There is love like a small lamp, which goes out when the oil is consumed; or like a stream which dries up when it doesn't rain. But there is a love like a mighty spring gushing up out of the earth; it keeps flowing forever, and is inexhaustible . . .
No separation between God and humans . . . a complete, mutual indwelling: I am in God, God is in you, you are in God, we are in each other. "I am the vine; you are the branches. Abide in me as I in you." . . . There is no separation between humans and God because of this mutual interabiding which expresses the indivisible reality of divine love. We flow into God--and Go into us--because it is the nature of love to flow. . . . The whole and the part live together in mutual, loving reciprocity, each belonging to the other and dependent on the other to show forth the fullness of love.
NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS, Dear Friends of Silence. What is your deepest, most heartfelt hope for this year? No doubt we all have many hopes and wishes as we usher in yet another new year. It is traditional to make "New Year’s Resolutions" when the year changes, but what if we made a list focused on our hopes for the year instead of making resolutions? What if we made only one resolution: to dwell in hope? How might we (and the world!) change if we truly live in hope? As we sit in silence daily, let’s reflect deeply on our hopes, for the world and for ourselves. We may be surprised by how it affects our lives and those around us!
Faith is a gift that comes, the gift of assurance that the powers of light have conquered and will keep on defeating the darkness. Hope is our own attitude of looking steadfastly toward that victory and trying to order our lives toward it. Faith and hope are far easier attitudes to live with than despair and disillusionment . . . so I deliberately choose to hope. Through hope and faith the inner journey has direction and a goal and meditation becomes a process of discovering the reality of Divine Love.
Hope is what sits by a window and waits for one more dawn, despite the fact that there is not one ounce of proof in tonight's black, black sky that it can possibly come.
We cannot avoid the question of integrity or wholeness to which all of us proceed. We cannot exclude anyone from the process of becoming fully human, neither a woman nor a man. Personal experience is essential. God gives us the ability to experience ourselves and to assume relationships. As we develop this, we learn to overcome the tensions and the difficulties in life; and those times when there is a lack of love, we are given hope. We experience hope. The great thing about all this is the hope and the realization that it is within our reach.
