Sunday Quote: Already here

We devour heaven in bites too small to be measured.

 Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost

Our small efforts

As I gaze on the icon of Mother and child, I realize that despite the enormous difficulty the world has always been in, Christ as a child was content to be in the world in the arms of one woman, his mother.

God’s action in the world is sufficient while operating in the limited dimensions of one individual, here shown contented in the arms of his mother.

Paul Quenon, Matter of the Heart, A Monk’s Journal, – a lovely profound book of reflections.

a fantasy world

As I grew up, I experimented with many traditional religious patterns. I soon discovered that, too often, form only has been preserved at the expense of content. Many “religious” people, as a result, are more interested in romantic projection and fulfilment of stereotypes than in learning the difficult self-forgetfulness of the exchange of Love with the Other.

They use religion to make themselves feel good, and call it the search for God. They invest all their energy to create a fantasy world where they will not experience any pain.

Maggie Ross, Seasons of Death and Life: A Wilderness Memoir

Following the star

The important thing is not the finding, it is the seeking,

it is the devotion with which one spins the wheel of prayer and scripture, discovering the truth little by little.

If this machine gave you the truth immediately, you would not recognize it.

Ursula K. Le Guin

The spark

Do not worry if all the candles in the world flicker and die

we have the spark that starts the fire.

Rumi

a still heart

In the still heart

that refuses nothing,

the world is twice born.  

Jane Hirshfield