Bob Sabath

December 2024 (Vol. XXXVII, No. 11)

Dear Friends ~ These are some of the passages that have given me hope during this cold winter. ~ Bob

Do Not Be Afraid

Do not be afraid, little flock. It is my Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. ~ Luke 12:32

The game is not over yet. We are still under the loving hand of our Common Father, and the marching orders have not changed: to live and establish ourselves in alignment with the highest benchmarks of what we know human beings are capable of: courage, commitment, compassion, forgiveness, conscience, integrity. To simply keep walking toward these, arm and arm if at all possible, for there the force of individual integrity is vastly magnified. Until then, as we all navigate through this season of winnowing, it will be more important than ever for those of you who can stay with it, to hold fast to sobriety, integrity, impartiality, and métis (skillful action at exactly the right time). To be able to look sphinx-like into the eyes of this necessary winnowing and not wince or flail. Not to indulge in nostalgia, self-pity, blame, or rumination. To keep walking forward in forgiveness and quiet hope into the future. Our Father is still trying to give us the Kingdom; the timing depends on our readiness to bear it. Let us continue, quietly, with the readying.

~ Cynthia Bourgeault, from the blog post "Do Not Be Afraid," on Wisdom Waypoints

Cynthia Bourgeault hope

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. It is an orientation of the spirit and orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.

~ Vaclav Havel in DISTURBING THE PEACE

Vaclav Havel DISTURBING THE PEACE hope

Hope and history rhyme

History says, Don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.

~ Seamus Heaney in THE CURE AT TROY: A VERSION OF SOPHOCLES' PHILOCTETES

Seamus Heaney THE CURE AT TROY: A VERSION OF SOPHOCLES' PHILOCTETES hope

To be hopeful in bad times

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

~ Howard Zinn in A POWER GOVERNMENTS CANNOT SUPPRESS

Howard Zinn A POWER GOVERNMENTS CANNOT SUPPRESS hope

Hope is holding a creative tension

Hope is holding a creative tension between what is, and what could and should be, and each day doing something to narrow the distance between the two.

~ Parker Palmer, from a podcast with Carrie Newcomer, Episode 29, December 31, 2020

Parker Palmer hope

Try this simple test

Sometimes, in this troubled world of ours, we forget that love is all around us. We imagine the worst of other people and withdraw into our own shells. But try this simple test: Stand still in any crowded place and watch the people around you. Within a very short time, you will begin to see love, and you will see it over and over and over. A young mother talking to her child, a couple laughing together as they walk by, an older man holding the door for a stranger — small signs of love are everywhere. The more you look, the more you will see. Love is literally everywhere. We are surrounded by love.

~ Steven Charleston in LADDER TO THE LIGHT: AN INDIGENOUS ELDER'S MEDITATIONS ON HOPE AND COURAGE

Steven Charleston LADDER TO THE LIGHT: AN INDIGENOUS ELDER'S MEDITATIONS ON HOPE AND COURAGE hope

It's in that place that the alchemy emerges

When we truly open our hearts to each other, there is no burden too heavy for us to carry together, there is no pain too deep for us to hold in each other's arms. And it's in that place that the alchemy emerges. It's in the cauldron of sharing our grief with our community, of gazing at it together and not looking away, that the heartbreak turns to hope.

~ Jeremy Lent in THE ALCHEMY OF HEARTBREAK AND HOPE: A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE FOR OUR TIMES

Jeremy Lent THE ALCHEMY OF HEARTBREAK AND HOPE: A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE FOR OUR TIMES hope

The Gates of Hope

Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of Hope—
Not the prudent gates of Optimism,
Which are somewhat narrower.

Not the stalwart, boring gates of Common Sense;
Nor the strident gates of Self-Righteousness,
Which creak on shrill and angry hinges
(People cannot hear us there; they cannot pass through)
Nor the cheerful, flimsy garden gate of
"Everything is gonna' be all right."

But a different, sometimes lonely place,
The place of truth-telling,
About your own soul first of all and its condition.
The place of resistance and defiance,
The piece of ground from which you see the world
Both as it is and as it could be
As it will be;

The place from which you glimpse not only struggle,
But the joy of the struggle.
And we stand there, beckoning and calling,
Telling people what we are seeing
Asking people what they see.

~ Victoria Stafford, "The Gates of Hope" in THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL TAKE A LITTLE WHILE: PERSERVERANCE AND HOPE IN TROUBLED TIMES

Victoria Stafford THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL TAKE A LITTLE WHILE: PERSERVERANCE AND HOPE IN TROUBLED TIMES hope

Active hope is a practice

Active hope is a practice. Like tai chi or gardening, it is something we do rather than have. It is a process we can apply to any situation, and it involves three key steps. First, we take a clear view of reality; second, we identify what we hope for in terms of the direction we'd like things to move in or the values we'd like to see expressed; and third, we take steps to move ourselves or our situation in that direction.

~ Joanna Macy in ACTIVE HOPE

Joanna Macy Active Hope hope

Hope is a muscle

Hope is a muscle, a practice, a choice that actually propels new realities into being. And it's a muscle we can strengthen. It is not the same as idealism or optimism. This kind of hope has nothing to do with wishful thinking. Hope as I've seen it lived is at once fierce and persistently joyful. I've come to understand this quality of hope as an essential foundation and power for the generative story, the generative landscape, that is emerging out of all of the rupture this moment in the life of the world has laid bare.

~ Krista Tippett, from her "Practicing Hope" course

Krista Tippett hope

September 2024 (Vol. XXXVII, No. 8)

Dear friends~ This next year my beloved and I will be married 50 years. I have "known" Jackie for more than 53 years, and yet I can still wake up beside her in the morning and realize that this person whom I have walked with over the decades is still a mystery and so much unknown. The truth is that we are growing old together. But if we can embrace our physical diminishment with gentleness and grace, our heart's surrender becomes, as Jackie calls it, "the sacrament of diminishment." This morning she gave me a folder full of her favorite quotes about relationship and love. Here are a few of hers and a sprinkling of mine. ~ Bob

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Another name for God

Another name for God is surprise.

~ Brother David Steindl-Rast in GRATEFULNESS, THE HEART OF PRAYER

Brother David Steindl-Rast Gratefulness: The Heart Of Prayer love

Love springs from awareness

Love is frequently equated with good feelings toward others, with benevolence or nonviolence or service. But these things in themselves are not love. Love springs from awareness. It is only inasmuch as you see someone as he or she really is here and now and not as they are in your memory or your desire or in your imagination or projection that you can truly love them.

~ Anthony De Mello in THE WAY TO LOVE

Anthony de Mello The Way To Love love

Love deepens towards permanence

This is how we are: we fall in love with each other's strengths, but love deepens towards permanence when we fall in love with each other's weaknesses.

~ Salman Rushdie in THE GOLDEN HOUSE

Salman Rushdie THE GOLDEN HOUSE love

Remade all the time

Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone. It has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.

