Category: Uncategorized

Choose

Right now, you have to choose.

Will you be happy or sad?

Peaceful or stressful?

Positive or negative?

You must choose, right now, what you will be.

And in another minute, or ten minutes, or hour,

You will have to choose again.

This is what life is.

Over and over and over again.

And for some reason,

We have a hard time learning this.

And hardly anyone teaches us this.

And despite moments of clarity,

We forget this.

We forget

How powerful we are.

How strong we can be.

How happy we can be.

How happy we are

Right now.

Basket Full of Holes

     A brother in Scete happened to commit a fault, and the elders assembled, and sent for Abbot Moses to join them.  He, however, did not want to come.  The priest sent him a message, saying: Come, the community of the brethren is waiting for you.  So he arose and started off.  And taking with him a very old basket full of holes, he filled it with sand, and carried it behind him.  The elders came out to meet him, and said: What is this, Father?  The elder replied: My sins are running out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I come to judge the sins of another!  They, hearing this, said nothing to the brother but pardoned him.

     One of the elders was asked what was humility, and he said: If you forgive a brother who has injured you before he asks pardon.

 

– Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert: Sayings from the Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century

Children and Religion

Children’s Letters to God
These charming items are often circulated as an anonymously written piece; but they are actually excerpts from a lovely book by Stuart Hample & Eric Marshall, Children’s Letters to God (Workman Publishing, 1991 and reprints); here are a few sample messages:

Dear God, I read the Bible. What does begat mean? Nobody will tell me. Love, Allison.

Dear God, Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don’t You keep the ones You already have now? Jane.

Dear God, Maybe Cain and Abel would not have killed each other if they had their own rooms. That’s what my Mom did for me and my brother. Larry.

Dear God, If You watch me in church on Sunday, I’ll show You my new shoes. Mickey.

Dear God, I bet it is very hard to love everyone in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I’m having a hard time loving all of them. Nan.

Dear God, Are You really invisible or is it just a trick? Lucy.

Dear God, Did You mean for the giraffe to look like that or was it an accident? Norma.

Dear God, I went to this wedding and they kissed right in the church. Is that OK? Neil.

Dear God, Did You really mean “do unto others as they do unto you”? Because if You did, then I’m going to get my brother good. Darla.

Dear God, Thank You for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy. Joyce.

Dear God, I think about You sometimes, even when I’m not praying. Elliot.

Dear God, My brother told me about being born but it doesn’t sound right. They’re just kidding, aren’t they? Marsha.

Dear God, I didn’t think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset You made on Tuesday. That was cool. Eugene.

Source: http://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/Spiritual_Humor.html

The Strength to Carry On

     “When you’re looking for the strength to carry on, think about what’s most important in your life, and it will help to carry the load.”

— Excerpted from The Truth as I See It: A Collection of Spiritual Writings by Adam Soto (p. 56)

 

Copyright 2018 Golden Rule Independent Publications

Letting Nothing Stand In Our Way

     “To be right, we must do one of two things: either we must learn to have God in our work and hold fast to him there, or we must give up our work altogether. Since, however, we cannot live without activities that are both human and various, we must learn to keep God in everything we do, and whatever the job or place, keep on with him, letting nothing stand in our way.”

– Meister Eckhart

Source: https://www.bmcm.org/inspiration/thought-day/to-be-right-we-must-do-one-of-two-things/