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Friday, October 26, 2007


Fall is Here
by Peter Menkin



breakfast
good morning

sunrise
wash bowl and spoon

anticipation
morning prayer.











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Sunday, October 14, 2007


Talking to the muse, Conversations with the Holy Spirit

By Peter Menkin - Jun 20, 2001
Edited October 27, 2007



"The spirit moves on the waters, breath of God

"to its dark and furthest corners by the wind

of heaven blown" You bring this melodious

soundings as all the earth around me receives

the wind that blows; divine love may we


gain the human self

You offer. Holy Trinity

the place begun is the place I found, as again

I see others and myself lose their lives to have

their life. Come Holy Spirit, as you are in languages

many, knowing our hearts and secret desires.

Love is a tender embrace, an entry so gentle

encompassing the spirit and soul, seducing and arousing


with whispers and songs; on the daylight through each

day and in the night, for O gracious Light,

Yours is the day, O God, Yours also the night...

the sunshine and season seek us with Your spirit

among us, in us, behind us, before us, below us,

above us.








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Saturday, October 06, 2007





Double-click image to make larger and readable.
Poem in Ruah: A Journal of Spiritual Poetry published by Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Berkeley, California USA. http://popruah.opwest.org/ My poem, "Poetic Recitation on the Rule of St. Benedict" is on page 30 in this 2007 edition.
The Poem
Attend with the ear of your heart
Listen in the silence
at night or daytime
through trials and living.
This Rule brings God, the Lord
closer: do so to me.
Labor of obedience
Before beginning a good work, pray earnestly,
We are the Lord's counted
sons and daughters.
The path offers good gifts,
open your eyes to the light.
Arise from sleep.
The Rule proffers the voice
from heaven this day.
--Peter Menkin







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Monday, October 01, 2007


Book Review: "The Genesee Diary"

For the Catholic Priest and writer, Henri J.M. Nouwen, writing about visiting a Trappist Monastery is more than a diary, a visit to a monastery, it is a statement of insight and inspiration by a writer who starts his book with the simple words, "Thanks be to God that I am here!" Like the report on his visit, his words are heartfelt. The title is descriptive and straightforward, like the book itself: "The Genesee Diary: A Report from a Trappist Monastery."

A sincere, remarkable memoir by the writer, I was taken with his willingness to seek God and in his seeking come to terms with his life and relationship in Christ. Although it is a religious book, no doubt, the light hand of the well-known Henri J.M. Nouwen will not disappoint a wide readership. After all, this popular and well-regarded work has stood the test of time since it was first published, and, happily, is available again to a new generation of readers.

In his honesty, Nouwen says at one point about his conversations of spiritual direction with the Abbot John Eudes, "If I allowed no one but the Lord to determine my identity, would I know the Lord? Or is it a fact that even in my meditation I relate to the Lord as I relate to people--that is--by manipulation and projection."

Please don't be misled; this is a good man telling of his struggles, a brilliant man, even. Once a professor at Harvard, his time at Genesee brings him to say, "...I can slowly detach myself from this need for human affirmation and discover that it is in the relationship with the Lord that I find my true self, an unconditional surrender to him becomes not only possible, but even the only desire..." We journey with Father Nouwen as this unfolding reveals what he hoped for by staying at the monastery, not only for reflection and meditation, but also a coming to himself.

It is fair to say this book is about God and man; as part of his explanation, the writer states how the means to that end is prayer: "Speaking about prayer, I asked John Eudes a question that seemed very basic and a little naïve: `When I pray, to whom do I pray?' `When I say `Lord,' what do I mean?" In his quiet way, almost unnoticed by the ease of manner in the writing, the book addresses many most important questions. That is what Abbot John Eudes calls this particular insight about prayer, "...[a] most important question."

I found this book a book about love. "I would like to think a little more about love," he says, and he writes of how the monastery is a place of relationships. We learn how the monks live out their lives in Christ. We learn how he joins them, and they especially offer a hospitality that is one in Christ. Henri J.M. Nouwen comes to find this love, which teaches him, aids him in his ruminations and self-appraisals of his relationship and life in the world. After all, this is a book about a retreat. An admirable and readable hardback title published by Doubleday in my copy, certainly an asset to anyone's need for spiritual direction in the form of a report, and an asset as a book that fills the need for a just plain good read.

--Peter Menkin, Pentecost 2007


This review appears on Amazon.com.