~ Ursula K. LeGuin in THE LATHE OF HEAVEN

Ursula K. LeGuin THE LATHE OF HEAVEN love

To honor what emerges

To love someone long term is to attend a thousand funerals of the people they used to be. It is not our job to hold anyone accountable to the people they used to be. It is our job to travel with them between each version and to honor what emerges along the way.

~ Heidi Priebe in THIS IS ME LETTING YOU GO

Heidi Priebe THIS IS ME LETTING YOU GO love

Love is our true destiny

Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone. We find it with another.

~ Thomas Merton in LOVE AND LIVING

Thomas Merton Love And Living love

A gently yielded heart

Honestly accept the journey into physical diminishment as the new learning curve in your life and embrace it with curiosity and beginner's mind. Keep facing forward with a gently yielded heart; that is always the direction from which the new integration emerges.

~ Cynthia Bourgeault from the "Ten Practical Guidelines for Conscious Aging" essay at WisdomWaypoints.org

Cynthia Bourgeault love

May all hearts be opened to one another

May my heart be opened.
May all that is broken within me be healed.
May I awaken to this moment, just as it is.
May all hearts be opened to one another.

May your heart be opened.
May all that is broken within you be healed.
May you awaken to this moment, just as it is.
May all hearts be opened to one another.

May our hearts be opened.
May all that is broken within us be healed.
May we awaken to this moment, just as it is.
May all hearts be opened to one another.

~ Anonymous

love

You come to love

You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly.

~ Sam Keen in TO LOVE AND BE LOVED

Sam Keen To Love And Be Loved love

This kind of unmasking

When we reveal ourselves to our partner and find that this brings healing rather than harm, we make an important discovery – that intimate relationship can provide a sanctuary from the world of facades, a sacred space where we can be ourselves, as we are... This kind of unmasking – speaking our truth, sharing our inner struggles, and revealing our raw edges – is sacred activity, which allows two souls to meet and touch more deeply.

~ John Welwood in LOVE AND AWAKENING

John Welwood LOVE AND AWAKENING love

What you're looking through

Before fixing what you're looking at, check what you're looking through.

~ Mark Nepo in THE BOOK OF AWAKENING

Mark Nepo The Book Of Awakening love

Compassion becomes real

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.

~ Pema Chodron in THE PLACES THAT SCARE YOU

Pema Chodron THE PLACES THAT SCARE YOU love

Bless and sit down

Bless and sit down. Forgive and forget. Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you're already in heaven now. That's the story. That's the message. Nobody understands it, nobody listens, they're all running around like chickens with heads cut off. I will try to teach it but it will be in vain, it's why I'll end up in a shack praying and being cool and singing by my woodstove making pancakes.

~ Jack Kerouac from his "The Golden Eternity" letter

Jack Kerouac love

Sabbaths 1999 VI

We travelers, walking to the sun, can't see
Ahead, but looking back the very light
That blinded us shows us the way we came,
Along which blessings now appear, risen
As if from sightlessness to sight, and we,
By blessing brightly lit, keep going toward
That blessed light that yet to us is dark.

~ Wendell Berry, "Sabbaths 1999 VI" in GIVEN

Wendell Berry GIVEN love

True giving

True giving is a thoroughly joyous thing to do. We experience happiness when we form the intention to give, in the actual act of giving, and in the recollection of the fact that we have given. Generosity is a celebration. When we give something to someone we feel connected to them, and our commitment to the path of peace and awareness deepens.

~ Sharon Salzberg in A HEART AS WIDE AS THE WORLD

Sharon Salzberg A HEART AS WIDE AS THE WORLD love

To total acceptance

It costs so much to be fully human... One has to abandon altogether the search for security, and reach out to the risk of living with both arms... One has to accept pain as a condition of existence... One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying.

~ Morris West in THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN

Morris West THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN love

You will find God there

Go to the place called barren. Stand in the place called empty. And you will find God there.

~ Joan Sauro in WHOLE EARTH MEDITATION

Joan Sauro WHOLE EARTH MEDITATION love

We are naturally reverent beings

We are naturally reverent beings, but much of our natural reverence has been torn away from us because we have been born into a world that hurries. There is no time to be reverent with the earth or with each other. We are all hurrying into progress. And for all our hurrying we lose sight of our true nature a little more each day.

~ Macrina Wiederkehr from the "Radical Grace" newsletter by The Center for Action and Contemplation

Macrina Wiederkehr love

June 2024 (Vol. XXXVII, No. 6)

Dear friends~ Slower, slower. Poorer, poorer. Smaller. Smaller.

This is slow work. It begins in poverty, and we become smaller, until we have enough being to be nothing. ~Bob

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You are the branches

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

~ John 15:5, NIV Bible

slower

The truly sacred attitude toward life

The truly sacred attitude toward life is in no sense an escape from the sense of nothingness that assails us when we are left alone with ourselves. On the contrary, it penetrates into that darkness and that nothingness, realizing that the mercy of God has transformed our nothingness into his temple and believing that in our darkness his light has hidden itself. Hence, the sacred attitude is one that does not recoil from our own inner emptiness but rather penetrates into it with awe and reverence, and the awareness of mystery. This is a most important discovery in the interior life.

~ Thomas Merton in THE INNER EXPERIENCE

Thomas Merton THE INNER EXPERIENCE slower

I must see that I am asleep

In order to wish to be present, I must see that I am asleep. "I" am not here. I am enclosed in a circle of petty interests and avidity in which my "I" is lost. And it will remain lost unless I can relate to something higher.

I need to understand that by myself, without a relation with something higher, I am nothing. I can do nothing. By myself alone, I can only remain lost in this circle of interests. I have no quality that allows me to escape. I can escape only if I feel my absolute nothingness and begin to feel the need for help. I must feel the need to relate myself to something higher.

Nothing real in me can be hurt.

~ Madame de Salzmann in THE REALITY OF BEING

Madame de Salzmann The Reality Of Being slower

The conditions that bring forth something new

Progress comes through the voluntary acceptance of constriction and diminishment. And that's the unpleasant bottom line. Because all of us think that evolution comes through expansion. And we automatically equate our larger personhood with expanded space, expanded agency, endless opportunity, a whole canvas to paint on.

But it's actually, spiritually speaking, in the opposite direction. It's in the leaning into the conditions that you at first experience as intolerable, that you gradually realize that they are exactly the conditions that bring forth something new, something that can't be born forth in any other way.

~ Cynthia Bourgeault, 2023 Wisdom School at Claymont

Cynthia Bourgeault slower

A different geography

We have entered a time of descent that takes us down into a different geography. In this shadowed terrain, we encounter a landscape familiar to soul—loss, grief, death, vulnerability, and fear. We have, in the old language of Alchemy, crossed into the Nigredo...This is a season of decay, of shedding and endings, of falling apart and undoing. This is not a time of rising and growth. It is not a time of confidence and ease. No. We are hunkered down. Down being the operative word. From the perspective of soul, down is holy ground.

~ Francis Weller in IN THE ABSENCE OF THE ORDINARY

Francis Weller IN THE ABSENCE OF THE ORDINARY slower

The downward way

The divine way is indeed the downward way.

