to become more aware of [God’s] love ... by becoming more present to it. It’s like hearing birdcalls. By paying attention and delighting in it.”

And yet she chose the growing edge,

Mary is the model of the faith to which God calls all of us: a total and unreserved yes to God’s request to be present in and to the world through us .

The soul might continue to have qualms about wasting time. She may wonder if it would not be better to be doing something else, since she cannot think or activate anything in prayer. Let her bear these doubts calmly. There is no other way to go to prayer now than to surrender to this sweet ease and breadth of spirit. If the soul tries to engage her... See more

Yes, love is the final goal but ever deeper trust inside of darkness is the path for getting there.

if we sacrifice Reality in the basic and universal elements, we end up sacrificing the same Reality in ourselves.

For a true contemplative, a gratuitously falling green leaf will awaken awe and wonder just as much as a golden tabernacle in a cathedral.