From: OUT OF DARKNESS
Let us be present to the now.
It’s all we have and it’s where God will always speak to us.
The now holds everything, rejects nothing and,
therefore, can receive God, too.
Help us be present to the place we’re most afraid of,
because it always feels empty, it always feels boring,
it always feels like it’s not enough.
Help us find some space within that we don’t try to fill
with ideas or opinions.
Help us to create inner space,
because you always show yourself best where we are
hungry and empty.
Keep us out of the way,
so there is always room enough for you. Amen. (Richard Rohr, ofm)
GOETHE
The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.
THE TALMUD
Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, "Grow, grow."
RILKE
All this hurrying woon will be over. Only when we tarry do we touch the holy.
from: THE MYSTICAL ROSE GARDEN
Penetrate the heart of just one drop of water, and you will be flooded by a hundred oceans.
A MODERN VERSION OF PSALM 23
The Lord is my pacesetter, I shall not rush.
God makes me stop for quiet intervals.
I am provided with images of stillness which restore my serenity.
God leads me in ways of efficiency through calmness of mind.
This guidance is peace.
Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day,
I will not fret for his presence is here.
God’s timeliness and all importance, will keep me in balance.
Preparing refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity.
By anointing my mind with the oils of tranquility,
My cup of joyous energy overflows.
Truly harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours,
for I shall walk in the pace of my God and dwell in this house forever.
Tokio Megashie (adapted)
PIERRE TEIHARD DE CHARDIN
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are all, quite naturally, impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way
to something unknown, something new,
and yet it is the law of progress
that progress is made by passing through
some stages of instability -
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually.
Let them grow.
Let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don't try to force them on,
as though you could be today
what time will make them tomorrow.
Only God can say what this new spirit
which is gradually forming within you will be.
Give God the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
A MEDITATION
God has created me to do some definite service.
God has committed some work to me which has not been committed to another.
I have my mission. I am linked in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.
I have not been created for nothing; I shall be an angel of peace.
Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away.
If I am in sickness, my sickness will serve God;
if I am in sorrow, my sorrow will serve.
God does nothing in vain and knows what all is about.
Therefore I will trust…. (John Henry Cardinal Newman)
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