Service to God

To give God the service of the body and not of the
soul - is hypocrisy. To give God the service of the
soul and not of the body is sacrilege. To give God
neither is atheism and to give God both is worship.
- Anonymous

The one thing to learn

(Jesus) feared nothing for Himself; and never once
employed His divine power to save Himself from His
human fate. Let God do that for Him if He saw fit.
He did not come into the world to take care of
Himself...His life was of no value to Him but as His
Father cared for it. God would mind all that was
necessary for Him, and He would mind the work His Father
had given Him to do. And, my friends, this is just the
one secret of a blessed life, the one thing every person
comes into this world to learn.
- George Macdonald

Tipping Point

Our world is in a swirl of chaos. It is interesting, though, in chaos theory--the science of chaotic change--there is always a "tipping point." This is the place where the chaos "tips over" into a new state. It bifurcates in one of two directions: either toward higher order organization and change or it descends into anarchy beyond repair.

The question is, of course, which way is our world moving? The answer is, of yet, unknown--but it does appear that the tipping point (or maybe multiple tipping points) have been reached. For example, who would have imagined that the self-emolation of one lone fruit seller on the streets of the Tunisian capital, abused by some governmental official, would have been the tipping point to send the whole Middle East in a new chaotic direction? That indignity, and his response of setting himself on fire, has up-ended the old order of things and sent the social and political world of the Middle East in an entirely new direction. The full outcome is, as of yet, unknown. There are signs of higher order organization and change but also of anarchy.

The same is true in Japan. Who would have imagined an earthquake, that sent a tsunami, that breached a nuclear reactor wall, would trigger such monumental change in that country?

In both cases, the story is still being told, but the fact is, we are beyond the tipping point now--the narrative unfolds and we are awaiting outcomes. In our own ways, our responses determine the shape of things to come. May we have eyes to see and hearts to respond.

Hidden from the proud

It is not that we keep His commandments first,
and that then He loves; but that He loves us,
and then we keep His commandments. This is
that grace, which is revealed to the humble,
but hidden from the proud.
- St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), "Lectures
or Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John,
vol. ii"

Have patience with yourself

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have
patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in
considering your own imperfections, but instantly
set about remedying them--every day begin the
task anew.
- François de Sales (1567-1622)

Stir oneself to will what God wills

It is clear that he does not pray, who, far from
uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall
lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer not
to stir oneself to will what God wills, but only
to persuade God to will what one wills.
- Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

In the measure you have received

It is not in the gifts He received but in the virtues
He practiced that Christ is our model. That which is
asked of you, so that you may resemble Him, is to make
the same use as He did of the gifts of God, according
to the measure in which you have received them.
- Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803)

One grand providence

God's care is more evident in some instances of
[His providence] than in others to the dim and
often bewildered vision of humanity. Upon such
instances we seize and call them providences. It
is well that we can; but it would be gloriously
better if we could believe that the whole matter
is one grand providence.
- George MacDonald (1824-1905), "Annals of a
Quiet Neighbourhood, v. I"

From a Catholic Contemplative

"I believe we carry within a Divine Life that calls us into a fuller life of love than we generally imagine possible. Jesus and other great spiritual teachers have tried to covey this to us, but theirs can be a message that seems almost 'too good to be true' most days. Often it can feel like quite a struggle to believe in our calling to be a revalation of the Divine, a light to the world, to put it in a poetic form. Humans have been called by Roman Catholic theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 'Earth come to consciousness'.

It can feel like a tall order at times to live into our collective call as human beings when we must face our own imperfections.

Yet, I believe that ultimately faith is about trust in a Divine Presence, who is Mystery that we can know only in part and who we come to know in diverse ways. It is also about trust in that Divinity at work within us, even in our broken condition, forgiving our weaknesses, and beckoning us to newness of life and deepening love through a transforming Holy Spirit at work in us, and in all creation.

I have come to understand that we are in 'paradigm shifting' times that call for a sincere sensitivity to one another's stories, experiences and new learnings."

