Formative Phrases

          Recently we had a community gathering where we discussed a bumper sticker proclaiming Less judgment-- more curiosity. (A large part of the conversation was around whether the correct spelling of judgment was with or without an e after the g!)

Listening to the conversations about how to move from judgment to curiosity, I thought about the idea of “formative phrases” and that prompted me to reflect upon the other “formative phrases” in my life.
       I am aware of a number of formative phrases in my life. Of course, St. Benedict’s Listen with the ear of your heart and Prefer nothing to the love of Christ are two of the most important in my monastic life as well as many passages from Scripture. But the five that bound forward almost without thinking about it are the ones below:
       Lord help me to remember nothing will happen to me today that You and I cannot handle together. This was a consoling and helpful phrase at a time in my life when I wasn’t sure I could handle life. I’m not sure who the original author was but I have it on a plaque that attributes it to Thomas Merton.
       You not God as we think you
       Furnace of silence
       Difficult friend.
This is a phrase in a litany type prayer by Huub Oosterhuis from the book Your Word is Near. Oosterhuis' prayer style and phraseology have had a strong impact on my own prayer style.
       Live your questions now and perhaps even without knowing it, you will live along someday into your answers. Rainer Marie Rilke
       For surely I know the plans I have for you, says God, plans for your welfare … to give you a future with hope. Jeremiah 29: 11  Even though I can never remember the exact chapter and verse, this phrase has given me hope and comfort.
       I do not understand the mystery of grace—only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us. Anne Lamott I'm still reflecting on the mystery and truth of this.
      All of these phrases have sifted down into depths of my soul and formed me in my relationships with God and others. What are your formative phrases?
      Sr. Deborah Harmeling, OSB