
29 April 2024
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Simple and Profound
Thoughts
(from Simple
and Profound) |
No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much
dignity in tilling the field as in writing a poem.
-Booker
T. Washington |
The love
of our neighbor in all its fullness simply means being able
to say, "What are you going through?"
-Simone Weil |
The trouble with many people is that they have got just
enough religion
to make them miserable. If there is not joy in
religion, you have got a leak in your religion.
-Billy Sunday |
Love
means to love that which is unlovable, or it is no virtue at
all; forgiving
means to pardon that which is unpardonable, or it is no
virtue at all. -Gilbert Keith Chesterton
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Meeting
Ourselves
Dawna Markova
There were a series of incidents that blew me over the
threshold into this retreat. One was something the
poet David Whyte said a friend, Brother David Steindl-Rast,
told him: "The antidote to exhaustion may not
be rest. It may be wholeheartedness. You are
so exhausted because all of the things you are doing are
just busyness. There's a central core of
wholeheartedness totally missing from what you're
doing." Whyte said that from that moment on
everything changed for him. He realized there were
courageous conversations he had to have, because his work
had become too small for him.
Listening, I became aware of the courageous conversations
I needed to be having--with myself. But how could
this be possible when I couldn't even hear myself
think? In the following weeks, all around me, in the
media and in corporations, I kept hearing three phrases
that wouldn't leave me alone: "the meaning
void," "Time is the new poverty," and
"whatever" (said with a slack jaw and a shrug of
limp shoulders).
How can any of us find our way to wholeheartedness in a
meaning void? I knew that time was something we gave
ourselves or didn't, and that "whatever" was the
quickest way to soul leakage. And none of us can
find meaning or wholeheartedness unless we are in a void,
a void of everyone else's images and information.
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My
grandmother used to fast once a year for twenty-four hours
during the holiday of Yom Kippur. Listening to her
empty stomach growling, I asked her once why she
fasted. She didn't say anything for several moments
and then she replied, "You can't grab God. You
just have to become empty. Then God will have a
space to enter."
So many of us are afraid of meeting ourselves, alone,
without distraction. We have been taught to fashion
an image of who we think we are supposed to be and show
that to the world. Through fear of knowing who we
really are we sidestep our own destiny, which leaves us
hungry in a famine of our own making. Each of us is
here to give something that only we can offer, and when we
avoid knowing ourselves, we end up living numb,
passionless lives, disconnected from our soul's true
purpose. But when you have the courage to shape your
life from the essence of who you are, you ignite, becoming
truly alive. This requires letting go of everything
that is inauthentic. But how can you even know your
truth unless you slow down, in your own quiet
company? When the inner walls to your soul are
graffitied with advertisements, commercials, and the
opinions of everyone who has ever known and labeled you,
turning inward requires nothing less than a major
clean-up.
Traveling from the known to the unknown requires crossing
an abyss of emptiness. We first experience
disorientation and confusion. Then, if we are
willing to cross the abyss in curious and playful wonder,
we enter an expansive and untamed country that has its own
rhythm. Time melts and thoughts become stories,
music, poems, images, ideas. This is the
intelligence of the heart, but by that I don't mean just
the seat of our emotions. I mean a vast range of
receptive and connective abilities, intuition, innovation,
wisdom, creativity, sensitivity, the aesthetic,
qualitative and meaning making. It is here that we
uncover our purpose and passion.
The future exists only in our imaginations. It is a
collective story waiting for our voices to express.
That can only happen when you and I are willing to enter
the emptiness, listening in the silence until we can
understand how to create a future we can befriend.
I am wondering now, dear reader, about you. What are
the courageous conversations you need to have with
yourself, and how do you need to have them?
May we allow ourselves stillness so we can open our minds
to ourselves, and spaciousness so we can allow a moment of
rest when all thoughts fly above us like kites in a strong
wind.
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Meeting
Trouble When It Comes
Norman Vincent Peale
It is inadvisable to go out, as they say, looking for
trouble. For when you make it a point of looking for
trouble, you are pretty likely to find it. It will flow to
you if it finds you hospitable to it.
David Keppel wrote a little verse years ago:
Better never trouble trouble
Until trouble troubles you
For you only make your trouble
Double trouble when you do
And your trouble like a bubble
That you're troubling about
May be nothing but a cipher
With the rim rubbed out.
But all the pretty philosophy to the contrary notwithstanding,
trouble does come and sometimes it seems to come all at once and
lots of it. So much so and so true is this that a basic
necessity of every human being is assuredly to know how to meet
trouble if and when it comes.
Since much trouble in life is self-manufactured, caused not by
conditions or by other people but by ourselves, it is wise to
condition the mind to the non-production of trouble.
