O God, creator of our land, . . . You have also pulled other continents out of the sea. What a wonderful world you have made out of wet mud, and what beautiful men and women! . . . The grace of your creation is like a cool day between rainy seasons. . . . Bless us. Bless our land and people. Bless our forests . . . Bless our fields . . . Bless the waters . . . Be with us in our countries and in all Africa, and in the whole world. Prepare us for the service that we should render.
In that moment of awareness, I had an epiphany, that the light we encounter on the road of death is our being in the act of coming home to itself. I understood that light is our natural state, but that we human beings must help each other as we move toward the shores of light. ...Being in the light is knowing we must get others into it. ...The light is where we belong. Everyone who is not in the light is looking forward to being there. So we leave the light to go and experience the need for light and thus come back to it anew.
~ from OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT by Malidoma Patrice Some
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