The vandalism of SUFFERING is indiscriminate;
it does not respect anything …
… age, virtue, power. Continue reading “The narrow line of our lives”
Author: Christopher Malcolm Knauf
Christopher Malcolm Knauf PhD is a lecturer in Spirituality at Catholic Theological College, a college of the University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia.
Why I practice meditation in the Christian tradition
The value and relevance of the Christian meditation tradition derive both from what it shares with the other great meditation traditions and what distinguishes it among them. Continue reading “Why I practice meditation in the Christian tradition”
Me and my shadow
When I catch a glimpse of my shadow I see my own opacity; I’m reminded that the light doesn’t pass right through me.
I’d like it to. I’d love to be so transparent that I don’t get in the way of the light, of love, of truth, of peace.
I’ve had moments, glorious nanoseconds, when I’m sure the light had so saturated and infused me that there was nothing but light. Nanoseconds. But mostly it’s just me, and my shadow.
And if the fleeting years between boy and man have taught me anything it’s that making friends with my shadow yields a happier life than pretending it’s not there.
Christopher Malcolm Knauf
Image – Izaiah chasing his shadow, by Kirsty Soo, 2014, used with permission.
Glimpses of now in the west of Ireland
Beauty does not always cloak itself in grandeur; it can be even more striking when glimpsed through the veil of the everyday. Life’s incandescence glimmers in every ordinary moment if we’d but see it.
This short film was taken on morning walks over two weeks in June and July, 2014 in the beautiful west of Ireland, near the village of Shrule on the border of Galway and Mayo. The Irish might not agree, but the misty and cloudy days seen here were to me possibly even more beautiful than the cloudless skies we saw day after day this summer. No accounting for taste I suppose. Grace and peace to you.
Embracing paradox and living to tell the tale
BOOK REVIEW: Why I Am an Atheist Who Believes In God: How To Give Love, Create Beauty and Find Peace. Frank Schaeffer, 2014
I completely understand the puzzlement that comes over people when I declare myself a believer and an atheist. It’s not something that comes up all the time of course but occasionally there’s no avoiding it and you just have to come clean. Once it went like this: “I was a Christian, then I became an atheist.” It was sad for some people to hear. But at least it was neat and they knew where I stood. Now it’s: “I still don’t believe in the God the atheists don’t believe in, but I pray every day.” And that’s just messy. Explain it and it gets messier.
People aren’t good with messy. While I’m obscenely comfortable in this paradoxical pigeon-hole I’ve carved out for myself, I’ve had to resign myself to the fact that on questions like this people prefer ‘either-or’ to ‘both-and’, and so it’s felt like something of a solitary little niche. That said, you can imagine my delight when I stumbled on the totally messy title of Frank Schaeffer’s latest book, Why I Am an Atheist Who Believes in God. Continue reading “Embracing paradox and living to tell the tale”
Merton on Contemplation
![primary-merton[1]](https://lifeisthismoment.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/primary-merton1.jpg)
Contemplation is life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. Continue reading “Merton on Contemplation”
Meister Eckhart and the ‘Wayless Way’.
What might a medieval German mystic offer spiritual seekers today? This essay is a personal reflection on the teachings of the fourteenth-century Dominican philosopher and theologian, Meister Eckhart, who offers a deeply refreshing perspective on human spirituality, particularly for those like me who have long thirsted for a draught more satisfying than that on offer from many Christian pulpits. Continue reading “Meister Eckhart and the ‘Wayless Way’.”
He comes to us
Image – Pohutokawa Peter Bradley, 2014.
The Spirituality of the Earth
“The spirituality of the earth refers to a quality of the earth itself, not a human spirituality with special reference to the planet Earth. Earth is the maternal principle out of which we are born and from which we derive all that we are and all that we have. We come into being in and through the Earth. Simply put, we are Earthlings. The Earth is our origin, our nourishment, our educator, our healer, our fulfilment. At its core, even our spirituality is Earth derived. The human and the Earth are totally implicated, each in the other. If there is no spirituality in the Earth, then there is no spirituality in ourselves.”
From Thomas Berry, The Sacred Universe.
Jesus smiled at me today
Jesus smiled at me today, his radiant, beaming, toothless ‘thank you’, life’s extravagant gift. To me. Gracious unearned gift.
YESTERDAY I passed him by. Twice, that I recall. First outside Gloria Jean’s. It all happened in a blink. Continue reading “Jesus smiled at me today”
Life is this moment
I can imagine then,
some time other than this;
I can think of there,
some place other than this;
I can be only now and here,
for life is now, here.
Life is this moment.
Christopher Malcolm Knauf 2013
life is this moment 
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