James Conlon, educator, social activist, and director of the Sophia Center at Holy Names University, has dedicated this paperback to Thomas Merton (1915 -1968) who "provided the architecture of the spiritual journey and demonstrated his gifts as the Master of the Soul" and Thomas Berry (1914 - 2009) whose "writing has inspired a generation of seekers to celebrate the universe story and the Great Work." Over the years, Conlon has shared his poetry in many books as part of his unique Christian vision. Here he has set them alongside prayers and spiritual practices as a means of demonstrating the "dynamic integration of the interior life with our experience of the world around us."
After a glowing three-page tribute to poetry (see the excerpt), Conlon opens things up with "Let the Cosmos Speak: Poems." in "A Declaration," he writes:
"There's a glimmer in the window,
Earth wakes up,
greets the day.
Everywhere new light
washes across creation.
Squirrel shouts 'Good morning,'
love proclaims the angelus,
a new day is born.
Each creature
a member of the choir
proclaiming songs of praise."
In "Paying Attention: Prayers," Conlon shares some powerful poem prayers such as "A Canticle of Hope," and "Brothers of Earth." These are the kind of spiritual resources that are needed to re-tool church services! In the final section of the book, "Habits of the Heart: Spiritual Practice," Conlon delivers some essential spiritual practices such as hospitality, finding God in the night sky, letting go, and being receptive to beauty.
