I Address This to You

Introduction to this week's quotations:

Last Sunday I wrote about myself, my own spiritual journey. Today I am writing something about you, the Day Book reader, and what it is for me to choose the quotations to offer each week, each day.  It is one thing to sit face-to-face with someone, to find out their needs and struggles. But it is another to ‘speak’ to an unseen group. What do you need to read or hear, what might serve your life with God, if anything? I don't know, for example, if I am speaking to a beginner, someone for whom spiritual life is important, but mostly over-shadowed by family and other concerns. There may be some Readers living in full Union with God, who know it. Some may think that they are in the Unitive State (or even beyond self), but be wrong (this is the worst possible situation). And some may actually be living in Union but not be sure. Others perhaps have no interest in drawing closer to God, but are rather be content to live life on the outskirts or beyond all such ideas. Therefore trying to choose something to share with the unknown Reader is nearly impossible. What I do instead is consider what spoke to me recently, or in the past, even long years ago. My friend Ellen recently gave me of some good advice for this task, from U. G. Krishnamurti:  "Don't try to be clever or you will be clobbered." 

This week the quotations shared will be primarily from a new (to me) book: Wrestling with God, by Ronald Rolheiser. I highly recommend this excellent book on the struggle of spiritual life; it is perceptively and intelligently written. Some of the quotes I have posted are rather long (the whole chapter was worth quoting), in which case I started the post with a sentence or phrase which sums it up. So if you only have time or inclination to read one short thing, read that. 

There is so much we don't know...

This week's banner head.