~Eileen Knoff at Spiritual Directions, LLC

Alas, it is worse than that

It is often supposed that when people stop
believing in God, they believe in nothing.
Alas, it is worse than that. When they stop
believing in God, they believe in anything.
- Gilbert Keith G. K. Chesterton

Consciousness and Ancient Cosmology

The following excerpt is from a more lengthy article on the Ions website: http://noetic.org/noetic/issue-eight-march/ancient-cosmology-a-map-of-the-future/

I highly recommend it as a way of providing a much more expansive perspective on the cycles of history/development.

"This means we are now awakening from a time when individual consciousness perceived itself as purely a physical form, living in a strictly physical universe, to a time when we begin to see ourselves and the universe as more transparent and mostly made up of subtle energy. This began with the discoveries of the Renaissance (principles of electricity, laws of gravitation, etc.) and has accelerated with the emergence of quantum physics, which shows us that matter and energy are interchangeable and proves Einstein's concepts that even time and space are relative. In short, we are back on the upswing, just beginning to 're-member' ourselves as pure consciousness living in a world of undreamed of possibilities."

A quickness in detecting evil

The habit of judging is so nearly incurable,
and its cure is such an almost interminable
process, that we must concentrate ourselves
for a long while on keeping it in check, and
this check is to be found in kind interpretations.
We must come to esteem very lightly our sharp
eye for evil, on which perhaps we once prided
ourselves as cleverness. We must look at our
talent for analysis of character as a dreadful
possibility of huge uncharitableness. We are
sure to continue to say clever things, so long
as we continue to indulge in this analysis;
and clever things are equally sure to be sharp
and acid. We must grow to something higher,
and something truer, than a quickness in detecting evil.
- Frederick W. Faber

What Is Spiritual Work

All work is spiritual. Life itself is spiritual work. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are here in time and space to realize ourselves, to become what we truly are, and to serve as a medium for the evolution of consciousness. Even so it is better to be aware that we are indeed spiritual beings with a potential for evolution than to be merely at the mercy of chance or destiny. It is better to gain higher knowledge, by which we realize that suffering is the outcome of attachments and delusions and that the only "sins" are ignorance of the truth and lack of love. It is important to know our true purpose, which is to manifest the glory of the Absolute and to express our particular soul nature and our special talents. It helps to know that we can indeed be joyful, grow whole, gain access to our higher faculties, and enjoy a larger life full of growth, potential and energy.

~Astrid Fitzgerald

A Greater Purpose

I don't believe the purpose of life is just to be happy. Why would God take fourteen billion years to produce highly evolved sentient life forms that would ultimately develop the extraordinary capacity for self-reflective awareness, simply in order for them to experience happiness? It's my conviction that we are here for a reason, that there is a grand purpose to our presence in the universe, and that none of us are going to truly find what we are looking for unless we get over our misguided pursuit of personal happiness and connect with that greater sense of purpose-that unlimate reason for being.

~Andrew Cohen

Unity

Having realized his own self as the Self a person becomes selfless.

~Maitrayana Upanishad

For these lesser goals

Sin arises when things that are a minor good are pursued
as though they were the most important goals in life. If
money or affection or power are sought in disproportionate,
obsessive ways, then sin occurs. And that sin is magnified
when, for these lesser goals, we fail to pursue the highest
good and the finest goals. So when we ask ourselves why,
in a given situation, we committed a sin, the answer is
usually one of two things. Either we wanted to obtain
something we didn't have, or we feared losing something we had.
- Augustine

Silence

Remain silent, and you sink into a realm of shadows; speak, and you fall into a deep pit. Try, and you're as far away as sky from earth; give up, and you'll never attain. Enormous waves go on and on, foaming breakers flood the skies. Who's got the bright pearl that calms the oceans?

- I Ching

Our God is often too small

Our God is often too small because he is too religious.
We imagine that he is chiefly interested in religion -
in religious buildings (churches and chapels), religious
activities (worship and ritual), and religious books
(Bibles and prayer books). Of course he is concerned about
these things, but only if they are related to the whole
of life. According to the Old Testament prophets and the
teaching of Jesus, God is very critical of 'religion," if
by that is meant religious services divorced from real life,
loving service and the moral obedience of the heart.
- John R. W. Stott