Jesuit Magazine Employees Non-Catholic Writer To Write About Ignatian Spirituality

Margaret Silf, a columnist for America

and author of Inner Compass: An Invitation to Ignatian Spirituality, notes that desolation has a quality of isolation. “Those in desolation are turned away from the light of God’s presence,” she told me, “and more focused on the shadows.” Link (here)

MARGARET SILF was born and grew up in Sheffield. Although her parents were not Christians, she was baptized in her local Methodist Church and attended Sunday School until the age of 11. At the time, Margaret did not appreciate this, but has since come to cherish and be deeply grateful for her Methodist roots. After being confirmed at 14, Margaret felt herself to be in a 'spiritual desert' in her early adulthood, until a personal crisis led her to resume her search for God - she was greatly helped by an ecumenical chaplaincy near Keele University where she was studying for an MA in English, and where she still worships today.

Margaret doesn't see herself as belonging to any particular denomination, despite her connections with both the Methodist and Roman Catholic churches, but rather identifies herself as an eager spiritual pilgrim.

Margaret now travels widely, meeting people from many religious backgrounds and exploring their faith. She reads widely, and is particularly interested in developments in science and their implications for theology and spirituality, and spends much of her time leading retreats. Margaret's On Making Choices and On Prayer are two slim volumes in which she offers words of wisdom, encouragement and advice on two important aspects of our spiritual life. Margaret's previous books for Lion are Sacred Spaces: Stations on a Celtic Way and One Hundred Wisdom Stories from Around the World (2003). Link (here)