Prayers in Winter

[John Welch, OCarm, When Gods Die: An Introduction to John of the Cross. NY: Paulist Press, 1990.] [In 1991 Thomas Keating, OCSO, sixty-eight and on the threshold of what Juan de la Cruz called...

[Cynthia Bourgeault, Thomas Keating: The Making of a Modern Christian Mystic. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 2024.] O Lover, In her splendid tracing of the last years of the spiritual journey of Thomas Keating, OCSO (1923-2018),...

O Lover, Sunday last was the the Feast of the Epiphany, the final day of Christmastide. The liturgical meaning of epiphany is rich indeed: disclosure, revelation, manifestation, showcasing. Praise be to You: initiator, agent,...

O Lover, For us of the Jesus tradition both courage and wisdom are required as we approach the cultural phenomenon called “Christmas.” Why? More than any other, this feast is an amalgam of accretions...

O Lover, We humans are denizens of the cosmos, embodieds whose sole venue is where form, sense, and thought are operative. It is in this life, this finite setting, in which we find ourselves....

[“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept . . . How can we sing the Lord’s song in an alien land?” (Ps 137:4)] [“Today there are once more saints and...

O Lover, Through the window of my second floor man cave I gaze again at the tapestry of trees, the remnants of the uncut forest into which our development was grafted. Above the snow...

[“Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace, / Your strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe, / Be there at our homing, and give us, we pray, / Your love...

[“Contingency. Meaning subject to chance, not absolute. Meaning uncertain, as reality, right down to the molecular level, is uncertain. As all of human life is uncertain. . . .God is given over to matter,...

[“Welcome, welcome, welcome. I welcome everything that comes to me today, because I know it’s for my healing. I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions. I let go of my desire...