A busy day of surgeries – which I enjoy, as I am never alone. Person after person came with this problem or that, but in the train I caught a moment to read from the Carthusian Novice Confessions.

Hesychasm is a Greek word that conveys tranquillity, silence and stillness. In the monastic tradition it entails every aspect of Christian hermit life from the physical flight from human society to the very mystical ‘elimination of thoughts,’ regarded as a surpassing means towards the goal of union with God, prayer without ceasing.