The Pursuit of God

The person who has God for his treasure has all things
in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or
if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them
will be so tempered that they will never be necessary
to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after
one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss.
- A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), "The Pursuit of God"

The Unitive State

"In that unitive state there is neither father nor mother, neither worlds nor gods nor even Scriptures. In that state there is neither thief nor slayer, neither low caste nor high, neither monk nor ascetic. The Self is beyond good and evil, beyond all the suffering of the human heart."

~Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

Love

Let us keep this truth before us.
You say you have no faith?
Love--and faith will come.
You say you are sad?
Love--and joy will come.
You say you are alone?
Love--and you will break out of your solitude.
You say you are in hell?
Love--and you will find yourself in heaven.
Heaven is love.

~Carlo Caretto, In Search of the Beyond

Living Out of Love

"I think that those who serve most potently work on levels of consciousness that have to do with radiating love--maybe God's love. My own experience is that people who work with love operate on some level deeper than the conscious. It is important that you have a brain and use it, but that is secondary. The basic premise is that you allow something to come through to you. Then you use your intelligence to give your work form, to give your heart's work discipline and logic. But the transformative energy, that which can change events, that heals, that helps, that serves, comes from somewhere deep inside."


~Julie Glover

The God who made giraffes

Whence comes this idea that if what we are doing
is fun, it can't be God's will? The God who made
giraffes, a baby's fingernails, a puppy's tail,
a crooknecked squash, the bobwhite's call, and a
young girl's giggle, has a sense of humor. Make no
mistake about that.
- Catherine Marshall (1914-1983), "Joy,"

Beauty

"There is order, balance, harmony and great beauty all around, but beauty is an inside job--inner awareness leads to outer perception. Beauty is a living, vibrant force--your passport to a more joyous life. You are an avenue, an instrument of beauty. Let the beauty of God and God's creation be expressed through you and in your life.


~Joyce Kramer, Open Your Life to Beauty

the path of self-renunciatioT

[Christ] looks today, as He has ever looked,
not for crowds drifting aimlessly in His track,
but for individual men and women whose undying
allegiance will spring from their having recognized
that He really wants only those who are prepared
to follow the path of self-renunciation which He
trod before them.
- H. A. Evan Hopkins, "Henceforth: the Meaning of
Christian Discipleship"

Trust and Surrender

"I was lying in bed one day, thinking about my death, wondering if I'd be conscious enough to talk to my children, what I'd want to leave to them; famous last words, as it were.

The key word is trust. Trust everything that happens in life, even those experiences that cause pain, will serve to better you in the end. It's easy to lose the inner vision, the greater truths, in the face of tragedy. There really is no such thing as suffering simply for the sake of suffering. Along with developing a basic trust in the rhyme and reason of life itself, I advise you to trust your intuition. It is a far better guide in the long run than your intellect.

Next on my list is to learn what love is. It is complete and utter surrender. That's a big word, surrender. It doesn't mean letting people walk all over you, take advantage of you. It's when we surrender control, let go of our egos, that all the love in the world is there waiting for us. Love is not a game; it's a state of being."

~Henry Miller, Reflections

Wonder how far it is to God

Never again are we to look at the stars, as we did when
we were children, and wonder how far it is to God. A
being outside our world would be a spectator, looking
on but taking no part in this life where we try to be
brave despite all the bafflement. A God whocreated, and
withdrew, could be mighty, but he could not be love.
Who could love a God remote, when suffering is our lot?
Our God is closer than our problems, for they are out
there, to be faced; He is here, beside us, Emmanuel.
- Joseph E. McCabe (b. 1912), "Handel's Messiah"

Their Arms

"the arms of the trees, their hands,
their very fingertips reached into the sky and
grabbed my heart. somewhere up there.
we danced. the trees, god and me."

~terri st. cloud

The Uncloistered Monk

"Love all the earth, every ray of God's light, every grain of sand or blade of grass, every living thing. If you love the earth enough, you will know the Divine mystery."

(The monk on his death bed from The Brothers Karamozov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

On his death bed, the monk talks about what he learned through living a spiritual life. It was about love. Not that it is easy. It is about opening your heart and paying attention.

I wonder if it is easier to do that living in a monastery, not that I am inclined to do that, but I wonder.

"It is not an easy task, but a most rewarding one, to bless the marketplace with a contemplative presence. It seems to me that the life of work and prayer is not only possible, but greatly enhanced by standing firm in the real world with one's being anchored solidly in the Ultimate Reality. It is the harmony of the universe that echoes in the heart of the 'new monk' who works and prays, lives and loves, re-creates and recreates in the center of the present world. The mystical monastery is the whole of society; the marketplace is one of its cloisters. The Holy Rule of the New Monk is the solid perspective of the spiritual practice embraced."

~Theresa Mancuso from A Monastic Life