The loud silence of disbelief
What’s the surest way to shut down conversation in a group of Christians? It’s to say you’re not sure what you believe anymore. Ask…
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All in the neighborhood
Because the stranger knocking at our front door didn’t look like a Jehovah’s Witness or a candidate for political office, I opened the door…
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Doubtful Sound
Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (2015) I had the privilege of venturing on a cruise of Doubtful Sound, New Zealand, this past summer. To get…
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Golden
Mercer County, Pennsylvania (July 2015) It’s funny: this scene by a pond, suffused with golden brilliance, wasn’t silent but full of cricket and cicada…
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Walking after midnight
This essay was previously published in the Summer 2001 Abbey Letter, no. 206 (Saint Gregory’s Abbey, Three Rivers, Michigan). Shortly after I joined the…
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Finding God in the silence
Editor’s note: Each Thursday, we feature a throwback piece from Topology’s predecessor, catapult magazine. In this essay, Karissa Knox Sorrell explores a critical shift…
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Practicing silence
At The Hermitage Community, the contemplative prayer center where I serve, we often remark to new guests that we give the gift or “permission”…
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Sounds like home
Werner likes to crouch in his dormer and imagine radio waves like mile-long harp strings, bending and vibrating over Zollverein, flying through forests, through…
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Winter Haiku
Snow-fog hides houses on the opposite shore. Faith insists they’re still there. * A perfect silence in the winter field—the sound of snow alighting….
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Abbey Cemetery
for Kilian McDonnell, OSB This gentle hill heaves, pushing up crenellations— those markers of surrendered life secured even in death. A phalanx of gray…
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