In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.
Shunryu Suzuki - Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
30 August 2020
Dear friend,
I have been working on a new poem, “From Late Summer into Fall,” written during this August and September. The offerings from August are nearly complete. They have yet to be edited one more time before posting, which I hope can be done within a week or so.
You see, I’ve not taken the summer off from writing. It is just that I prefer to write in small collections, rather than in bits and pieces. “From Late Summer into Fall” is intended to be an integrated collection of brief poems, to be read in the constructed order. The path of life slowly appears as we walk on it.
I see a challenge for this coming fall and winter. I glimpse it only, but so far have nothing drafted, nor shall I begin, until after the September section of the present work is completed. Or it may be that what I compose in September will be what I am just beginning to glimpse. I do not see what is coming until it arrives; I’m still waiting for the stork.
Paul
Dear friend,
I have been working on a new poem, “From Late Summer into Fall,” written during this August and September. The offerings from August are nearly complete. They have yet to be edited one more time before posting, which I hope can be done within a week or so.
You see, I’ve not taken the summer off from writing. It is just that I prefer to write in small collections, rather than in bits and pieces. “From Late Summer into Fall” is intended to be an integrated collection of brief poems, to be read in the constructed order. The path of life slowly appears as we walk on it.
I see a challenge for this coming fall and winter. I glimpse it only, but so far have nothing drafted, nor shall I begin, until after the September section of the present work is completed. Or it may be that what I compose in September will be what I am just beginning to glimpse. I do not see what is coming until it arrives; I’m still waiting for the stork.
Paul
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To behold a tree Is prayer, and more so than Mass Poorly attended, Mind distracted, not present To the presence of the One. |
MTMonk. Welcome to the website of Fr. William Paul McKane, OSB, a Benedictine monk residing alone in the Ruby Valley in Montana. We shall post brief essays, poems, prayers, photographs, and links on this website. My main interests are in our spiritual life, in philosophy, in seeking the truth about God and man. With a doctorate in political science / political philosophy, I am also interested in the well-being of our citizens, of our political system and society, and of our world.
MTMonk. Empty Monk. A real monk seeks to be empty of self, or self-centered existence, in order to allow God to reign in and through him. MTMonk just happens to be suitable for a monk living in Montana, MT.
A monk’s purpose and way of living is simple: to seek God. One seeks God in faith, truth, goodness, beauty, and in silence. Monk comes from the Greek word, monachos, in turn based on the Greek word monos, meaning alone. A monk must be essentially alone to be all one in God. Alone with the Alone is the familiar phrase by the Greek-speaking philosopher, Plotinus (204-270 A.D.) To be alone with the Alone is the way of the monk. Meditation is the lifeblood of a monk, and it is conducted in silence and in the darkness of unknowing.
A monk’s purpose and way of living is simple: to seek God. One seeks God in faith, truth, goodness, beauty, and in silence. Monk comes from the Greek word, monachos, in turn based on the Greek word monos, meaning alone. A monk must be essentially alone to be all one in God. Alone with the Alone is the familiar phrase by the Greek-speaking philosopher, Plotinus (204-270 A.D.) To be alone with the Alone is the way of the monk. Meditation is the lifeblood of a monk, and it is conducted in silence and in the darkness of unknowing.