Tag: balance

What peace means

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The Christian calendar today remembers the story in the gospel of Matthew which tells how King Herod ordered the killing of all the children in an attempt to murder Jesus. It is striking that this feast day is celebrated just a few  days after the celebration of Christmas, which is associated with joy. It draws attention to the reality of our changing experience, that sadness can follow joy very quickly, or disappointment come when least expected. Or maybe to the reality of the world, as many people experience violence and hatred every day, no matter what time of year.

To experience peace does not mean that your life is always blissful.

It means that you are capable of tapping into a blissful state of mind amidst the normal chaos of a hectic life.

Jill Boite Taylor, American neuroanatomist. 

The eyes of a child

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One way to have good perspective is to see the world through the eyes of a child. We innocently report. We accept how others think and feel. If something is had or sad, or we’re scared, we say that. We say how we feel and what we want and need. We know that when we’re tired, we see things out of focus. And when things get too difficult, we either go play in the park or we take a nap.

Somehow we know that everything will work out.

Melody Beattie

A link with the infinite

Karl Duffy2 Comments

Are we related to something infinite or not? That is the telling question of our life. If we understand and feel that here in this life we already have a link with the infinite, desires and attitudes change. In the final analysis, we count for something only because of the essential we embody, and if we do not embody that, life is wasted.

Carl Jung

Sunday Quote: Relax

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Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.

 William s. Burroughs, American author, died 1997

Mid-Winter wisdom

Karl Duffy5 Comments

Sometimes withdrawal and letting go is as much part of growth as is achievement and moving forward:

There is a tendency to want to hurry from autumn to spring, to avoid the long dark days that winter brings. But winter darkness has a positive side to it. As we gather to celebrate the first turn from winter to spring, we are invited to recognize and honor the beauty in the often unwanted season of winter. Let us invite our hearts to be glad for the courage winter proclaims. Let us be grateful for the wisdom winter brings in teaching us about the need for withdrawal as an essential part of renewal. Let us also encourage our spirits as Earth prepares to come forth from this time of withdrawal into a season filled with light.

Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr, The Circle of Life

The days shorten: living fully

Karl Duffy3 Comments

Most of us have spent our lives caught up in plans, expectations, ambitions for the future; in regrets, guilt or shame about the past.

To come into the present is to stop the war.

Jack Kornfield