~ Henri Nouwen in THE SELFLESS WAY OF CHRIST

Henri Nouwen THE SELFLESS WAY OF CHRIST slower

To realize one's nothingness

To awaken means to realize one's nothingness, that is, to realize one's complete and absolute mechanicalness, and one's complete and absolute helplessness. And it is not sufficient to realize it philosophically in words. It is necessary for us to realize it in clear, simple and concrete facts, in our own facts.

Until we reach the stage of realizing our own nothingness, we cannot change. To begin to realize one's own nothingness as a practical experience is to begin to cease identifying with oneself.

~ Maurice Nicoll in PSYCHOLOGICAL COMMENTARIES ON THE TEACHING OF GURDJIEFF AND OUSPENSKY, VOL 1

Maurice Nicoll PSYCHOLOGICAL COMMENTARIES ON THE TEACHING OF GURDJIEFF AND OUSPENSKY, VOL 1 slower

Now you are nothing

Sometimes a grief like storm-wind sweeps away
All the words I found to bring to you
I shake helpless, silent as a corpse
'Be happy' you say 'Now you are nothing'

~ Jalal-ud-Din Rumi in A YEAR WITH RUMI

Rumi A YEAR WITH RUMI slower

To begin to feel

Awakening is messy. You don't transcend into some paradisiacal, elitist inner garden— It doesn't perfect you. You first come into all the reasons you've so wanted to stay asleep. And there are many good reasons. To awaken, really, is to begin to feel. Awakening is bit by bit coming out of denial around all the reasons you've needed to wield that terrible tool of othering— because so much is unbearable inside of our own self.

Awakening doesn't come from spiritual mastery defined as overcoming enough of our shortcomings. It is found in doing our fumbling best to grow into arms strong and loving enough to hold and hug our aching humanity. The myth that awakening looks anything like spiritual perfectionism is perhaps the best sleeping pill. Awakening is the at times compass-less and often inglorious inner odyssey toward the rough ruby of all that is bruised and true in our hearts. Awakening isn't only for special people. We're all on our way toward coming out of the sleep cycle.

~ Chelan Harkin in WILD GRACE

Chelan Harkin WILD GRACE slower

Enough being

May I have enough being to be nothing.

~ Rafe, hermit monk at St. Benedict's monastery

Rafe slower

Find your practice and practice it

Find your practice and practice it. Find your teaching and follow it. Find your community and be faithful to it. Otherwise, you will tend to float around with no accountability system for what you too easily "believe" in your head. Your own ego will end up being the decider and chooser moment by moment.

At any given time we are likely to have not a single practice but rather a constellation of practices, often with one of them as our primary practice. Others may surround it, each carrying its own special place in our life... As the months and years go by the constellation changes. New practices emerge. Practices that have been present for years fall out of the picture.

~ James Finley from the "Contemplation and Action" podcast

James Finley slower

Are You Mr. William Stafford?

"You don't have to prove anything," my mother said. "Just be ready for what God sends."

I listened and put my hand out in the sun again. It was easy.

~ William Stafford, last poem before he died, "Are You Mr. William Stafford?" in ASK ME: 100 ESSENTIAL POEMS OF WILLIAM STAFFORD

William Stafford ASK ME: 100 ESSENTIAL POEMS OF WILLIAM STAFFORD slower

Give over thine own willing

Give over thine own willing. Give over thine own running. Give over thine own desiring to know or be anything, and sink down to the seed which God chose in thy heart, and let that grow in thee, and be in thee, and breathe in thee, and act in thee, and thou shalt find by sweet experience that the Lord knows that, and loves and owns that, and will lead it to the inheritance of life, which is God's portion.

~ Isaac Penington, Quaker mystic, in EXPLORING ISAAC PENINGTON

Isaac Penington EXPLORING ISAAC PENINGTON slower

Pull them into your peace

Don't let people pull you into their storm. But instead, pull them into your peace and make all things new.

~ Pema Chödrön in WHEN THINGS FALL APART

Pema Chodron When Things Fall Apart slower

June 2023 (Vol. XXXVI, No. 6)

Dear Friends ~ We all know the importance of a Sabbath, a day set aside to pause and come back to ourselves and to the Holy One within. These times are healing and sacred; we don't just need a day apart. What if we could take mini-sabbaths—moments to pause throughout our days? An old friend of mine called them "speed bumps." It's one of the best ways I know to turn the "wholly holey" into the "holy holy." Our leaky ways of going through our daily motions often create a completely empty experience of life. Creating speed bumps throughout our day is one way of patching the leaky buckets of our own longing and building a nest in ourselves that can hold the new life coming to birth within us. ~ Bob

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When I am among the trees

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks, and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness...

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, "It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come
with light, and to shine."

~ Mary Oliver from "When I am among the trees" in DEVOTIONS: THE SELECTED POEMS OF MARY OLIVER

Mary Oliver Devotions sabbath

Almost everything

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes—including you.

~ Anne Lamott from her Ted Talk "12 Truths I Learned from Life and Writing"

Anne Lamott sabbath

To stop is to go towards

To stop is to go towards, to come closer to oneself, to awaken from the sleep of life. Only by stopping can one begin to see. The moment we stop, we begin to see the miraculous, the unknown, the uncharted.

~ Jeanne de Salzmann in THE REALITY OF BEING

Jeanne de Salzmann The Reality Of Being sabbath

Stopping is not a passive act

Stopping is not a passive act, but an active one. It requires us to consciously step out of our habitual patterns of thought and behavior, and to create a space for something new to emerge. It is in this space of stillness and openness that we can connect with our deepest selves and with the divine. We can receive guidance, inspiration, and healing, and we can begin to live from a place of greater authenticity and purpose.

~ Tami Simon in BEING TRUE: WHAT MATTERS MOST IN WORK, LIFE, AND LOVE

Tami Simon BEING TRUE sabbath

To rest is to give up

To rest is to give up on the already exhausted will as the prime motivator of endeavor, with its endless outward need to reward itself with established goals. To rest is to give up on worrying and fretting and the sense that there is something wrong with the world unless we are there to put it right.

~ David Whyte in CONSOLATIONS: THE SOLACE, NOURISHMENT AND UNDERLYING MEANING OF EVERYDAY WORDS

David Whyte Consolations sabbath

Come, Come, Whoever You Are

Come, Come, Whoever You Are
Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vows
a thousand times
Come, yet again, come, come.

~ Rumi in THE INVITATION

Rumi THE INVITATION sabbath

The sacrament of the present moment

Be encouraged, and offer up your simple naked being to the joyful being of God, which is both in you and yet greater than you. Hold the soft, warm compress of these loving words against your bodily self. Bypass the mind and even the affections of the heart, and forego any analysis of what you are, or are not. Simply that you are. This will be enough to launch you into the sacrament of the present moment where God is always hiding in plain sight.

~ Richard Rohr in THE NAKED NOW: LEARNING TO SEE AS THE MYSTICS SEE

Richard Rohr THE NAKED NOW: LEARNING TO SEE AS THE MYSTICS SEE sabbath

The Prelude

There comes a pause, for human strength will not endure to dance without cessation; and everyone must reach the point at length of absolute prostration.

