God is love. God is unspeakable inner joy and bliss. To be with God is to be without needs, for all is fullness and union. When one is with God, there is nowhere else to go, for one is home. One rests in an inner cascade of peace and light. All yearning comes from our desire to join with God, to be full, at peace, joyous, and home. May you know Love in your heart!
The power of quiet is great. It generates the same feelings in everything one encounters. It vibrates with the cosmic rhythm of oneness. It is everywhere, available to anyone at any time. It is us, the force within that makes us stable, trusting and loving. It is contemplation contemplating us. Peace is letting go -- returning to the silence that cannot enter the realm of words because it is too pure to be contained in words. This is why the tree, the stone, the river and the mountain are quiet.
~ from OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT by Malidoma Patrice Some
An old Rabbi once asked the pupils how they could tell when night had ended and day had begun.
"Could it be," asked one of the students, "When you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?"
"No," answered the Rabbi.
Another asked, "Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance and tell whether it's a fig tree or a peach tree?"
”No," answered the Rabbi.
"Then when is it?" the pupils demanded.
"It is when you can look on the face of any man or woman and see that it is your sister or brother. Because if you cannot see this, it is still night."
~ Hasidic tale told in PEACEMAKING DAY BY DAY by Pax Christi 0966628551
The task of making peace ... is not just a matter of realpolitik; it is a matter also of spirit. It requires us not only to deal with the practicalities of our place in the cosmic order of things. We must know who we are and what we are doing -- know not only with the intellect, but with our whole being, in the way that mystics have always achieved the knowledge that has given our species its deepest guidance.
Deep peace of the Running Wave to you.
Deep peace of the Flowing Air to you.
Deep peace of the Quiet Earth to you.
Deep peace of the Shining Stars to you.
Deep peace of the Heart of Love to you.
Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth,
Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust,
Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace,
Let peace fill our hearts, our world, our universe.
Heartfelt greetings, dear frinds, as Friends of Silence newsletter begins its nineth year. May this be a new beginning of PEACE in the quietude of our hearts ... a peace that radiates out to our suffering sisters and brothers around the world. "Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me!"
For, the soul tastes the supreme joy of being, not only in the cave of the heart, but also in the endless multiplicity of her contacts with the world and nature of which she is part. Every moment is a sacrament of eternity; every event a sign and a sacrament of the perfect Bliss; for nothing in the universe can escape being transformed by Divine Love at every moment of time. In the crucible of faith and love, all our joys, the greatest as well as the least, and our sorrows, too, are taken up into the one eternal Joy in the heart of God and in the hearts of saints.
Joy is a gift from Universe and Divinity.
Sorrow and Pain are there for the healing.
Through touching of the heart,
the Heart is Opened.
Then the Knowledge may enter,
To return the seeker to Balance.
Watch now, for the Joy and Sorrow
dance together,
And in that is their dissolution,
Leaving nothing to perceive by Truth.
Embrace the Truth, for always it is precisely
who you are in your Eternal Being.
When you live life from your center, you operate from the indwelling spirit outwards into the visible world, like the spokes of a wheel, radiating God's love, wisdom and power. This is what is meant by being in the world but not of it. You remain calm in a crisis. You carry this calmness with you through the ordinary activities of the day, even when things go wrong... Centered in peace, you experience JOY... This is the culmination of growth in being. What you ARE, far more than what you say or do, will be the witness of your faith.
When selfishness vanishes, all you want from life is to give. It is a constant source of joy. Not that you are blind to sorrow. Personal suffering is gone, but for that very reason there is no barrier separating you from the suffering of others. And that immense empathy releases intense action. "What one takes in by contemplation," Eckhart says, "one pours out in love." You live to give, to alleviate the sorrow and improve the lives of those around you, and in that giving is more joy than the world knows. It is the perfect fusion of the inward and outward currents of life, of meditation and action.
If we are committed in our lives to the force of lovingkindness, then people know that they can trust us. We will not deceive them; we will not harm them. By being a beacon of trustworthiness in this world, we become a safe haven for others. We become a good friend to people, and can experience the JOY of intimacy with life.
Essentially, prayer is attentiveness to God, and this has various degrees, from weak or faltering to total. This attentive attitude is itself the fruit of love; God's love becomes the dominant commitment of the will. The person has achieved purity of heart and spiritual wholeness. Joy takes hold of the heart, transmuting every moment into the irresistible attraction and power of divine love.
Unless we can give up the old life, we can never experience the new. In our youth, we lived in the today and looked forward to the future and the challenge it would hold. As we matured, we became hypnotized by repetition and the habits of everyday life, feeling secure in our routine. So many times we find ourselves settling for what is a full cup of yesterdays. If you desire JOY in your life, have the courage to empty the cup of yesterdays so that it might be filled with the newness of today.
~ from CREATIVE THOUGHTS FOR INNER PEACE by William Thompson
A joyful mind is very ordinary and relaxed... When your aspiration is to lighten up, you begin to have a sense of humor. Things just keep popping your serious state of mind. In addition to a sense of humor, a basic support for a joyful mind is curiosity, paying attention, taking an interest in the world around you... Noticing everything. Appreciate everything, including the ordinary. That's how to click in with JOYfulness.
All meditation aims to bring the person, mind and body to silence, stillness and simplicity of spirit by means of an inner "object of attention". The act of attention is the inner sacrifice, and the work of paying attention is the school of letting go. The utter simplicity of such a way to joy and peace makes one laugh. God seduces us by simplicity.
I would not dance, unless Thou leadest me.
Wouldst Thou that I spring mightily,
Then must Thou sing for me.
Thus will I leap into love,
From love into knowledge into joy,
From joy beyond all human senses.
During this season may we pause
To feel the presence of Love,
See the Light of spiritual awareness,
And enjoy the peace of our Universe
As we recognize our Oneness with everything.
May PEACE and JOY be with each one of you, friends! And may you gift yourself this season with times to be still and enter into the Inner Sanctuary of your heart, that in the Silence you may awaken to a new birth of JOY.
Forgiveness means "to give up resentment against". When we give up our resentment against another person, we are consciously choosing to not allow that person to exercise the power to make us angry. Forgiveness acknowledges that we are ultimately responsible for the world we create and how we feel about it... Through forgiveness we encounter the frail essence of the other ... this creates fertile ground where miracles occur, where avowed enemies join hands as friends.
