Author: Jonny N
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Grace and epiphany
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.…
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Waiting
We have now entered the season of Advent, the time of waiting before Christmas. It’s an important time to remember that we are waiting for the completion of what Jesus has started and is doing in the world, whilst also remembering that initial waiting for the coming of the Messiah. This is not a passive…
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The Real Work
The following is a poem by one of my favorite poets. The Real Work It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey. The mind that is…
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No tricks and no short cuts
I’ve been reading Thomas Merton this week and found both helpful and challenging. I love this quote in particular: “… in the the spiritual life there are no tricks and no short cuts. Those who imagine that they can discover spiritual gimmicks and put them to work for themselves usually ignore God’s will and his…
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Children of Grace
Every so often you read a book that you just love, to the extent that it seems a waste to rush it, but all the same you chug through it. Then you tell everyone about it, and then even that’s not enough and you start to think of who you could buy copies for. Culture…
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Why write?
I will post somethng of my own soon. I have more some thoughts in my notebook that I’d like to post here. In the mean time here are some thoughts from Henri Nouwen on writing: Writing to Save the Day Writing can be a true spiritual discipline. Writing can help us to concentrate, to get…
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Becoming fully human
He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on…
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Beauty and Justice
There is a great deal to lament as we look around the world, with conflicts all around: from the small places with in ourselves and the communities around us to the more tragic and dramatic unrest in the middle east and further to Sudan, the Congo and Zimbabwe. It can leave us feeling overwhelmed and…
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Silence
Following our entering through the ‘door of sanctuary’ with virtue, Abbot Christopher suggests we need to lay a floor of silence. The Abbot recommends a period of silence in the morning and another at night – effectively book ending our days with silence. Catherine de Hueck.Doherty has this to say about silence and the ‘desert…