~ William Wordsworth in "The Prelude" from THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

William Wordsworth THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH sabbath

The practice of stopping

The practice of stopping, of coming back to ourselves and the present moment, is a way of connecting with the divine within us and around us. It is a way of cultivating a deeper sense of presence, awareness, and gratitude for the gift of life... The simple act of pausing, of taking a conscious breath and a step back from our habitual reactivity, can be a powerful tool for awakening. In that moment of pause, we open a space for self-awareness and self-observation to arise. We become more conscious of our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations, and we can choose how to respond, rather than simply reacting out of habit.

~ Cynthia Bourgeault in THE WISDOM JESUS

Cynthia Bourgeault THE WISDOM JESUS sabbath

When we stop

Stopping is an essential part of the spiritual life. If we cannot stop, we cannot see our True Nature. When we stop, we begin to see clearly, and we can appreciate the wonders of life. We can see that there is no separation between ourselves and the world, and we can marvel at the oneness of all things. To be fully present in the moment, we need to stop letting our mind race ahead to the future or dwell in the past. We need to let go of our distractions, our worries, and our busyness.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh in THE ART OF POWER

Thich Nhat Hanh THE ART OF POWER sabbath

Something, then rest

The secret is to not allow the fact that you can't do everything keep you from doing something. Something, then rest. Something, then rest.

~ Glennon Doyle in UNTAMED

Glennon Doyle UNTAMED sabbath

A day of reconnection

The Sabbath is not just a day of rest, but a day of reconnection. It is a time to reconnect with ourselves, with each other, and with the divine. By setting aside time to pause and reflect, we can recharge our spirits and renew our sense of purpose. We can remember what is truly important in life and let go of the distractions that pull us away from our true selves.

~ Mirabai Starr in WILD MERCY

Mirabai Starr WILD MERCY sabbath

Keeping Quiet

Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still
for once on the face of the earth,
let's not speak in any language;
let's stop for a second,
and not move our arms so much.

It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would not look at his hurt hands...

What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.

Life is what it is about...

If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves...

~ Pablo Neruda from "Keeping Quiet" in EXTRAVAGARIA

Pablo Neruda EXTRAVAGARIA sabbath

Turn our attention to what is holy

Sabbath time is a time when we turn our attention to what is holy, to what is sacred, to what is important. It's a time when we allow the clamor of the world to fall away and we listen for the still, small voice of God. It's a time when we allow ourselves to be embraced by the love of God, to rest in that love, and to be renewed and refreshed by it.

~ Macrina Weiderkehr in A TREE FULL OF ANGELS

Macrina Weiderkehr A Tree Full Of Angels sabbath

September 2022 (Vol. XXXV, No. 8)

Dear Friends ~ When things fall apart, may we learn to embrace the complexity of our lives, befriending our uncertainty and our own lack of control. This is the unwanted doorway to the birth of new life within us. ~ Bob Sabath

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Life is a good teacher and a good friend

Life is a good teacher and a good friend. Things are always in transition, if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we like to dream about. The off-center, in-between state is an ideal situation, a situation in which we don't get caught and we can open our hearts and minds beyond limit. It's a very tender, non-aggressive, open-ended state of affairs.

To stay with that shakiness — to stay with a broken heart, with a rumbling stomach, with the feeling of hopelessness — that is the path of true awakening. Sticking with that uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic — this is the spiritual path. Getting the knack of catching ourselves, of gently and compassionately catching ourselves, is the path of the warrior.

~ Pema Chödrön in WHEN THINGS FALL APART

Pema Chodron When Things Fall Apart stillness

I sat still for three days

I felt in need of a great pilgrimage. So I sat still for three days.

~ Kabir in LOVE POEMS FROM GOD

Kabir Love Poems From God stillness

Degree of presence

Stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence.

~ Alan Watts in THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY

Alan Watts The Wisdom Of Insecurity stillness

Entering the Kingdom

The dream of my life
Is to lie down by a slow river
And stare at the light in the trees —
To learn something by being nothing
A little while but the rich
Lens of attention.

~ Mary Oliver from "Entering the Kingdom" in DEVOTIONS

Mary Oliver Devotions stillness

If the heart wanders or is distracted

If the heart wanders or is distracted, bring it back to the point quite gently... And even if you did nothing during the whole of your hour but bring your heart back, though it went away every time you brought it back, your hour would be very well employed.

~ St. Francis de Sales in INTRODUCTION TO THE DEVOUT LIFE

St. Francis de Sales Introduction To The Devout Life stillness

The relation of contemplation to action

What is the relation of contemplation to action? Simply this. He who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening his own self-understanding, freedom, integrity, and capacity to love, will not have anything to give others.

~ Thomas Merton in THOMAS MERTON SPIRITUAL MASTER: ESSENTIAL WRITINGS

Thomas Merton Thomas Merton Spiritual Master: Essential Writings stillness

The whole world falls in

May God break my heart so deeply the whole world falls in.

~ Mother Teresa in MOTHER TERESA: QUOTABLE WISDOM

Mother Teresa Mother Teresa: Quotable Wisdom stillness

Deep awareness

When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh in TOUCHING PEACE

Thich Nhat Hanh Touching Peace stillness

Proverbs and Tiny Songs

I love Jesus, who said to us:
heaven and earth will pass away.
When heaven and earth have passed away,
my word will still remain.
What was your word, Jesus?
Love? Forgiveness? Affection?
All your words were
one word: Wakeup.

~ Antonio Machado from "Proverbs and Tiny Songs " in THE SOUL IS HERE FOR ITS OWN JOY

Antonio Machado The Soul Is Here For Its Own Joy stillness

The hardest spiritual work

The hardest spiritual work in the world is to love the neighbor as the self - to encounter another human being not as someone you can use, change, fix, help, save, enroll, convince or control, but simply as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself, if you will allow it.

~ Barbara Brown Taylor in AN ALTAR IN THE WORLD

Barbara Brown Taylor An Altar In The World stillness

Opening us up

When we hear the sounds of the Earth crying within us, we're unblocking the channels of felt connectedness that join us to the world. These channels act like a system, opening us up to a source of strength and resilience.

~ Joanna Macy in A WILD LOVE FOR THE WORLD

Joanna Macy A Wild Love For The World stillness

Conscious love

I will also tell you a secret. We have to will one another: this is the beginning of conscious love.

~ Maurice Nicoll in PSYCHOLOGICAL COMMENTARIES ON THE WORKS OF GURDJIEFF AND OUSPENSKI

Maurice Nicoll Psychological Commentaries On The Works Of Gurdjieff And Ouspenski stillness

The feminine side of love

Sadly, because our culture has devalued the feminine, we have repressed so much of her nature, so many of her qualities. Instead we live primarily masculine values; we are goal-oriented, competitive, driven. Masculine values even dominate our spiritual quest; we seek to be better, to improve ourselves, to get somewhere. We have forgotten the feminine qualities of waiting, listening, being empty. We have dismissed the deep need of the soul, our longing, the feminine side of love.

