Category: Writings

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are 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 all progress
that it 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
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

—Prayer of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
excerpted from Hearts on Fire

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all

Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honourably

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

-Rumi 

God, help me to relax into your love.

I do not have to manage it, control it, 

or make sure it is flowing in my life.

I do not need to prove myself worthy of it 

or somehow reassure you (or me) that all is going 

according to plan. I do not need to waste time 

trying to figure out who is your “elect” or not, 

who is saved or not, who is in your grace or not.

I can just accept that you love everyone, and so I can 

relate to everyone I meet as if I’m relating to someone 

truly special and precious in your eyes. 

Help me to relax into this place of radical trust,

radical acceptance of your love, and radical compassion.

I know it is nothing to fuss over, and the more grounded 

I become in the ordinariness of your love, 

the more I am equipped to live a life of radical mercy, 

forgiveness, compassion, justice and love. 

Help me to live in your peace, so that I might be your peace 

— and your joy, and your love. Amen.

 

Carl Colman

“And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened,

and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games,

and learned new ways of being and were still. And listened more deeply. 

Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met 

their shadows. And the people began to think differently.

And the people healed. And in the absence of people living in

ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. 

And when the danger passed, and the people joined  together again, 

they grieved their losses, and made new choices,  and dreamed 

new images, and created new ways to live and heal  the earth fully, 

as they had been healed”.

~Kitty O'Meara'~

What is my purpose in life? I asked the void.“

What if I told you that you fulfilled it when you took 

an extra hour to talk to that kid 

about his life?” said the voice. “

Or when you paid for the young couple 

in the restaurant? 

Or when you saved the dog in traffic?

Or when you tied your father’s shoes for him?” 

“Your problem is that you equate your purpose

with goal-based achievement. 

The universe isn’t interested in your achievements

.....just your heart. 

When you choose to act out of kindness, 

compassion and love, 

you are already aligned with your true purpose.

No need to look any further! 

-Unknown Author

Listen

God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.

Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

 

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among

things that change. But it doesn’t change.

People wonder about what you are pursuing.

You have to explain about the thread.

But it is hard for others to see.

While you hold it you can’t get lost.

Tragedies happen; people get hurt

or die; and you suffer and get old.

Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.

You don’t ever let go of the thread.

- William Stafford.