I have over the years dismissed simple faith, viewing it as either ignorant or stagnant. Only lately have I begun to recognize a profound quality of simple faith and the dynamism and struggle involved. It is easy to complicate one's faith. The real challenge is to maintain faith in all its simplicity! Simple faith clearly is a leap across the chasm of unanswered questions. That is the beauty of it.
~ from "The Gift of Simple Faith" by Richard B. Patterson in Spiritual Life, Spring '98
My friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned all my limitations into beautiful privileges and enabled me to walk serene and happy in the shadow cast by my deprivation.
Friends have been defined as people who know you at your worst and like you anyway, people in whose company you can be yourself. But perhaps more than anything else, friends are people who care about you for who you are, not what you can do for them. There is a kind of holiness in true friendship, because it makes sure that we are never alone when we desperately need to not be alone.
~ from LIVING A LIFE THAT MATTERS by Harold S. Kushner
"You don't need a big sister," Lulu said, "you need a friend. I'd much rather be that."
"Okay," Emily muttered shyly. "Only I don't know why. I'm just a kid."
"You know things most adults don't even think of. You care about the same things I do. That's a lot of what a friend really is. And you're strong. I've needed that. And you share your world, and you don't judge it. Those are very grown-up things; and Emily, I can't name one of my so-called friends who have them all."
If you maintain a feeling of compassion, loving kindness, then something automatically opens your inner door. Through that, you can communicate more easily with other people. And that feeling of warmth creates a kind of openness. You'll find that all human beings are just like you, so you'll be able to relate to them more easily. That gives you a spirit of friendship.
I asked the old couple what secrets they could tell me about living long and well. At first they looked at each other and laughed, then he declared,
"Things are as they are. I know my wife and she knows me. We don't hide from each other. We don't ask each other lots of questions, we aren't anxious, running around all the time. Everything is open between us. We say our prayers and do our work. Most of the day I am outside, and she is inside, and when we unite, we enjoy our company, thanks be to God."
"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard?"
Blessings of spring, awakening anew in our lives, dear companions on the Journey.
May our prayers include pauses of simply be-ing ... of gratitude in the Silence for the present moment of life, nature's gifts, and Love-ever-with-us. Throughout each day may we be mindful of our thoughts, for strong thought--positive or negative--are, in a real sense, our prayers. As has been wisely observed, "as we thinketh, so we become." Thoughts, like prayer, radiate energy that matters, depending on our focus, intensity, intention, and accompanying source of reception. May our prayers be from the heart, breathed into the Silence ... May our thoughts be loving, gentle, and kind ... May both our prayers and thoughts lead us to fulfillment: service and sharing wherever we meet a need ... May our gifts and creativity grow in the Silence.
