Encountering Silence
James Finley: Reflections on the Spirituality of Silence (Part One)
May 8, 2019
Contemplative author, teacher, retreat leader, and psychologist James Finley returns to Encountering Silence.
Contemplative author, teacher, retreat leader, and psychologist James Finley returns to the Encountering Silence podcast this week. At James's suggestion, when we recorded this episode we began by giving him the opportunity to share his own reflections on the spirituality of silence. After he finished this presentation, we engaged in a time of shared dialogue in response to his reflections. This week's episode consists of James Finley's reflections; next week's episode includes our dialogue in response to his talk. Click here to listen to part two. "The poet cannot make the poem happen, but the poet can assume the inner stance that offers the least resistance to the gift of the poem... lovers cannot force the oceanic oneness, but can assume the inner stance that offers the least resistance to the gift of that." — James Finley To lead us into his reflections on silence, James offers different ways of understanding silence that he first learned from a Jesuit priest/Zen sensei; then takes us through a thoughtful commentary on the ancient monastic practice of lectio divina. He reflects on the importance of listening — both in the spiritual life as well as in ordinary human wellness. If you'd like to hear James Finley's first episode with Encountering Silence, follow this link: Silence and Vulnerability. "Can I become so silent that I can hear God speaking me into being, all things into being, the divinity or the holiness, the virginal newness of all things?" — James Finley Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: James Finley, Merton’s Palace of Nowhere James Finley, The Contemplative Heart James Finley, Christian Meditation James Finley, Thomas Merton’s Path to the Palace of Nowhere James Finley, Meister Eckhart’s Living Wisdom Thomas Merton, Medieval Cistercian History Guigo II, The Ladder of Monks & Twelve Meditations T. S. Eliot, The Four Quartets Teresa of Ávila, The Interior Castle Rollo May, Love and Will John Duns Scotus, Philosophical Writings Thomas Aquinas, Selected Writings Jean-Baptiste Chautard, The Soul of the Apostolate Martin Heidegger, Being and Time Krista Tippett, Becoming Wise Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems "The mystic isn't someone who says 'listen to what I've experienced,' the mystic says 'look what love's done to me.'"  — James Finley Episode 62: Reflections on the Spirituality of Silence: A Talk by James Finley (Part One) Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Carl McColman, Kevin Johnson Guest: James Finley Date Recorded: April 18, 2019 "Our listening is an echo of God's eternal listening to us. We might say poetically, that God says to us, 'I created you to have someone to listen to, because I just love it when you talk to me like this. And my listening, I created in my heart an echo of my eternal listening to you, so that each unto each, the listening and the word, unites in a kind of union." — James Finley