Mattie Stepanik is a personal friend and one of the most remarkable young people I have known. He wanted to be a peacemaker and through his poems and own courageous example, he proves that finding peace within one's self can lead to harmony among families, communities, and nations. With wisdom and uncomplicated vision Mattie reminds us how easy it is to forgive others, to find something amazing even in the most trivial things, and to celebrate the little gifts of each day.
~ President Jimmy Carter in JOURNEY THROUGH HEARTSONGS by Mattie Stepanik (age 10)
All living creatures are sparks from the radiation of God’s brilliance, and these sparks emerge from God like the rays of the sun. If God did not give off these sparks, how would the divine flame become fully visible?
"I have just the question for you: who are you?" "I just told you," said the young man. "No, you told me about the clothes you wear. You told me your name, where you’re from, what you've done, the things you've studied. Your problem is, you don’t know who you are. Let me tell you who you are. You are a ray of God's own light."
You can visualize God's light each day and send it to someone who needs help. Your divine nature must reach out and touch the divine nature of another. Within you is the light of the world. It must be shared with the world.
I slowly began to make out forms and shapes, and the shapes soon became brighter until I was in a world of just light . . . As I flowed like mercury into the center of this light field, I knew I was Home! I had been there before. At the center of this awesome experience was a round ball of living water. I stepped into the middle of this ball of light-filled water just as I was asked to return. I know I'll go back there… I didn’t want to return, I was so alive.
I started to compose the opening of "Fos" (light) and I had the idea of a string trio playing in the distance which would represent the soul yearning for God. The choir represented God in uncreated energies. This yearning choir is played by the string trio which is cut off by the joy/sorrow chord by the choir singing the word "Fos," light, light, light, light, light -- until it becomes an expanded light separated from all yet united to all, and moving straight into the second section, Doxa: symbolizing the glory of that Light filling everything with light.
Warm greetings and deep peace to you, dear friends of silence. As we approach this season of awe and joy, we look around at our wounded world and wonder, "Where is peace today?" It can be so very difficult to find, when all around us we are witnessing the chaos of natural disasters, wars and conflicts. We must turn within; there is much truth in some of the catch-phrases used today, like "Peace begins with me" and "Be the peace you wish to see in the world." Peace is our divine birthright: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you . . ." Let us turn within, we lovers of silence, and claim peace for ourselves, for only when each of us is peace can there be peace in the world.
As one progresses on the path, one seeks silence more and more. It will be a great comfort, a tremendous source of solace and peace . . . Here finally is the place where you need neither defense nor offense -- the place where you can truly be open. There will be bliss, wonder, the awe of attaining something pure and sacred . . . This is the peace that seems to elude so many.
When many agree that peace is possible, heaven will grow from a weak and helpless concept to a manifested experience involving an entire planetary family.
~ from DESCENT OF THE DOVE by Ann Valentin & Virginia Essene
Sean, my Yogic Irish dairy farmer, explained our chaotic world to me in this way. "Imagine that the universe is a great spinning engine," he said. "You want to stay near the core of the thing -- right in the hub of the wheel -- not out at the edges where all the wild whirling takes place, where you can get frayed and crazy. The hub of calmness -- that's your heart. That’s where God lives within you. So stop looking for answers in the world. Just keep coming back to that center and you'll always find peace."
To be at one with God is to be at peace . . . Peace is to be found only within, and unless one finds it there one will never find it at all. Peace lies not in the external world. It lies within one’s own soul.
In finding peace and recognizing the light in yourself, we say there's a hearth in your heart where the Creator has given you something very sacred, a special gift, a special duty, an understanding. And now is the time for us to clean out those hearths, to let that inner light glow.
Peace is every step. The shining red sun is my heart. Each flower smiles with me. How green, how fresh all that grows. How cool the wind blows. Peace is every step. It turns the endless path to joy.
All that matters is to be at one with the living God to be a creature in the house of the God of Life. Like a cat asleep on a chair at peace, in peace . . . feeling the presence of Peace like a great assurance a deep calm in the heart a presence as of the master sitting at the board in his own and great being in the house of life.
We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate . . . on the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody that is far superior to the discords of war. Somehow, we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle . . . to a positive contest to harness humanity's creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all the nations of the world. . . . If we have a will -- and determination -- to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto tightly sealed doors of hope and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment.
Inner peace is not found by staying on the surface of life, or by attempting to escape from life through any means. Inner peace is found by facing life squarely, solving its problems, and delving as far beneath the surface as possible to discover its verities and realities.
Everyone thirsts for peace, but few people understand that perfect peace cannot be obtained as long as the inner soul is not filled with the presence of God.
The essence of nonviolence, the lack of any impulse to harm, lies in the peace passing understanding at the heart of all of us and of every religious tradition. From that place ensues trust in the unfolding process of life, at the same time as action to the greater good. It is the source of action because compassion naturally arises from wisdom and wisdom is the nature of that place. Compassion is being moved, literally, to act for the greater good.
Greetings and gratitude, dear friends! As Thanksgiving approaches and we are reminded of our many blessings, you, our community at large, immediately come to mind. In our noisy world, how difficult it sometimes seems to find the silence that feeds our souls! We are surrounded by so many bells and buzzers, alerts and reminders -- telephones, doorbells, computer prompts and all kinds of warning beeps, the roar of traffic, radio and TV. How comforting, then, to think of all of you "out there” and recall that we all carry within us the silence we so need. We can meet together in that silent inner space at any time, wait together for the one sound that matters: that still, small voice that speaks always to those who take the time to listen. Let us gather there often.
