Solitude does not pull us away from our fellow human beings but instead makes real fellowship possible.

Solitude, community, and ministry are certainly not just for celibates! Celibates also have a hard time keeping up.

Where is peace to be found? The answer is surprising but clear. In weakness. Why there? Because in our weakness, our familiar ways of controlling and manipulating our world are being stripped away, and we are forced to let go from doing much, thinking much, and relying on our self-sufficiency. Right there where we are most vulnerable, the peace that is not of this world is mysteriously hidden.

Community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another.

In their poverty, the mentally handicapped reveal God to us and hold us close to the gospel.

Precisely where I feel my poverty is where I discover God's blessing.

Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life, discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn't planned or counted on.