Journaling
Guidelines for writing practice
a. Select one prompt
b. Write without stopping for 5 minutes, keep your hand moving
c. Use embodied language (based in the senses, grounded nouns, specific)
d. Avoid abstract language (love, justice etc.)
e. Don’t edit grammar, or cross out words
Prompts
- Reflect on a time when you experienced silence as a tool for deeper love and connection, not just quiet.
- Consider how the Desert mystics’ focus on love over belief influences your understanding of spiritual practice.
- Write about a moment when you felt the presence of the Divine suffusing the whole of creation, beyond concepts of “us” and “them.”
Sample Response to Prompt 1
Reflect on a time when you experienced silence as a tool for deeper love and connection, not just quiet.
During a retreat, I spent several hours in silent meditation, far from distractions. At first, the silence felt like an emptiness, an absence. But as time passed, it began to feel like a vessel, a space where love could emerge without words or thoughts. In that silence, I wasn’t just avoiding noise—I was creating room for something deeper to flow, for a connection with the Divine that wasn’t bound by language. It was as if the silence allowed love to fill every crevice, and in that stillness, I felt both the vastness of the universe and an intimate presence that transcended time and space.