From the viewpoint of BELIEFS all doubts are disastrous. From the viewpoint of FAITH, doubt is the indispensable stimulant. To lose one's BELIEFS may not be a loss but a gain: an opportunity. "When the heart weeps for what it has lost, the spirit laughs for what it has gained," is an ancient Sufi saying. To lose one's FAITH, however, is catastrophic; the loss of this vital human constituent means mutilation, dehumanization, cynicism, nihilism.
~ from A LITTLE COMPENDIUM ON THAT WHICH MATTERS by Frederick Franck
We are striving for humility in our lives, to draw closer to God . . . It is not an accident that the humus, or the soil, comes from the same word. It's the base from which everything grows. Gardening and the spiritual life go together.
