the way you walk, the way you stand ...

(Photo by Paul Davis)

“It is not by preaching or expounding the sutras (scriptures) that you fulfill the task of awakening others to self-realization; it is rather by the way you walk, the way you stand, the way you sit and the way you see things.” 
—Thich Nhat Hanh

(Photo by Paul Davis)

Feast of the Epiphany

“Today the Magi find, crying in the manger, the one they have followed as he shone in the sky. 

Today the Magi see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars. 

Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. 

As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.”

- St. Peter Chrysologus

God alone is good

Bell from the old Abbey Gatehouse, photo by Harry L. Hinkle

"Bells are meant to remind us that God alone is good, that we belong to Him, that we are not living for this world.

"They break in upon our cares in order to remind us that all things pass away and that our preoccupations are not important.

"They speak to us of our freedom, which responsibilities and transient cares make us forget.

"They are the voice of our alliance with the God of heaven.

"They tell us that we are His true temple. They call us to peace with Him within ourselves."

- Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude, 67