.....shhhhh...listen to God.....

Dear friends, today represents my 5th anniversary of writing this blog. Today is the 1,825th blog. This has been, for me, an opportunity to try to read and reflect on the Scriptures, and to pray every day. I haven’t scored 100% in this regard, but every time I pray and read the Scriptures, I thank God because I know His grace drew me to take time in His presence.

Father Basil Pennington, OCSO, taught me how to pray by centering on Jesus and not speaking a word. He was a Trappist monk who stood at least 6’8” tall. He was in so many ways a towering man who told me that the best place he could quietly sit in God’s presence and meditate silently was while riding the NYC subway. Go figure! But there is nothing more spiritually powerful in life than when we can sit in God’s presence in utter silence. It is a discipline that takes time to learn, and yet there is so much to hear and learn when we can quiet down and merely BE in the presence of God. But remember this, the learning is not in your head, but in your heart, for when God wishes, He can speak to us loudly out of the silence.

I also remember Fr. Dan Jenks, OSB, a Benedictine monk, with whom I lived for 5 years between my 13th through 18th years of life, from 8th grade through 12th grade. The monastery was part of a boarding school, and one day I asked Fr. Dan how he could possibly dedicate his life educating a bunch of stupid boys in their high school years. Fr. Dan roared laughing and told me, “We monks are not here because of you boys or because of the school. Long ago God called us to the monastery to pray and serve Him. The school is our work, but it is only a tiny bit of our life.” That brief encounter with Fr. Dan helped enliven and focus my journey to think about God and pray and read the scriptures, knowing that someone deeper was calling all of us to live a deeper life than just our work. 

That life, I have come to learn, is a life of prayer, Scripture reading, reflection, silence, and service to others.

Some day I will write my final blog. When that day happens and God calls me home to heaven, my faith assures me that He will forgive this most egregious sinner. My hope is that what Jesus accomplished on Good Friday and Easter Sunday will be the blessing of life for us all. My hope and dream is that I will be a member of the family of God for eternity. 

Lastly, I want to say this. The Sukuma people in east Africa taught me that God is always present. “Mungu Yupo!” they repeated every day! God’s with us! God’s with us! I hope you believe this!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner!

Paul