R.S. Thomas was a welsh clergyman and talented poet. It’s hard to think of a more beautiful and evocative poem on silence. ‘But the silence in the mind’ is, in my opinion, one of his best: But the silence in the mind is when we live best, within listening distance of the silence we call …
Amidst the turmoil of life, the triumphs and the frustrations, the laughter and the pain, we are called to introspection. Such self-examination takes many forms, and occurs at different points in our journey; it is a reflection the growing awareness of the truth of Carl Jung’s insightful observation: ‘who looks outside dreams who looks inside …
The question of how we best use our time, and the direction our energies are focused on, are not new. Yes, the pace of life has changed, but the core principles are the same. The biblical narrative – in both the Old and New Testaments – bares witness to this. There is, for example, the …
Here are a few of my recent reflections/poems: BY THE WELL Sychar in Samaria by Jacob’s well A shocking scene A Samaritan and a Jew Female and male Countercultural and perplexing, where shame meets perfection. Jesus does not recoil He interacts; he listens A stark reminder that everyone matters That in the heart of Christ ‘There …
An excerpt from Thomas Merton’s beautiful poem, ‘Song: If you Seek…’:
Follow my ways and I will lead you
To golden-haired suns,
Logos and music, blameless joys,
Innocent of questions
And beyond answers:For I, Solitude, am thine own self:
I, Nothingness, am thy All.
I, Silence, am thy Amen!
From Templegate Publishers: ‘Robert Lax, (1915-2000), was a poet, hermit, sage, and peacemaker. Thomas Merton said of Lax, “He had a natural, instinctive spirituality, an inborn direction to the living God.” Jack Kerouac called him “a Pilgrim in search of beautiful innocence.” A native of New York, Lax graduated from Columbia University in 1938 with …
This is my opening lecture from the ‘Exploring Meaning With Thomas Merton and Viktor Frankl’ workshop held on 31st January 2015 at Bethlehem Abbey, Portglenone, Co. Antrim (and co-facilitated by Dr. Stephen Costello of the Viktor Frankl Institute of Ireland): We gather here on this beautiful day, from many different places across Ireland, to celebrate …
To celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Thomas Merton’s Birth, The Viktor Frankl Institute of Ireland and Thomas Merton Fellowship Invite you to a One-Day Workshop: ‘EXPLORING MEANING WITH THOMAS MERTON AND VIKTOR FRANKL’ Facilitators: Dr Stephen J. Costello, Director, Viktor Frankl Institute of Ireland Rev. Dr. Scott Peddie, Thomas Merton Fellowship Thomas Merton was much influenced …
As the Merton Fellowship for Peace and Contemplative Living met this weekend on a day retreat in All Souls Church in Belfast, I found myself reflecting on how far we have come in the four or so years we have been in existence. Since the first tentative steps were taken in an initial meeting held …
