Love

It has been a very different day today, characterised by space and peace and silence.

I spent this evening at the Quaker Meeting House in Temple Bar and it was wonderful to step out of the hustle and bustle of the busy streets and into the half hour of silent prayer in the meeting room. This was my first time at a Quaker meeting and I was very impressed by the depth and breadth of the silence. In a very similar way to Phoenix Park last week, it was a rich and full silence and very comfortable. I had good conversations before and after and was struck by the very simple guiding principle - God is love: a phrase that as it happens was also the central theme of the sermon at mass this morning. Tonight the community was welcoming a group of refugees and it was a very clear example of putting that central principle into action. I too was made to feel very welcome and I enjoyed getting to discover a little bit more about their spirituality.

The silence was also of a very high quality earlier in the afternoon when I visited the City Gallery, just north of the busy shopping streets. There was some really beautiful and challenging art and the setting was also magnificent. I took today's photograph in the gallery and I chose it because it represents, for me, love in multiple dimensions. It is a stained glass window and I love as well the way the light just floats there in the darkness, and draws us in.