~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee in LOVE IS A FIRE

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee Love Is A Fire stillness

That is the mystery

Everything in life that we really accept undergoes a change. So suffering becomes love. That is the mystery.

~ Katherine Mansfield in THE JOURNAL OF KATHERINE MANSFIELD

Katherine Mansfield The Journal Of Katherine Mansfield stillness

You come to see that suffering is required

You come to see that suffering is required; and you no more want to avoid it than you want to avoid putting your next foot on the ground when you are walking. In the spiritual path, joy and suffering follow one another like the two feet and you come to a point of not minding which 'foot' is on the ground. You realize on the contrary that it is extremely uncomfortable hopping all the time on the joy foot.

~ John G. Bennett in TEACHINGS FROM SHERBORNE

John G. Bennett Teachings From Sherborne stillness

Open my eyes a little more

If I were to begin life again, I should want it as it was. I would only open my eyes a little more...

~ Jules Renard in THE JOURNAL OF JULES RENARD

Jules Renard The Journal Of Jules Renard stillness

December 2021 (Vol. XXXIV, No. 11)

Dear Friends ~ This is the season of wonder. Wonder is the doorway to so many things, among them joy, gratitude, and wisdom. How do we open the door of wonder in our lives?

Time to apprentice again
to my earliest teachers
of wonder and mystery

Time to walk again
in the dark forest
under a night star sky

Time to walk again
through the fallen leaves
under the black shadow of tree

No longer asking
Who I am

That I am is the biggest
mystery of all

A single red leaf
One night star —
Enough to explode in me

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The world in cohesion

Contemplation is that activity which situates us in an open space from which we can observe and contribute to the course of the universe ... that activity that delights in the well-being of all beings, that maintains the world in cohesion.

~ Raimundo Panikkar in BLESSED SIMPLICITY

Raimundo Panikkar Blessed Simplicity wonder

Wisdom in the first place

If you seek Wisdom in the first place, you will find that Wisdom is joyous. If you seek the joy of Wisdom in the first place, you will fall prey to illusions.

~ Valentin Tomberg in MEDITATIONS ON THE TAROT

Valentin Tomberg Meditations On The Tarot wonder

In wonder

If you are searching, you must not stop until you find. When you find, however, you will become troubled. Your confusion will give way to wonder. In wonder you will reign over all things.

~ Gospel of Thomas, Logion 2

wonder

Creative love

The person who makes all cares into one care— the care for simply staying present— will be cared for by that presence which is creative love.

~ Kabir Helminski

Kabir Helminski wonder

Cushion for Your Head

Just sit there right now
Don't do a thing
Just rest
For your separation from God
Is the hardest work in this world
Let me bring you trays of food
And something that you like to drink
You can use my soft words
As a cushion for your head

~ Hafiz from "Cushion for Your Head" in THE GIFT

Hafiz The Gift wonder

Stay with the hunger of the question

All those magical, predestined, and irreplaceable people and places are not really that, not really the answer. Rather, we have to stay with the hunger of the question and from its energy fill the space with our own choices, and then with the new things which will be called forth from us in the unexpected poverty and limitation in which our necessarily imperfect choices necessarily situate us.

~ Bruno Barnhart in SECOND SIMPLICITY

Bruno Barnhart Second Simplicity wonder

Fluent

I would love to live
like a river flows,
carried by the surprise
of its own unfolding.

~ John O'Donahue from "Fluent" in CONAMARA BLUES

John O'Donohue Conamara Blues wonder

Only Being is real

States aren't real. They come and go. Only Being is real.

~ Sunyata a.k.a. Alfred Sorensen, Danish mystic

Sunyata wonder

The wellsprings of life

The wellsprings of life are bubbling up anew each moment. So when the angel is troubling the waters, it is no time to stand on the bank and recite past wonders.

~ Thomas Kelly in A TESTAMENT OF DEVOTION

Thomas Kelly A Testament Of Devotion wonder

Faith is a continual inner effort

Faith is a continual inner effort, a continual altering of the mind, of the habitual ways of thought, of the habitual ways of taking everything, of habitual reactions.

~ Maurice Nicoll in THE NEW MAN

Maurice Nicoll The New Man wonder

There is no description of you

The first task, clearly, is to detach the sense of identity from the descriptions of yourself. This does not mean to find another description that would be the correct one. It means to realize there is no description of you.

~ Beatrice Bruteau in PRAYER AND IDENTITY

Beatrice Bruteau Prayer And Identity wonder

The precious wildness we seek

The soul is like a wild animal — tough, resilient, savvy, self-sufficient and yet exceedingly shy. If we want to see a wild animal, the last thing we should do is to go crashing through the woods, shouting for the creature to come out. But if we are willing to walk quietly into the woods and sit silently for an hour or two at the base of a tree, the creature we are waiting for may well emerge, and out of the corner of an eye we will catch a glimpse of the precious wildness we seek.

~ Parker J. Palmer in A HIDDEN WHOLENESS

Parker J Palmer A Hidden Wholeness wonder

The Place Where We Are Right

From the place where we are right
Flowers will never grow
In the spring.

The place where we are right
Is hard and trampled
Like a yard.

But doubts and loves
Dig up the world
Like a mole, a plow.

And a whisper will be heard in the place
Where the ruined
House once stood.

~ Yehuda Amichai from "The Place Where We Are Right" in A TOUCH OF GRACE

Yehuda Amichai A Touch Of Grace wonder

Art thou in the darkness?

Art thou in the darkness?
Mind it not, for if thou dost
it will feed thee more.
But stand still, and act not,
and wait in patience
till light arises out of darkness
and leads thee.

~ James Naylor

James Naylor wonder

I know that I have life

I know that I have life
only insofar as I have love.

I have no love
except it come from Thee.

Help me please to carry
this candle against the wind.

~ Wendell Berry from "I know that I have life" in LEAVINGS

Wendell Berry Leavings wonder

February 2023 (Vol. XXXVI, No. 2)

Dear Friends ~ In the words of Michael Meade, sometimes I dream that we at Friends of Silence are "a small band of servants and fools who wend their way into moments and places with a carpetbag of stories, songs, poems, dances, melodies, snippets of wisdom, and spools of connective thread. With these, we seek to weave containers in which genius sparks can ignite the lantern of soul in every person there." May your winter soul lanterns be ignited by these snippets of wisdom. ~ Bob

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To see

To see we must forget the name of the thing we are looking at.

~ Claude Monet

Claude Monet wisdom

For the Interim Time

You are in this time of the interim
where everything seems withheld.
The path you took to get here has washed out.
The way forward is still concealed from you.
The old is not old enough to have died away.
The new is still too young to be born.

~ John O'Donohue from "For the Interim Time" in TO BLESS THE SPACE BETWEEN US

To Bless The Space Between Us wisdom

Powerlessness is our greatest treasure

Powerlessness is our greatest treasure. Don’t try to get rid of it. Everything in us wants to get rid if it. Grace is sufficient for you, but not something you can understand. To be in too big a hurry to get over our difficulties is a mistake because you don’t know how valuable they are from God’s perspective, for without them you might never be transformed as deeply and as thoroughly.

