About Merton…I see his name everywhere, and from the contexts and quotes where I find him, it seems about time I read some of his stuff. He sounds like a pretty wonderful person. Any suggestions on where to start? Or where to definitely NOT start? (in terms of his books) Anyone, feel free to suggest away.

The meditation exercises that we do in Tai Chi create space for all of these things. Many of them involve simply standing in one place, being. While doing them, you intentionally don’t think about anything - you don’t worry about the argument you had at work an hour before, or the responsibilities awaiting you at home, or a list of things you want to do in order to better yourself or the world. You simply stand there, breathing, focusing on your center.

Though you’d be amazed at how much energy and muscle it actually takes to stand still for a long period of time, I paradoxically find myself relaxing as I do it. I feel aware of being held up by the ground. With the pressure to DO and THINK and PERFORM all taken off of me, I feel more able than almost ever to feel loved just because - to feel unconditionally accepted. These feelings and this awareness of the ground beneath my feet - for me these are symbols and realities of God’s presence.

I can imagine this kind of meditation giving wonderful glimpses, to Christians, of the Presence and love at the heart of their tradition - things that are talked lots about, but often not satisfyingly experienced.