The art of being lost is not a matter of merely getting lost, but rather being lost and enthusiastically surrendering to the unlimited potential of it and using it to your advantage. The shift from being lost to being found is a gradual one.
The way to encourage that shift is to first accept that you don't know how to get to the place you want to be and then opening fully to the place you are until the old goals fall away and you discover more soulful goals emerging. Then you are no longer lost, but you have benefited immensely from having been so.
~ Bill Plotkin from "The Art of Being Lost" in Soulcraft Musings #30 August 11, 2017
Breathe in serenity,
Exhale peace and contentment ...
Then Silence
will gather all the worlds within itself,
the waves will return to the ocean
of eternity.
And every word that has been spoken
about peace and love
will be recognized like a bright light
by the spirit that has come to rest.
"Peace, peace, be still" came to me today when everything about me seemed in crisis. Tense, worried, anxiously running to and fro, I was like a tumultuous sea. Surely when the surface water is disturbed, we cannot see what otherwise would be clearly visible in the sea's depths. "Peace, be still." I suddenly realized that as long as I was rushed and agitated, I could not see beyond the surface of my problems. As my emotions quieted, I realized that God also was present in the depths of my life, the course of everlasting love unhindered by my problems.
Wolves have what it takes to live in peace. They communicate lavishly. By gestures -- the smile, for instance -- and by sounds, from the big social howls to the conversational whimpers. They even seek to control by sound first, not biting. A full-grown wolf will plead with you not to take its possessions. And you in turn can plead with a wolf. It glances at your eyes, desists from what has displeased you and walks off as if indifferent.
The core of peace lives not in thoughts, not in deeds I do.
It lives inside my heart, in how I feel about me.
When I have learned to be at peace within myself,
then shall I radiate that peace to all.
Let me now go within to calm the inner sea.
May you live with love, strength, faith and wisdom ... and have enough to share with those in need. May you have songs to sing and also blessed silence and peace through every night.
Silence is the beginning of peace. It is in silence that we learn that there is more to life than life seems to offer. There is beauty and truth and vision wider than the present and deeper than the past that only silence can discover. Going into ourselves we see the whole world at war within us and begin to end the conflict. To understand ourselves, then, is to understand everyone else as well.
Noise protects us from confronting ourselves, but silence speaks the language of the heart.
SPRING BLESSINGS: season of new growth! The miracle of the world around us is an endless source of spiritual nourishment for those who are truly aware. What if our sole purpose, our soul purpose, our basic goal, is simply to be gardeners of the planet iin praise of diversity! Too simple! something to ponder in the silence of our hearts.
We are here because Love recognizes our value and knows what we can become, what we can give, what we can do that will bring new life, new vision, new spirit, new love to the world. The call in the lives of each of us is the call to treasure and value and love one another and all the other creatures and things of the Earth. It is the call to acknowledge and to act from that knowledge that each person is just as valued and just as loved as the next, and all are invited to participate in the communion of that love.
When I had my breakfast I would leave the door open in the summer and the birds would come right inside and pick up the crumbs around my feet. They had no fear of me at all. These birds also brought their families when ready. I later found out that this bird trust was because of my silence. Once I spoke to them, all went like the wind, and I praised God for such trust. Providing I remained silent they had no fear of me and I learned a great deal about their ways.
Every human being has an obligation to return to this planet and to all its creatures the sound of beauty, the power of prayer, the sense of harmony. In O PIONEERS!, Willa Cather reminds us of our need to believe in the good soil of our lives, to do what we can to wake it up and then to wait.
"The land had its little joke. It pretended to be poor because nobody knew how to work it right; and then all at once it worked itself. It woke up out of its sleep and stretched itself and it was so big, so rich, that we suddenly found we were rich, just from sitting still."
We can learn the same lesson from sitting still with the land of the heart. It, too, has its little jokes. We think it is poor soil because we don't know how to work it. When we learn to do our inner work, it will wake up and work itself. All we need is a PATIENT WAITING and a TENDER ABIDING.