~ Thomas Keating in Contemplative Outreach News, Vol. 30, Number 2, June 2014

Thomas Keating wisdom

Death and Resurrection

We do not have within us a principle of stable existence. What we find in ourselves, on the contrary, is a principle of renewal, of return, of being lost and found again. This principle we can only understand if we experience it in ourselves; and we know its taste as the taste of rebirth: whenever we come back from a state of oblivion, of forgetfulness. This happens over and over again, to such an extent that we become accustomed to it and cease to see how important it is – and really how wonderful it is – that we should be able to come back again after having been lost.

~ J. G. Bennett’s "Death and Resurrection" in SUNDAY TALKS AT COOMBE SPRINGS

J. G. Bennett Sunday Talks At Coombe Springs wisdom

Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale

Measure the walls. Count the ribs. Notch the long days.
Look up for blue sky through the spout. Make small fires
with the broken hulls of fishing boats. Practice smoke signals.
Call old friends, and listen for echoes of distant voices.
Organize your calendar. Dream of the beach. Look each way
for the dim glow of light. Work on your reports. Review
each of your life’s ten million choices. Endure moments
of self-loathing. Find the evidence of those before you.
Destroy it. Try to be very quiet, and listen for the sound
of gears and moving water. Listen for the sound of your heart.
Be thankful that you are here, swallowed with all hope,
where you can rest and wait. Be nostalgic. Think of all
the things you did and could have done. Remember
treading water in the center of the still night sea, your toes
pointing again and again down, down into the black depths.

~ Dan Albergotti, "Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale" in THE BOATLOADS

Dan Albergotti The Boatloads wisdom

The locus of the mystical journey

This place where the two seas meet is the locus of the mystical journey, "where the dead fish becomes alive," where spiritual teachings become a living substance that nourishes the wayfarer. When we meet the path, this happens: something becomes alive within our heart and soul. We become nourished not by spiritual texts or teaching, but by direct transmission. The spiritual journey is a way to live with this spiritual substance, to be burned by its fire, to be consumed by its love.

~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee from the essay "Where the Two Seas Meet" in FRAGMENTS OF A LOVE STORY: REFLECTIONS ON THE LIFE OF A MYSTIC

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee Fragments Of A Love Story: Reflections On The Life Of A Mystic wisdom

Composed of nows

Forever is composed of nows.

~ Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson wisdom

Sincere observation

It is a necessary part of this Work that everyone must eventually pass, to see in ourselves by sincere observation, how we cling to our negative emotions with one hand and try to free ourselves with the other. The Work inevitably leads everyone to the same places and the same experiences. We must reach the point of discerning our own helplessness, of realizing our own mechanicalness. And this, if it is not a negative experience, will bring us into a state of self-remembering. Through seeing our helplessness we attract help. For realizing our own helplessness puts us into the Third State of Consciousness where help can reach us.

~ Maurice Nicoll in PSYCHOLOGICAL COMMENTARIES ON THE TEACHING OF GURDJIEFF AND OUSPENSKY, VOL. 1

Maurice Nicoll Vol. 1, Psychological Commentaries On The Teaching Of Gurdjieff And Ouspensky wisdom

In desiring to become

I am dead because I lack desire;
I lack desire because I think I possess;
I think I possess because I do not try to give.
In trying to give, you see that you have nothing;
Seeing you have nothing, you try to give of yourself;
Trying to give of yourself, you see that you are nothing;
Seeing you are nothing, you desire to become;
In desiring to become, you begin to live.

~ René Daumal in MOUNT ANALOGUE

René Daumal Mount Analogue wisdom

Once you can accept the universe

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.

~ Einstein

Einstein wisdom

Last night as I was sleeping

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I slept,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

~ Antonio Machado in TIMES ALONE: SELECTED POEMS OF ANTONIO MACHADO (translated by Robert Bly)

Antonio Machado Times Alone: Selected Poems Of Antonio Machado wisdom

Create a clearing

Do not try to save the whole world
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create a clearing
in the dense forest of your life
and wait there, patiently
until the song that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know how
to give yourself to this world
so worthy of rescue.

~ Martha Postlethwaite in ADDICTION AND RECOVERY

Martha Postlethwaite Addiction And Recovery wisdom

April 2022 (Vol. XXXV, No. 4)

Dear Friends ~ We have all probably had our sleepless nights this month as the dark clouds of suffering and war gather and storm across our bedtime fears. During one recent, restless night, my beloved of fifty years invited me to sit with her at the "4am Club." Here is Jackie's welcome. Perhaps you would like to join us? ~Bob

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The 4am Club

Welcome to the 4am Club.
It's well-attended.
People come and go freely.
There are no membership fees.
Drop-ins are always welcome.

Some people bring their physical pain:
headaches, back aches, restless legs.
Some bring their soul pain.
The language of tears is spoken.

Emotions circulate around the room:
fear, sadness, shame –
all the ones that crawl under the bed
when daylight comes.

Often prayers are whispered.
Blessings are blown across the miles
to loved ones.
Healing incantations are said
for those who suffer.
Peace is yearned for.
Thanksgivings echo through the night.

In the generosity of darkness and silence,
dreams are remembered:
nighttime dreams, childhood dreams, daydreams awaken forgotten pathways.

From time to time, joy pops in for a visit.
So do the cats. Lured by magic,
they find their way to a warm lap
and doze off.

Visions of beauty show up,
And creative weavers
wander around, aimlessly.
Sometimes a mysterious focus grabs hold.

Then, a light appears in the darkness,
revealing the unfathomable love
that holds everything together.

~ Jackie Sabath

Jackie Sabath suffering

O Lord

O Lord, remember not only men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they inflicted on us. Remember the fruits we have borne thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of this; and when they come to judgment let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.

~ Written on a piece of wrapping paper found near the body of a dead child in Ravensbruck where 92,000 women and children died in the Holocaust

suffering

Conscious suffering

There is a piece of suffering which is a river that flows through the human condition and is part and parcel of our arising itself. Eckhart Tolle talks about it as the 'collective pain body of humanity.' Conscious awakening does not put a final end to suffering, but rather, allows us to bear it in a way that is luminous, generous, and ultimately sacramental. Through our prayers and our presence, we take our part in bearing the cost of this precious divine finitude, in which and through which infinite love is revealed.

What we do know is that great injustice, cruelty, physical pain, or betrayal, when consciously accepted and generously borne, can give rise to a peculiarly luminous and healing quality of love, and that this love radiates out from the site of the pain as a source of healing and hope for the entire cosmos.

~ Cynthia Bourgeault from 'Conscious Suffering' in Spiritual Practices from the Gurdjieff Work, www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/course/view/181

Cynthia Bourgeault suffering

The hill we climb

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew.
That even as we hurt, we hoped.
That even as we tired, we tried.

