The story is told of a father who had twin sons. One son was an optimist, the other a pessimist.

     On the twins’ birthday, while the boys were at school, the father loaded the pessimist’s room with every imaginable toy and game. The optimist’s room he loaded with horse manure.

     That night the father passed by the pessimist’s room and found him sitting amid his new gifts crying bitterly.

     “Why are you crying?” the father asked.

     “Because my friends will be jealous, and I’ll have to read the instructions, and I’ll constantly need batteries, and my toys will get broken,” answered the pessimist.

     Passing the optimist’s room, the father found him dancing for joy in the pile of manure. “What are you so happy about?” asked the father.

     To which the optimist replied, “There’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!”

 

I found this story over a decade ago in the internet.  Tracking the source is apparently difficult.  See:

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/12/13/pony-somewhere/

     Name one thing greater than love.  Isn’t that what we all want, to love and be loved?  To feel a sense of unity with those around us and with God?

     Therefore, reflect on love and unity.  Meditate, think about, and study how you can better share love and unity in your own life.  Think about love and unity in the highest sense of the terms.  What would it mean to have perfect love?  What would it mean to have perfect unity?

     Apply these to your life and watch your own joy—and the joy of others—grow around you.

— Excerpted from The Truth as I See It: A Collection of Spiritual Writings by Adam Soto (p. 46)

 

Copyright 2018 Golden Rule Independent Publications

     I believe that anyone can know God.  Not just a select few or the “chosen,” the rich, the poor, or the learned.  Anyone.

     That being said, we are all very different.  Each of us is special and unique, and I believe that there are many ways in which a person can come to know God.  But I also believe that with these many ways there are some constants which are always present, such as love, peace, unity, appreciation, honesty, forgiveness, non-violence, and so on.

     To any honest, truth-seeking person, my message is this: You can know God.  You can know the truth.  If only you put your mind and spirit in a state that is receptive to the possibility of it, God will do the rest.  Take not only my testimony, but the testimony of the peoples of ages past.  Take the testimony of your own life, the flashes of God and spirit you may at times have felt, and open yourself up to it.  Open your spirit to God.

— Excerpted from The Truth as I See It: A Collection of Spiritual Writings by Adam Soto (p. 45)

 

Copyright 2018 Golden Rule Independent Publications

The purpose of this blog is to share excerpts from the book The Truth as I See It: A Collection of Spiritual Writings, as well as quotes and other material I’ve found inspirational in my journey.  I hope you find them inspiring as well.  Also, from time to time, I will share “Questions and Answers” that are the result of interesting questions presented to me through the website or questions I have received in the past (with consent, of course, and with all personal information excluded).  Enjoy.