Nature's perfect economy is at work in the unfurling of leaves, the structure of galaxies, and the emergence of a butterfly from a chrysalis. Universal patterns, forms and processes are embodiments of efficient harmonies, proportioned relatedness, and ways of sharing. By looking at the world in a certain way, we can see patterns of interconnectedness and come to realize that the world is not a collection of "things", but an unfolding creative process at the deepest level.
Gardening can provide an opportunity to slow down, be still, breathe, and connect with another form of life. For me, it is an experience of communion; I become one with this precious life in my garden, and it heightens my experience of love in the world. And that is what spirituality is all about: growing in love.
As you see the world as part of yourself
you will care for it;
As you see yourself as part of the world
you will be cared for.
When alone with your thoughts,
listen and hear the Silence.
Listen and see the Silence.
Listen and taste the Silence.
Close your eyes and feel the Silence
deep within.
Let the woodlands become your chapel --
your body the altar.
In the Silence, as you begin to
communicate with the Creator,
receive peace.
~ from a Seneca song with thanks to Richard Siebels
Responsible people are beginning to realize that the earth is an awesome mystery, ultimately as fragile as we are ourselves. ...That being so, there is need to be sensitive to the earth, for the earth identifies with our own suffering, exploitation of the earth is exploitation of the human, elimination of the aesthetic splendors of the earth is the diminishment of all existence.
If each of us opens the depths of our hearts to the Mystery of God in the concrete events of life, and then -- in freedom -- decides for the good, then fecundity of cosmos and nature will proceed from this very personal act. For Hildegard the human being -- body and soul -- is a microcosm of the great cosmos and is meant to be a creative member of the circle of life on this precious earth. Each personal decision affects all of us. It can contribute either to the healing of the planet or to a further shriveling up in separation, hopelessness, fear, and pollution. We are responsible not only to God and to each other but also to the elements.
Ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the air and they will tell you; or speak to the earth and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know the hand of God?
I found myself in a miniature inlet. An intense tranquility covered the scene. And yet -- within the tranquility, the lake and hills were burning with spiritual energy. The silence was almost palpable; still, the silence had a sound of its own, like a subterranean waterfall. I felt as if I had stepped back a million years in time; but the energy I felt was electric and immediate. ... The very wildness of the wilderness generates a spiritual field that connects us with the source from which all life evolved. To go into the wilderness, we must undertake a journey that purifies our senses and prepares us for the subtle lessons that the wilderness has to teach us.
~ Martin Hawes, author of ABOVE ME ONLY THE SKY (Tasmania) with thanks to Elaine Laforet
May we all receive the BLESSINGS of a listening heart, dear friends! For, as we cultiate our heart's ear to listen deeply in the Silence, we will begin to hear inner promptings of the indwelling Divine Guest.
To meditate is to become silent. In that inner quietness, you lose yourself in God's creation. You recognize the Creator in all of creation. ...To meditate is to keep on listening, listening, listening to God. To listen is to become lost in God, sensing God everywhere. To be silent is a form of being in love with God, and so is weeping in total surrender into immense love and longing for God.
~ From EVERYDAY MIRACLES IN THE HOUSE OF GOD by Mary Pat Fisher
There is a very important distinction to be made between listening and hearing. Sometimes we listen to things, but we never hear them. True listening brings us in touch even with that which is unsaid and unsayable. Sometimes the most important thresholds of mystery are places of silence. To be genuinely spiritual is to have great respect for the possibilities and presence of silence. ...When you listen with your soul, you come into rhythm and unity with the music of the universe.
When you are about to talk, wait a second and consult the indwelling Divine Guest and ...be like someone receiving a visit or listening; without knowing it, grace will be your guide. When you are questioned, swallow your reply and wait a second to hear what you should say; it is particularly when you talk that you must know how to listen. If you are going to see someone, pause for a moment so that you can take Another with you.
