Note: To improve the contents of the Thomas Keating archive at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the Contemplative Outreach global community has been encouraged to send in any personal correspondence from Fr. Thomas or personal recordings made during visits or special talks. Here is one such gem, received from Nancy Cord-Baran, State College, Pennsylvania, USA.
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Thomas Keating and I corresponded over a dozen times between 2003 and 2018. His life and work have been truly life changing for me, especially Centering Prayer.
Most of my letters were of gratitude and he always wrote back, usually a short note. I am including a few here that may be of interest to others.
My favorite letter from Fr. Thomas is included. I had been at Snowmass on a long retreat. In one of his talks Fr. Thomas said that the best thing we could do for God was to just ‘let God love us.’
That sentence had such an impact on me. I held onto it and prayed with it for the rest of the retreat. When I got home I realized that I had no idea of how to do that, how to just let God love me. I asked my friends, my spiritual director, my sponsor but still felt unsure.
I gathered my courage to write to Fr. Thomas and ask him. He answered me back and it has been so helpful. It still helps me today.
Nancy Cord-Baran
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April 21, 2009
Dear Nancy,
How to let God love us? My suggestion is allow whatever happens to happen. Feel the feelings just as they are, even welcome them, especially the tough ones, and then give them all to God without any commentary. Like picking flowers in a meadow to give to someone you love.
I hope your new word – which is like Yeshua, the phonetic Aramaic name of Jesus – serves you well. Actually, it is not the word or sound (or glance) that matters, but your intention that is, your consent and gratitude for God’s living presence within you at all times – hence always accessible.
Best wishes for the special graces of Easter and in union of prayer,
In Christ’s love,
Thomas Keating