~ Amanda Gorman from "The Hill We Climb"

Amanda Gorman The Hill We Climb suffering

Wisdom comes

Wisdom comes alone through suffering.

~ Aeschylus

Aeschylus suffering

Who can take away suffering

In short: who can take away suffering without entering it?

~ Henri J. M. Nouwen in THE WOUNDED HEALER

Henri J. M. Nouwen The Wounded Healer suffering

On our earth

Is there suffering upon this new earth? On our earth we can only love with suffering and through suffering. We cannot love otherwise, and we know of no other sort of love.

~ Fyodor Dostoevsky in THE DREAM OF A RIDICULOUS MAN

Fyodor Dostoevsky The Dream Of A Ridiculous Man suffering

There must be a meaning in suffering

If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete.

~ Viktor E. Frankl

Viktor E. Frankl suffering

The most beautiful people we have known

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.

~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross suffering

When I look up at the sky

I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness; I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too. I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.

~ Anne Frank

Anne Frank suffering

Every step toward the goal of justice

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle, the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. suffering

Even darkness must pass

But in the end, it's only a passing thing. This shadow, even darkness, must pass.

~ J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien suffering

Secret Sowers

"Peacemakers who sow in peace
raise a harvest of righteousness" (James 3:18)

We lay down our seeds in the dark.
Spring has been exceptionally cold
this year. Reluctant daffodils
have done little to convince me.
But we do the work of the faithful
farmer, rising in the pre-dawn hours.
It is a chosen hiddenness, a subtle
stretching over time, ear bent to listen
to the ground, ready for instruction.
Slow rhythmic movements are best.
Sometimes we simply show up,
holding borrowed pain, applying tears
or not. With a gentle
but demanding attention
to detail, we prepare the soil.
We plant. We wait.

~ Nancy Thomas from "Secret Sowers" in CLOSE TO THE GROUND

Nancy Thomas Close To The Ground suffering

Vulnerability is not a weakness

Vulnerability is not a weakness, a passing indisposition, or something we can arrange to do without, vulnerability is not a choice, vulnerability is the underlying, ever present and abiding undercurrent of our natural state. To run from vulnerability is to run from the essence of our nature, the attempt to be invulnerable is the vain attempt to become something we are not and most especially, to close off our understanding of the grief of others.

~ David Whyte in CONSOLATIONS

David Whyte Consolations suffering

A ministry of presence

An experience of collective pain does not deliver us from grief or sadness; it is a ministry of presence. These moments remind us that we are not alone in our darkness and that our broken heart is connected to every heart that has known pain since the beginning of time.

~ Brené Brown in BRAVING THE WILDERNESS

Brené Brown Braving The Wilderness suffering

The tragic gap between reality and possibility

There are at least two ways to understand what it means to have our hearts broken. One is to imagine the heart broken into shards and scattered about. The other is to imagine the heart broken open into new capacity. As I stand in the tragic gap between reality and possibility, this small, tight fist of a thing called my heart can break open into greater capacity to hold more of my own and the world's suffering and joy, despair and hope.

~ Parker Palmer in A HIDDEN WHOLENESS

Parker Palmer A Hidden Wholeness suffering

We belong to each other

The problem of the world is that we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

~ Mother Theresa

Mother Theresa suffering

We are one

We are one, after all, you and I, together we suffer, together exist and forever will recreate each other.

~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin suffering

June 2021 (Vol. XXXIV, No. 6)

Dear Friends ~ I have been involved in Fourth Way inner work for many years. Nan Merrill and I exchanged many books during the years of our monthly phone calls with each other. The first book she sent me was Meditations on the Tarot and the first book I sent her was Volume 2 of Maurice Nicoll's Psychological Commentaries.

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This body is made from energy created from choice

People have always wondered at the saints, that they are able to walk around serene, whatever happens. But that is because they can choose where they'll be. They don't have to be angry. You see the difference between having scattered emotions and having a fully vibrating, controlled emotional body. This body is made from energy created from choice, from the effort involved in making choices. But it is necessary to practice; then something is possible.

~ Beryl Pogson in THE WORK LIFE

Beryl Pogson The Work Life inner work

Please Come Home

Please come home.
Please come home into your own body.
Your own vessel, your own earth.
Please come home into each and every cell,
And fully into the space that surrounds you.

~ Jane Hooper from "Please Come Home"

Jane Hooper inner work

To live deeply in the spirit

Deeply spiritual persons experience the suffering in the world as their own suffering. Their skin is like a dividing membrane through which events flow into each other. But they do not let it overtake them and destroy their spirit, their ability to choose life. To live deeply in the spirit is to be able to see beyond the immediate evidence of brokenness. It is to seek the not yet, but possible future. To live deeply in the spirit is to find the courage to create in the midst of darkness.

~ Patricia Mischo in WHOLE EARTH PAPERS

Patricia Mischo Whole Earth Papers inner work

Life is simple

Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don't have to like it – it's just easier if you do. If you have a problem, it can only be because of your unquestioned thinking. How do you react when you believe that the past should have been different? You scare yourself stuck because what you resist persists. You get to keep your stressful world, a world that doesn't exist except in your imagination; you get to stay in the nightmare. It hurts to oppose reality because in opposing reality, you are opposing your very self.

When inquiry is alive inside you, every thought you think ends with a question mark instead of a period ... I discovered that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered, but that when I didn't believe them, I didn't suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Freedom is as simple as that. I found that suffering is optional. I found a joy within me that has never disappeared, not for a single moment. That joy is in everyone, always.

~ Byron Katie in A THOUSAND NAMES FOR JOY

Byron Katie A Thousand Names For Joy inner work

What makes one wise

"What makes one wise?" asked the disciple.
"Wisdom," replied the Master.
"What is wisdom?" was retorted.
"It is simply the ability to recognize," said the Master.
"To recognize what?" the disciple asked.

"Spiritual wisdom," the Master answered, "is the power to recognize the butterfly in a caterpillar, the eagle in an egg, the saint in the sinner."

"Only a silent mind is capable of this recognizing power."

~ Raimon Panikkar in THE RHYTHM OF BEING, THE UNBROKEN TRINITY

Raimon Panikkar The Unbroken Trinity, The Rhythm Of Being inner work

We always think that

We always think our negative emotions are produced by the fault of other people or by the fault of circumstances. We always think that. Our negative emotions are in ourselves and are produced by ourselves. There is absolutely not a single unavoidable reason why somebody else's action or some circumstance should produce a negative emotion in me. It is only my weakness. No negative emotion can be produced by external causes if we do not want it. We have negative emotions because we permit them, justify them, explain them by external causes, and in this way we do not struggle with them.

~ P. D. Ouspensky in THE FOURTH WAY

P. D. Ouspensky The Fourth Way inner work

I slept and dreamt

I slept and dreamt
that life was joy.
I awoke and saw
that life was duty.
I worked – and behold,
duty was joy.

~ Rabindranath Tagore, as quoted by Victor Frankl in YES TO LIFE

Rabindranath Tagore Yes To Life inner work

Psalm 13

How long must I bear this pain in my soul,
and live with sorrow all the day?
How long will fear rule my life?

