Sometimes my ideas for an inspirational reflection come in odd ways. The idea for this piece originated in the classroom. We were discussing a section from Kathleen Norris’ book, The Cloister Walk , which is one of my favorite books. One of her paragraphs made reference to the French phrase, point vierge . Because I have read her book a number of times, I am familiar with the term. And I also know that Thomas Merton, my favorite monk used the phrase in a very significant way. The French phrase is translated in various ways. Literally it means the “virginal point.” It suggests that time at dawn---the breaking of the new day---when the light is just beginning to appear. It is the point where night meets day. It was used by Merton to talk about “the still point.” All this I knew, but I was still curious about the phrase. So I chased my curiosity...