We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake,
not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.
Henry David Thoreau
Tag: Life
Sunday Quote: Give in to joy
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. ….
Whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty.
Joy is not made to be a crumb.
Mary Oliver, Swan: Poems and Prose Poems
All around
All has been consecrated.
The creatures in the forest know this,
the earth does, the seas do, the clouds know
as does the heart full of love.
Strange a priest would rob us of this
knowledge
and then empower himself
with the ability
to make holy what
already was.
St Catherine of Siena (1347–1380),
in Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God:Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West
Look within
Now, more than ever, we need to develop our own inner resources:
Every man has his own courage,
and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons.
Emerson
Being thankful
Years ago I had a Buddhist teacher in Thailand who would remind all his students that there was always something to be thankful for. He’d say, “Let’s rise and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we may have learned a little. And if we didn’t learn even a little, at least we didn’t get sick. And if we did get sick, at least we didn’t die. So let us all be thankful”.
Leo Buscaglia, Born for Love: Reflections on Loving.
Everything is as it should be.
An old man was asked, “What is it necessary to do to be saved?”
He was making rope, and without looking up from the work, he replied, “You are looking at it.”
Salvation is an everyday ordinary experience. If Christianity really does proclaim good news, then the good news is that everything is redeemed. Nothing is condemned. All that is left to do is to realize it. No condition of life precludes happiness. No condition of life increases it. For a given individual, making rope is as holy and effective and expressive as any ritual religious act. The simple act of making rope, or washing dishes, or walking to the office, or talking on the phone, does not imply anything other than itself. Nor is it meant to. Everything is as it should be. Give up the search. It is right here. It is obvious.
Gregory Mayers, Listen to the Desert: Secrets of Spiritual Maturity from the Desert Fathers and Mothers
