Compassion is a kind of fire—it disturbs, it surprises, it ignites, it burns, it sears, and it warms. Compassion incinerates denial; it especially warms and melts cold hearts, cold structures, frozen minds, and self-satisfied lifestyles. Those touched by compassion have their lives turned upside down.
Her 1ife, which had been a series of pious works, had cloaked her in a kind of transparent whiteness. And in growing old she had acquired a kind of beauty of goodness. What had been thinness in her youth, was in her maturity a transparency, and this ethereal quality permitted glimmers of the angel dancing within.
What remain constant in every account of angels, from ancient days to the present, is that they are both messengers and companions to humans, sent from a realm beyond usual seeing. Angels appear, and in one way or another, help us, advise us, inspire us, or amaze us.
CALCUTTA: A beggar, half-conscious, is lying on a mat in a home for the dying. A nun is kneeling by his side, her delicate fingers wiping his forehead with a washcloth. She is a peasant whose eyes shine like the wings of a heron flying around the sun, a silence whose light soars through the darkness.
How can I describe the beggar's eyes as he summons all his strength to motion her to draw close? She obeys.
It takes the beggar a long time to whisper something in her ears: "I have lived . . . like an animal. Now I will die . . . like an angel." The beggar's final words.
WISHING YOU DEEP BLESSINGS in and of the Silence, dear friends! Listening in the Silence, we receive rest and renewal from the plethora of noise, words, and massive distractions in eery area of daily life. More than ever we NEED many quiet pauses during each day for our physical well-being, our peace of mind, and our spiritual nourishment. Wise are those who companion with Silence regularly. Let the still, small Voice within be a guide.
We are all joined in the holiness of the mind that God created. I therefore never consider myself one in the silence. I'm 88 and live alone in a four room house surrounded by open space. I have no TV and have always luxuriated in silence. The exterior silence is here. The interior silence is a work in progress.