Notice my heart and answer me, O my Beloved;
enlighten me, lest I walk as one dead to life;
Lest my fears say, "We have won the day";
Lest they rejoice in their strength.

As I trust in your steadfast Love;
my heart will rejoice, for in You is freedom.
I shall sing to the Beloved,
who has answered my prayers a thousandfold!
Come, O Beloved, make your home in my heart.

~ Nan Merrill from "Psalm 13" in PSALMS FOR PRAYING

Nan Merrill Psalms For Praying inner work

Conscious labor

Conscious labor and intentional suffering are not so much separate practices as twin pillars of what amounts to essentially a single spiritual obligation.

Conscious labor is basically any intentional effort that moves against the grain of entropy, i.e., against that pervasive tendency of human consciousness to slip into autopilot. It means summoning the power of conscious attention (in our era perhaps more widely known as 'mindfulness') to swim upstream against that pervasive lunar undertow drawing us toward stale, repetitive, mechanical patterns, the siren call of World 96.

If conscious labor increases our capacity to stay present, intentional suffering radically increases the heartfulness of that presence. Intentional suffering goes head-to-head with that well-habituated pattern to move toward pleasure and away from pain. It invites us to step up to the plate and willingly carry a piece of that universal suffering, which seems to be our common lot as sentient beings in a very dense and dark corner of the universe. The size of the piece does not matter. It can be as small (though not easy!) as "bearing another human being's unpleasant manifestations," or as vast as "greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his neighbor."

~ Cynthia Bourgeault in EYE OF THE HEART

Cynthia Bourgeault Eye Of The Heart inner work

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes with which he looks with
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good...
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

~ Teresa of Avila

Teresa of Avila inner work

We receive the light

We receive the light,
Then we impart it.
Thus we repair the world.

~ from the Kabbalah

The Kabbalah inner work Buy on Amazon

February 2021 (Vol. XXXIV, No. 2)

Dear Friends ~ I have been living with Rainer Maria Rilke's poem "Gravity's Law," letting it percolate within me while the events of this past month weigh heavily upon me. How do we keep our inner hearts alive and well while this national heaviness and crisis grips and pushes each of us?

Merton speaks of "a point of nothingness at the center of our being," a point of absolute poverty, the small thing within us that Rilke says is being pulled by "gravity’s law" toward the heart of the world. When we surrender to gravity's law and befriend our own poverty of being, "we rise up rooted, like trees." The knots of our own making are untangled. Our struggle, our loneliness and confusion, our entanglements are held in place within the heart of the One who holds all things together.

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Seeking Clarity

if each day falls
inside each night
there exists a well
where clarity is imprisoned.
we need to sit on the rim
of the well of darkness
and fish for fallen light
with patience.

~ Pablo Neruda from Seeking Clarity

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The Avowal

As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
free fall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.

~ Denise Levertov from The Avowal

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Gravity's Law

How surely gravity's law,
strong as an ocean current,
takes hold of the smallest thing
and pulls it toward the heart of the world.

Each thing—
each stone, blossom, child —
is held in place.
Only we, in our arrogance,
push out beyond what we each belong to
for some empty freedom.

If we surrendered
to earth's intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees.

Instead we entangle ourselves
in knots of our own making
and struggle, lonely and confused.

So like children, we begin again
to learn from the things,
because they are in God's heart;
they have never left him.

This is what the things can teach us:
to fall,
patiently to trust our heaviness.
Even a bird has to do that
before he can fly.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke from "Gravity’s Law" in RILKE'S BOOK OF HOURS, translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy

Rainer Maria Rilke Rilke's Book Of Hours: Love Poems To God gravity Buy on Amazon

Prayer for Conscience and Courage

God of light and God of darkness,
God of conscience and God of courage
lead us through this time
of spiritual confusion and public uncertainty.

Give us the conscience it takes
to comprehend what we’re facing,
to see what we’re looking at
and to say what we see
so that others, hearing us,
may also brave the pressure that comes
with being out of public step.

Give us the courage we need
to confront those things
that compromise our consciences
or threaten our integrity.

~ Joan Chittister from Prayer for Conscience and Courage

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To enter You

Battered; ill; aghast –
Lost in my own ruin –
Sometimes I am weak enough
To enter You.

~ Rumi

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For now, stay

So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Wait. Behold. Wonder.
There will be time enough for running. For rushing.
For worrying.
For pushing.
For now, stay. Wait.

~ Jan Richardson

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The Art of Being Lost

The art of being lost is not a matter of merely getting lost, but rather being lost and enthusiastically surrendering to the unlimited potential of it and using it to your advantage. The shift from being lost to being found is a gradual one.

The way to encourage that shift is to first accept that you don't know how to get to the place you want to be and then opening fully to the place you are until the old goals fall away and you discover more soulful goals emerging. Then you are no longer lost, but you have benefited immensely from having been so.

~ Bill Plotkin from "The Art of Being Lost" in Soulcraft Musings #30 August 11, 2017

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The Man Watching

What we choose to fight is so tiny!
What fights with us is so great.
If only we would let ourselves be dominated
as things do by some immense storm,
we would become strong too, and not need names.

When we win it’s with small things,
and the triumph itself makes us small.
What is extraordinary and eternal
does not want to be bent by us...

This is how one grows: by being defeated, decisively,
by constantly greater beings.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke from "The Man Watching", translated by Robert Bly

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Hieroglyphic Stairway

It’s 3:23 in the morning
and I can’t sleep
because my great great grandchildren
ask me in my dreams
what did you do while the Planet was plundered?
what did you do when the Earth was unravelling?

What did you do
once
you
knew?

... I want just this consciousness reached
by people in range of secret frequencies.

~ Drew Dellinger from "Hieroglyphic Stairway" in LOVE LETTER TO THE MILKY WAY

Drew Dellinger Love Letter To The Milky Way gravity Buy on Amazon

The voice of being

It is I who must begin.
Once I begin, once I try —
here and now,
right where I am,
not excusing myself
by saying things
would be easier elsewhere...
— to live in harmony
with the "voice of Being," as I
understand it within myself
— as soon as I begin that,
I suddenly discover,
to my surprise, that
I am neither the only one,
nor the first,
nor the most important one
to have set out
upon that road.
Whether all is really lost
or not depends entirely on
whether or not I am lost.

~ Václav Havel

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Connection

How difficult seeing the truth is.
How lonely thinking the truth is.
How brave speaking the truth is.
And, how warm is the hand
Which is held out to people crying in the sad wind
Behind the lie.
How kind is the heart
Which accompanies people who cling to
The homeland in their hearts.

~ from Tsunangari (Connection) in The Kentaro Sato Choral Series

gravity

The Unbroken

There is a brokenness
out of which comes the unbroken,
a shatteredness
out of which blooms the unshatterable.
There is a sorrow
beyond all grief which leads to joy
and a fragility
out of whose depths emerges strength.

~ Rashani from "The Unbroken"

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