in love with lent...

We use the single word "faith" to cover a vast range of human experiences. Faith is, fundamentally, the experience of our being grounded in God, rooted in him with absolute sureness and with a confidence that is always deepening because the depths of God can never be measured. This is the experience of prayer.

It is falling into the depths of love with complete trust, with a complete "letting go".

- John Main OSB, Monastery Without Walls

I've said it before, here, here and again here. I love Lent! I really, really do... And although I don't go to church, Lent continues to be a cherished time of the year for me.

Its timing is perfect, and probably not coincidental. (I don't believe in coincidences anyway.) Committing to this 40-day period of reflection and connection prepares us to be "born anew", to come alive with a renewed confidence that, just as the Earth is preparing to explode with the unstoppable force of spring, we too are ripe and ready to emerge from whatever restraints we have become all-too-comfortable with. The Easter story becomes relevant to us today because it reminds us of our limitless potential for growth & transformation.

The cool thing is, when we become rooted in something greater than ourselves, a something I call "God", we don't need to force growth & transformation. In fact, we don't need to "do" anything. It is there, waiting for us on the wings of our next exhale. All we need is to get out of our own way, or as John Main says so well, to let go and to allow ourselves to fall into the depths of love with God.

For this season of Lent, my hope is that I may be able to do just that.

Happy Lent!

-simply jag

a day in the (silent) life...

"Meditation is a discipline of simplicity. Our world needs to learn it urgently. It is a discipline whereby you direct all your powers of consciousness to God. Instead of being at the mercy of your mind with its myriad thoughts and imaginations, you bring our mind, your consciousness, to silence. In that silence you quite naturally become open to God and God's power. It is an utterly benevolent power which we can only describe with the word 'love'."
- Dom John Main, OSB


Once again, I have given myself the gift of a 5-day silent retreat. I leave after work on Thursday. Here's what a typical day on a non-directed, silent retreat looks like (with possible minor variations):

• sleep
• meditate
• eat
• walk
• read/write
• eat
• nap
• walk
• meditate
• eat
• read/write
• meditate
• read/write
• sleep

Well, SOMEbody has to do it! :-) See you on the flip side of Silence...
simply jag xox

in stillness & simplicity...

"It often seems as if we rush through life at such high speed while in our heart there is the essential interior flame of being. Our rushing often brings it to the point of extinction. But when we sit down to meditate, in stillness and simplicity, the flame begins to burn brightly and steadily. As we abandon thinking in terms of success and self-importance, the light of the flame helps us to understand ourselves and others in terms of light, warmth and love."

- John Main, OSB

My meditation space at Stillpoint House of Prayer, Springtown, ON...
Twice a year, I spend time - in silence & simplicity - detaching from the clutter of my daily life. I never fail to leave there feeling refreshed, refocused and beloved.

simply jag
xox