Once while I was playing golf with Lowell Thomas, he made a
statement to me that has lingered in my mind. We were
preparing to drive from a tee alongside a deep woods which ran
the entire length of the fairway. Just in front was a deep
ravine. Lowell turned rather extremely to the left, the
woods on his right, but an even fairway to the left of the
ravine and addressed the ball.
He drove the ball cleanly away from the woods and safely at the
side of the ravine for over two hundred yards. Picking up
his tee, he remarked, "It's always best to shoot away from
trouble."
Some people have more trouble than others simply because they do
not shoot away from trouble. They think in terms of
trouble, or they are careless, or their acts are not designed
wisely, and so they draw trouble to themselves.
Others think positively and conduct themselves in such a manner
that they hedge themselves around with fortuitous circumstances
and literally beat back trouble. But there is no assurance
that trouble will not enter into the life of every person.
We must then have resources built into us over long days when
things were fortuitous, when favorable winds and smooth seas
were kind to the craft of our lives.
Those who do not prepare for storms when no storms are indicated
are lacking in the plain preparatory wisdom required by any
rational person. The fact is that storms and troubles will
come. They may be delayed, even long delayed, but
ultimately they will come. So therefore one must buttress
oneself inwardly, prepare oneself in the spirit, condition
oneself in the mind, so that when trouble does finally come, he
or she will have the equipment and the resources with which to
handle it constructively.
For example, a friend, aged forty, began having eye
trouble. His doctors sent him to the best specialists in
New York. After many examinations and much treatment, he
learned the score--he was going blind. Seemingly
nothing could arrest the deterioration of his eyes.
He went back to his hotel room thirty stories above the
street. Completely depressed, he looked down. In
only a matter of seconds his body could hurtle to the
street. That would be the end of his trouble. But
for years he had built strength into himself, a strength equal
to this trouble. He drew upon the wealth of faith he had
built up within himself. It was enough. He came out
of his depression and adjusted, though he never did regain his
sight. In fact, he is one of the best adjusted people I
know. He is a truly happy man.
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each week. |
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When I was six or seven years old, growing up in
Pittsburgh, I used to take
a precious penny of my own and hide it for someone else to find.
I was greatly
excited at the thought of the first lucky passerby who would
receive a gift in this
way, regardless of merit, a free gift from the universe. . . .
I’ve been thinking
about seeing. There
are lots of things to see, unwrapped gifts and free surprises.
The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside
from a generous hand.
Annie Dillard
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I've Decided
I've decided that I want to
be the person who talks to children with respect and
dignity. I'm not going to change my voice when I talk to
them, for that immediately tells them that I consider them to be
different than the other people I talk to. I'm going to ask
them serious questions and I'm going to listen when they talk--and
then I'm going to reply in a way that shows that I've actually
heard what they said. I'm going to do this because so few
adults do so, and young people need to know that we value them
enough to talk to them like people and to listen to what they say
because it's important.
I've also decided that I want to be that person who picks up trash
when I'm out walking. This isn't always easy.
Sometimes there aren't any trash cans around, so I may have to
carry a bag with me to put the trash into. Of course, if it
looks like I might catch some sort of disease from it or if
there's too much trash to pick up, the chances are that I'll pass
on this good deed. But if it's something that's easy to pick
up and that won't threaten my health, then I'm going to stop and
get it. I want to do this because I really do respect our
world and the communities of people in it, and I want to be a role
model to others who's willing to do something that others won't
often do.
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More than anything else, I
believe it's our decisions, not
the conditions of our lives, that determine our destiny.
Anthony Robbins
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I've made the
decision that I'm going to work on my passions, the
things that I truly love doing, and work towards
making them the most important elements of my
life. Very often we get caught up in making a
living at a job that doesn't excite us, or we don't
have enough money to do things such as travel.
Sometimes we spend so much money on things that
really don't matter (large-screen TV's and high
cable and phone bills come to mind) that we find
that we can't afford to follow our passions.
Passions don't have to be expensive--I love to
write, for example--but if we lose out on them
because of money, then we're doing ourselves a
disservice.
I've also decided not to try to get laughs by
mocking others, insulting others, or cutting other
people down. Much of the humor in our culture
relies on this type of dynamic, and it's very
sad. It's even worse when we try to get laughs
by making fun of children's mistakes. They're
just starting out in life and they're doing the best
that they can, and to make fun of their efforts is
to start them on the road to not wanting to share
things that they do because they're afraid that
someone will make fun of them. I've been
there, and I've known many high school students in
my classes who are amazed when someone respects them
and doesn't make fun of them.
