Stranded on the Mainland: Inner Pilgrimage and Living Alone as a Spiritual Path:

"Until God intervenes mystically, that is until God creates God's own secret route into the self, we can go no further." Ruth Burrows, Guidelines for Mystical Prayer, 17 . I think God also intervenes mystically, afterwards, to protect that new secret route!   "And then they left for their own country by another road. " Matthew 2:12. Amen

"If you had to shed all but one image of God, which would you choose?  How would you react if you were then asked to cast aside even it? Do you trust God enough to carry you beyond the limitations of human language? Beyond the confines of all human knowledge? Beyond life and death itself? Do you trust God enough to carry you in the midst of darkness, to the peace of the traveller's rest? (Dennis Billy, Under the Starry Night, 1997, 154)

 "In returning to God and to ourselves, we have to begin with what we actually are.  We have to start from our alienated condition.  We are prodigals in a distant country, the "region of unlikeness," and we must seem to travel far in that region before we seem to reach our own land (and yet secretly we are in our own land all the time!)"  Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, 2007, p280-281 . Next.  This return is a meeting, a reckoning, a contradiction. On that note, "The times when we meet or reckon (*or sing!) with our contradictions are often turning points, opportunities to enter into the deeper mystery of God." (CAC Daily Meditations, 2024-01-19). Let The River Run!   https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=EgPRwL6SRGU    Cb Amen   *Italics mine    

SAD. What if it's not a disorder but an opportunity to surrender to the light within? John 1:5: "A light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." 7 Lightbulb Realizations After Narcissistic Discard: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=fSIIEyHUfKo  I want to (want to) lose. "Love must be willing to lose." The Desert Monks  

 We have important elections coming up in 2024/25.  That said, I want to share a poem that speaks to the dangerous political situation in the United States right now.  Then I will give a suggestion for something we can do to make it safer. First the poem, by Hafiz: DROPPING KEYS: The small man Builds cages for everyone He Knows. While the sage, Who has to duck his head When the moon is low, Keeps dropping keys all night long For the Beautiful Rowdy Prisoners. (The Gift)   LORD let a strong majority of Americans not fall for the small man running for president in 2024, but for the sage.  Let Canadians take care too, we have a National Election on the horizon, and a similar situation. Lastly, a tip:  Educate yourself about DARVO (if you haven't already).  Apply it like you would mosquito repellent in the woods in summer.  Seek to educate others in your circles who don't know about DARVO.  I will re-post a related link below.  DARVO is addr...