From the Director

The Retreat on the Practice of Spiritual Friendship brought together 28 people – the youngest 18 years old, the oldest 80. They came from several different religious traditions so we found a simple form of common prayer (of words and silence) which incorporated psalms, chants from the prayer of the ecumenical Community of Taize in France, and brief readings. Some of the readings were also used as the basis for conversations on the practice of friendship which followed each of the times of prayer.

I am not able to summarize the conversations; any attempt would surely be lifeless and unhelpful. It occurred to me that people might find some of the brief readings both thought provoking and, in a curious way, the best sort of report on the two days we spent together.

* * *

In the center of the house of God which is our own body, there is a small shrine in the form of a lotus flower and within can be found a small space. We should find who dwells there, we should seek to know him. And if anyone asks: “Who is he who dwells in a small shrine in the form of a lotus flower in the center of the house of God? Whom should we seek to find and to know?” we can answer: “The little space within the heart is as great as the vast universe. The heavens and the earth are there, and the sun and the moon and the stars; fire and lightning and winds are there; and all that now is and all that is not, for the whole universe is in Him, and He dwells within our hearts.”

Chandogya Upanishads, 8:1

When Christ said to his disciples: “Love one another,” it was not attachment he was laying down as their rule. As it was a fact that there were bonds between them due to the thoughts, the life, and the habits they shared, he commanded them to transform these bonds into friendship, so that they should not be allowed to turn into impure attachment or hatred.

Pure friendship is an image of the original and perfect friendship that belongs to the Trinity and is the very essence of God. It is impossible for two human beings to be one while scrupulously respecting the distance that separates them, unless God is present in each of them. The point at which parallels meet is infinity.

Simone Weil’s Waiting for God (Harper 1973), “Forms of the Implicit Love of God: Friendship”

The more we are alone with God the more we are with one another, in darkness, yet a multitude. And the more we go out to one another in work and activity and communication, according to the will and charity of God, the more we are multiplied in Him and yet we are in solitude.

* * *

The mask that each man wears may well be a disguise not only for that man’s inner self but for God, wandering as a pilgrim and exile in his own creation.

And indeed, if Christ became Man, it is because He wanted to be any man and every man. If we believe in the Incarnation of the Son of God, there should be no one on earth in whom we are not prepared to see, in mystery, the presence of Christ.

Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation, (New Directions 1972),

As my prayer became more attentive and inward
I had less and less to say.
I finally became completely silent.
I started to listen
which is even further removed from speaking.
I first thought that praying entailed speaking.
I then learnt that praying is hearing,
not merely being silent.
This is how it is.
To pray does not mean to listen to oneself speaking.
Prayer involves becoming silent,
and being silent,
and waiting until God is heard.

-Soren Kierkegaard

*****

In British India, weavers of shawls meditate on their design before putting their hand to the loom. They sit still in mediation for a few minutes before beginning the work. On questioning them regarding it, they invariably reply: “Without being silent for a while, it is not wise to start one’s work. The design will elude one’s fingers if one’s mind is tinged with unrest.”

-A. K. Coomaraswamy

Still – in way – no one sees a flower – really – to see a flower takes time – like to have a friend takes time.

-Georgia O’Keefe

Time exists so that everything doesn’t happen at once.

-Madeline L’Engle