It's also important to me that I cherish my identity
and not compromise it. Our cultures these days
want us to compromise our identities by adopting
other identities: I'm a fan of this team, I
participate in this pastime, I really love this
group. If they can get us to become a part of
"The (name of team) Nation," then we're
more willing to buy more merchandise to show the
world the groups that we "belong"
to. I don't want to spend today thinking about
tomorrow's game and who's going to win--I want to
spend the day focused on the things that are
actually a part of my life: the people I know
and love, the work I do, the wonderful things that
are actually in the here and now. I don't want
to identify with a group of over-paid athletes whom
I've never met and whom I never will meet. I
enjoy watching a lot of sports games and matches,
but I am who I am, and I want to love and respect
who that is.
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When
possible make the decisions now, even if the
action is in the
future. A revised decision usually is
better than one reached at the last
moment.
William B. Given, Jr.
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I've decided to
be honest in all of my dealings. This is very,
very difficult, because sometimes we know that a
particular situation isn't fair, and we could make
it more fair just by doing something
dishonest. Perhaps I didn't get paid for my
overtime last week, and I have a chance to take ten
dollars without being caught to make up for
it. Tempting, isn't it? But if I've
already decided to do what I know or believe to be
honest, then that temptation won't be nearly as
strong, and the decision not to take the money will
be very easy.
I've also decided that I'm going to focus more on
the people who are actually a part of my life than
athletes or other celebrities. I really don't
care who's getting divorced in Hollywood, who's been
signed to which team for how much money, or any of
that stuff that simply isn't a part of my
life. I like watching movies and sports and
some television shows, but I'd much rather know my
friends' favorite colors than the favorite colors of
people I'll never know (or the kinds of houses they
live in, or their problems with relationships,
etc.).
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There
may be no trumpet sound or loud applause
when we make a right
decision, just a calm
sense of resolution and peace.
Gloria Gaither
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I've decided
that I'm going to be in shape--not to try to be
extremely muscular or anything like that, but to be
in good enough shape so that I'm not going to be
affected by illnesses and injuries that would affect
me if I weren't healthy. Ten years ago I
weighed more than thirty pounds more than I do now,
and I attributed the weight gain to growing
older. That wasn't true. It was simply
an easy explanation for a more complicated
situation. Now I feel much healthier, much
more able to do things that I love to do, such as
hiking and running. And I know that even
though other problems may arise, they won't arise
due to me not taking care of my body.
There are many more decisions that I make in my
life. Some of them are little day-to-day
decisions that don't have a huge effect on my life
(what kind of cereal do I want this morning?), but
others can have a serious effect on my life and my
relationships. What I want is to be able to
say that my decisions are contributing in a positive
way to making my life more fulfilling and to
allowing me to make positive contributions to the
lives of others. And many of my decisions can
be made before a situation even comes up, making my
at-the-moment decision much easier. I've often
thought of funny things to say that would have
gotten a laugh at someone's expense, but I've said
nothing. And I've felt much better afterwards
than I would have felt having to apologize for
hurting someone's feelings.
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More
on decision-making.
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The
masters in the art of living
make little distinction between
their work and their play, their
labor and their leisure,
their
minds
and their bodies, their
education and their recreation,
their love
and their religion. They hardly know which is
which. They simply
pursue their
vision of excellence in whatever
they do,
leaving others
to decide
whether they are working or playing. To them they
are always doing both.
Zen Buddhist text
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I have walked 25,000 miles as a penniless
pilgrim. I own only what I wear
and what I carry in my small pockets. I belong to no
organization. I have
said that I will walk until given shelter and fast until given food,
remaining a
wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace. And I can
truthfully
tell you that without ever asking for anything, I have been supplied
with
everything needed for my journey, which shows you how good people
really are.
With me I carry always my peace message: This is the way of
peace: Overcome
evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.
There is nothing new
about this message, except the practice of it. And the practice
of it is required not
only in the international situation but also in the personal
situation. I believe that the
situation in the world is a reflection of our own immaturity. If
we were mature,
harmonious people, war would be no problem whatever--it would be
impossible.
All of us can work for peace. We can work right where we are,
right within
ourselves, because the more peace we have within our own lives, the
more we
can reflect into the outer situation. In face, I believe that
the wish to survive
will push us into some kind of uneasy world peace which will then need
to
be supported by a great inner awakening if it is to endure.
Peace Pilgrim
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People are buffeted by circumstances so long as
they believe themselves
to be creatures of outside conditions.
But when they realize that they are
creative powers, and
that they may command the hidden soil and seeds
of their being out
of which circumstances grow, they then become the
rightful masters
of themselves. . . . Circumstances do not make the person;
they
reveal the person to him or herself.
James Allen
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