JMRZ

“It’s in falling down that we learn almost everything that matters spiritually.”
― Richard Rohr

“The journey of Exodus, the journey that ancient Israel walked, is an image of the journey made by every person who sets out to seek the Divine Presence. In the Bible, Israel is humanity personified, and so what happens to Israel is what happens to everyone who sets out on a journey of faith ... The Israelites saw Yahweh acting in their lives. Their insight was really a product of hindsight: They reflected on their experience and interpreted it in a new way. We have that same opportunity. When hindsight becomes foresight—when it becomes a hope and expectation that God still cares and still acts on our behalf—we call that the vision of faith.”
― Richard Rohr, Great Themes of Scripture: Old Testament by Richard Rohr

“Spiritual writing has a very important place in spiritual formation ... Why am I so afraid? ... Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the countless books and articles that already have been written and I cannot imagine that I have anything to say that hasn't already been said better by someone else ... Writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us ... To write is to embark on a journey of which we do not know the final destination. Thus, writing requires a great act of trust ... Writing is like giving away the few loves and fish we have, trusting that they will multiply in the giving. Once we dare to 'give away' on paper the few thoughts that come to us, we start discovering how much is hidden underneath these thoughts and thus we gradually come in touch with our own riches and resources.”
― Henri Nouwen

“The soul does not use words. It surrounds words with space, and that is what I mean by silence ... Silence is a kind of wholeness. It can absorb contraries. It can absorb paradoxes and contradictions. Maybe that is why we do not like silence. There is nothing to argue about in true inner silence, and the mind likes to argue. It gives us something to do.”
― Richard Rohr, Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation