This year's theme
The Christian mystic, on the other hand, entering into himself and enclosing himself in the "inner chamber" of his heart, finds there, deeper even than sin, the beginning of an ascent in the course of which the universe appears more and more unified, more and more coherent, penetrated with spiritual forces and forming one whole within the hand of God (from The Mystical Tradition of the Eastern Church by Vladimir Lossky).
I am so grateful to all of you who have kept faith with Just this Day as a way of discovering and sharing the unifying nature of inner quiet.
This year's focus of Christian Mysticism has been particularly chosen because I have been so touched by my visits to the Monastery of Saint Catherine on what is called the God Trodden Mountain, Mount Sinai. I have always longed to discover the thread of common intent between all religions and amongst those who seek silence and to find confirmation of the universality of the experience of God, the supreme Being who is always everywhere present but cannot be seen or heard by the outgoing senses. The quote above from Vladimir Lossky confirms for me that there is a place of inner communion and that it is possible to find it and understand our common connection at a time when so many people are at a loss to know who they are and what God is. This gives us grounds for optimism! I hope that you will come and listen to two people whose lives have been given to inner contemplation as well as keeping the door to the experience open to those who seek to find it.
Elizabeth Edmunds