Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Awakening

When your soul awakens, you begin to truly inherit your life. You leave the kingdom of fake surfaces, repetitive talk and weary roles and slip deeper into the true adventure of who you are and who you are called to become. The greatest friend of the soul is the unknown. Yet we are afraid of the unknown because it lies outside our vision and our control. We avoid it or quell it by filtering it through our protective barriers of domestication and control. The normal way never leads home.
~ John O’Donohue 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Pentecost

Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179)
O Comforting Fire of Spirit
O comforting fire of Spirit,
Life, within the very Life of all Creation.
Holy you are in giving life to All.
Holy you are in anointing
those who are not whole;
Holy you are in cleansing
a festering wound.
O sacred breath,
O fire of love,
O sweetest taste in my breast
which fills my heart
with a fine aroma of virtues.
O most pure fountain
through whom it is known
that God has united strangers
and inquired after the lost.
O breastplate of life
and hope of uniting
all members as One,
O sword-belt of honor,
enfold those who offer blessing.
Care for those
who are imprisoned by the enemy
and dissolve the bonds of those
whom Divinity wishes to save.
O mightiest path which penetrates All,
from the height to every Earthly abyss,
you compose All, you unite All.
Through you clouds stream, ether flies,
stones gain moisture,
waters become streams,
and the earth exudes Life.
You always draw out knowledge,
bringing joy through Wisdom's inspiration.
Therefore, praise be to you
who are the sound of praise
and the greatest prize of Life,
who are hope and richest honor
bequeathing the reward of Light.

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Listening

Once Mother Theresa was asked 
what she said when she prayed. 

She answered that 
she didn’t say anything, 
she listened. 

When asked what God said to her, 
she said that God didn’t say anything; 
He listened back. 

She added that if you didn’t understand, 
she couldn’t explain it further. 

God speaks in the silence of the heart. 
Listening is the beginning of prayer.

~~Mother Theresa

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

For true followers of Islam, the most important jihad is the individual struggle with the ego, not the external battles that are in the news. The link below offers excellent commentary on this struggle. Muslims, just like Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. face the same struggle but we all often let the ego dominate our lives.

http://andrewcohen.org/blog/true-jihad#.UYZf72ckK14.email