To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to the violence of our times.

*Thomas Merton

Jesus told them still another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises."

*Matthew 13.33 (GNB)

Jesus' reference to yeast working within flour reminds us of how Grace works. In a culture characterized by aggression and speed, where gentleness is often not seen as a desirable or essential quality, we are summoned to align ourselves with an order of Reality working within and among us silently, unobtrusively, and gently. This is the Grace we discover in Prayerful Silence. This Presence, like yeast, is powerfully, yet quietly, present and active, though often appearing as passive. To many this Grace is assigned only to special, holy places and times; yet, Grace pervades all things, all places, all times. This Grace acts without needing to call attention to Itself for Itself. This Grace does not demand to be noticed or praised, for Grace is sufficient to Grace. Simply to rest in the Silence is to be transformed by the Silence, to be aligned more with the subtle, graceful way of Divine Presence, the Kingdom of Heaven. And this Kingdom Jesus places in contrast to the more apparently powerful and aggressive empires. Therefore, this Kingdom, this Way, is subversively transformative, shaping us into the likeness of That we have sought, but in and through which our seeking was already sought. This Presence, this Grace, is like the air we breathe.