“What matters in life is not great deeds, but great love.” St Thérèse of Lisieux

New music from the Distant Spire.

This week’s offering is called The State Of Being and calls to mind that we are firstly called to be and then do, not the other way around, remembering the immeasurable love that God has for us, and of our place in God as His image bearers and sharers in the divine life.

Before finding some quiet time for prayer, I invite you to read below for some context to the music for further reflection.

I recommend headphones or full range speakers both for listening quality and to provide some isolation from the noise and business so you can more easily enter into a quiet time with the Lord. Please leave a comment if The Distant Spire has been a benefit to you.

Doing should come out of being

It was this off-hand remark a friend made to me many years ago that inspired this piece of music. I had recently left a church that placed a heavy emphasis on church involvement and evangelism, having grown weary of the constant berating that we weren’t good enough. As I chatted to my friend and tried to make sense of how I had tried to conform to unrealistic expectations and been left feeling unworthy, he simply said, “doing should come out of being, not being out of doing”.

Thomas Merton framed this truth in terms of the life of action and the life of contemplation in his best selling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain. He prefaces this view with the following from Saint Thomas Aquinas:

“Saint Thomas taught that there were three vocations: that to the active life, that to the contemplative, and a third to a mixture of both, and that this last is superior to the other two.”

He explains that the contemplative life is chiefly concerned with the love of God, and that there is no act “more perfect or more meritorious”.

Merton says that the active life can be more perfect only if it is the result of an overflow of our love for God. However, “it does not dispense us from contemplation”. The active life comes first (practice of virtues, self-discipline and charity) and prepares us for contemplation, where we learn to rest, reflect and listen to God in quietness.

“Meditation is where love is set in order, so that we love our neighbour as ourselves, and God above everything. He who loves God loves prayer.”

St Alphonsos Ligouri

Merton points out that without exception, all of the saints known for their mystical, contemplative life such as St Thérèse, St John of the Cross, Saint Gregory and many others, their marriage of the soul with God gave them a “miraculous power, a smooth and tireless energy in working for God and for souls” and as a result changed the course of religion and secular history.

The life of contemplation and prayer is of the highest value, for the outflow will be not only a desire to act in the pure love of God, but those actions will result in a fruitfulness and effectiveness far beyond what we may accomplish without it. If we only find our identity in God through action, whether that be mission or other ministry it will lead to distorted thinking about our value, the value of our ministry and our motivation becomes selfish. Doing should come out of being, not being out of doing.

“The soul that loves intensely cannot remain inactive”. - St Thérèse of Lisieux

Additional Notes

I continue to seek in prayer to try and discern God’s will in my new found Catholic faith, and I have been greatly helped by regular retreats and day trips to New Norcia Benedictine Monastery. It has been such an integral part of my journey, and the Benedictine spirituality resonates with me so strongly, that I can’t help but sense it will continue to be a part of my Christian life going forward.

A Major Music Update

You will begin to see The Distant Spire tracks disappear over the next few weeks from Spotify, Apple Music, iHeartRadio etc. This decision comes after careful consideration over what direction I want to take in regard to this creative project and service to the Christian community. Going forward, music from The Distant Spire will be available in podcast format and Soundcloud as well as here on Substack (see links below). I believe these services provide the best way to access music for devotion like The Distant Spire.

It has never been my intention to monetise The Distant Spire so the loss of (meagre) income from streaming services does not bother me at all. I am however exploring options for listeners to support The Distant Spire financially if they would like to.

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God bless you and keep you,

D.A SigleyThe Distant Spire

Footnotes and Resources

Music written, recorded and produced by Dale Sigley ©2025

Scripture quotes from Revised Stand Version: Catholic Edition ©1989, 1993.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedistantspire.substack.com