Gratitude for these gems November 24-27, 2019

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." ~ Proverbs 4:23

"All of the attributes were meant to teach us the responsibilities we have in our relationships and to endear our hearts to love the Lord." ~ p. 189 The Journey Home by Radhanath Swami

Comforts of home: Coffee and Cozy while Cranberries pop on the stove

Devotion: Sincere Devotion to God was the only way to overcome the strifes and Division of the world. p. 199 The Journey Home by Radhanath Swami

Energy from the Source Code 6 The Way of the Warrior: An Ancient Path to Inner Peace by Erwin Raphael McManus

Fighting for our Freedom... Fighting for ourselves and for those we love. Finding strength within.

Gift that could not be measure by weight or worth or inches... God is our strength within... even in

Grief: If pulled, grief is a thread thread that will leave us naked in song." ~Nov 22, Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

"How important it is to be an...

Instrument to bring out the Inherent good in each other, rather than the worst." p. 194 The Journey Home

"Jesus once said: 'I have come to give you life, and life in abundance.' This is our greatest strength. When we are fully alive, we have life to give to the world... when we have an abundance in life, we should not be afraid to give it away abundantly." Code 6 The Way of the Warrior: An Ancient Path to Inner Peace

"Kiss an orange, unpeeled, and taste the juice." Nov 24, Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening 

Lifesource: full of Life, you become a conduit of Life for others

"My heart irresistibly drawn to the personal qualities of the Lord." p. 190 The Journey Home by Radhanath Swami

"Not many things, but One thing." ~ I opened to this prayer in Richard Rohr's The Naked Now

"Our company and surroundings have a crucial effect on our consciousness."  p. 194 The Journey Home

Perhaps we cannot always succeed by directly opposing a powerful force."  p. 194 The Journey Home 

"Quiet things speak to me." Nov 24, Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening 

Reading about the loving exchanges... drew my mind closer to the path of devotion." p. 190 The Journey Home

So much wisdom is being whispered through every grain of sand if only I have ears to hear." p. 194 The Journey Home by Radhanath Swami

"Unique beauty in all the world's religion." p.194 The Journey Home 

"Viciously envious or affectionately kind." p.194 

"With the confidence of an emperor, gliding effortlessly into the twilight." p. 194

eXtremely important reminder "Martha, Martha, you worry too much about the ten thousand things. So few are needed, Indeed only one." ~ A Paraphrase of Luke 10:42 Richard Rohr The Naked Now

"You will know your tribe by what they see. When they see your essence, that's your tribe." Code 6 The Way of the Warrior: An Ancient Path to Inner Peace by Erwin Raphael McManus

Page 188 - One poem/piece (peace) of The Journey Home by Radhanath Swami

Attachment is itself a great 

Burden on our minds

Creates artificial needs

Detached and sincere

Enlightened

Find joy within... Free of endless complications

Gone

Heavy burden

"I walked away" It's just an educated guess,but i think i was reading 

Just as suddenly as I had felt despair, I felt liberated

Knowledge and inspiration

Live a simple life, free of endless complications

Mind creates artificial needs 

Nature of the mind is to interpret Nonessentials essential

"...Obstacles I was to encounter along the way would serve ... to bring me to ultimate freedom." p. 188

Paradoxically

"Quicksand!" p. 192

Right path

Seeking. "Standing on that corner, I lamented.” p. 188

"These precious books enlightened me with knowledge and inspiration..." p.188

Ultimate freedom

beneVolent: well meaning and kindly.

"...We find joy within... We can live a simple life, free of endless complications.” p. 188
eXtent of the burden
"Yanked with all my might...

amaZingly I discovered that if I was calm the quicksand was less aggressive." p 193

Nov 17 through Nov 22, 2019

A breath of fresh AiR (Artist in Residence) weekend at All Souls New London

Building Beloved Community

"Come" is a word I keep seeing, hearing and reading in a new light. Come to Community.

"Come to me, and I will give you rest" ~ Matthew 10:28

"Depth of Due Diligence and Determination that accompanies wisdom born out of humble trust in God. ~ Seeking Daily the Heart of God by Boyd Bailey source

"Entrance and Exit" poem read at Temple Emanu-el last weekend

"Faith expands our imagination and opens us to a universe with endless possibilities. It's the same with love..." ~ The Way of the Warrior: An Ancient Path to Inner Peace by Erwin Raphael McManus

"God writes spiritual mysteries on our hearts, where they wait silently for discovery" ~ Rumi 

~ Art 'The Rythm of Love' by Brenda Adams

Humility places in the heart a Hunger for wisdom...

I stirs up an appetite for wisdom's morsels... vs...
Junk food of worldly wisdom." ~ 1 Corinthians 20-30

Live in the newness of curiosity and discovery." ~ Deepak, Day 12: The Power of Curiosity and Discovery

Meredith Magazine arrived/delivered yesterday - Mary, you are doing amazing things, dear friend xo

"Not as a distant knowledge a knowledge of description but as an active knowledge by acquaintance. 

 thank you, Stephanie

Pablo Neruda (Chilean poet-diplomat and politician, 1904-1973): "In the end, everyone is aware of this: nobody keeps any of what he has, and life is only a borrowing of bones." qtd. by Marc Nepo, Book of Awakening, 11/15, "Dying into Now"

Quote from Book of Awakening, 11/16, was similarly reiterated by Rabbi Marc Ekstrand at Temple Emanu-el on Sunday,11/17, and in this Quote from 7/16/19, but I saw it 11/18/19. Interesting: "Once upon a time ... there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated."  ~ Terry Tempest Williams

 ~Art by Shijun Munns click here for source

Rooted in the centrality of Christ without which one remains captive."

"There's a sun in every person - the you we call companion." ~ Rumi

"Use the gifts we receive from the Spirit of God for others - for their flourishing, their aid and their encouragement." ~ Charles F. Stanley Passion and Purpose

Virtuous friendship
Where was it that I was reading about what a "virtuous friendship" is?
"eXpose whatever crisis you are in to your attendant Spirit..." ~ Charles F. Stanley

Yeats offers us is an insight into life on Earth. The great Irish poet suggests that crisis is an unexpected jarring of our ways that brings us into contact with our attendant spirit, original sense of genius... being in the care of something unseen but near... another definition of Wholes or God, another way of acknowledging the Tao, the unseeable stream we all swim in.~ Mark Nepo 11/3 Meditation Book of Awakening

Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." ~ Luke 19:8