into the light

 

gg

Discernment

"A man can counterfeit love, he can counterfeit faith, he can counterfeit hope and all the other graces, but it is very difficult to counterfeit humility".-- D. L. Moody

 

"What we think, or what we know, or what we believe, is in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do".. --  John Ruskin

 

"There are many in religion and/or philosophy who are experts with the words. They have minds that can encompass innumerable definitions provided by yet more such experts.. It is a great sadness when one comes across such as these whose minds have great knowledge yet whose hearts never practised the language of the Spirit, it's dialects of humility and truthfulness, it's rhythm of lovingness". gg

We all have in common…

that our bodies consist of between 55-78% …..WATER

shed another tear or two…

……………… and  rarely, but sometimes, our tears become tears of joy

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we weep with Japan

via

Around the world a surge of compassion, stronger than any tsunami, reaches out to the peoples of Japan.

There is hardly a human being anywhere who upon seeing these images does not shed a tear in their heart.

gg

the heart of a man on Women's Day

for their devotion, practicality, friendship, dedication, emotional stamina, compassion, ingenuity, intelligence, creativity,inner beauty and, of course, their limitless love - A BIG THANK YOU to all the women whose lives have touched my life

the science of faith

"Suppose you took scrabble sets, or any word game sets, blocks with letters containing every language on Earth and you heap them together, and then you took a scoop and you scooped into that heap, and you flung it out on the lawn there and the letters fell into a line which contained the words, 'to be or not to be that is the question,' that is roughly the odds of an RNA molecule appearing on the Earth." (Dr. Robert Shapiro, Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Chemistry at New York University)

image via worldofmolecules.com

"Our willingness to accept scientific claims that are against common sense is the key to understanding the real struggle between Science and the Supernatural. We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community of unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to naturalism ... for we cannot allow a Divine foot in the door." (Richard Lewontin, Geneticist)

blog entry inspired by "A reasonable argument for God's existence"

the soul's alphabet….part 2

love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love

part 1 can be found here

ain't it so

unless you are as a little child….

image courtesy of www.ragnhild-monsen.com

Consider this: since we are all individual then our perceptions, concepts, experiences are equally all individual. They are as individual as a snowflake in a blizzard of living.

This being so, how absurd it is of us to think we can 'understand' another person.

We may remember that as young children playing together we could empathise with another's joy, or another's pain. If we really understand ourself, then we treasure this blessing throughout life - our ability to empathise.

I am not required to understand you, nor you I. What love does require of us is that we so choreograph our empathy that we may accept the beauty of each other as we dance the melody of life. If we look through those childhood empathatic eyes, we will see the miracle of each other.

And in just the same way the snowstorm surrounds us with countless millions of individually beautiful miracles if we will look, so we are surrounded by the vast and staggeringly beautiful landscape of humanity.

gg

et tu Brute

“Friendship is not something that you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, then you really haven’t learned anything.”

The road

“It is an immense journey from a culture of victimhood to one of self-empowerment, from a culture of conspiracy to one of construction. It is a long road from rage to responsibility, from humiliation to action”.

 

Roger Cohen

The Physics of Oneness

A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

Albert Einstein

no greater love……

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Remembering

 

SORROW is the rain of remembrance falling upon the blossom of love

gg

 

picture via

salaam – true Islam

 

"There was a time I used to reject those who were not of my faith. Now my heart has grown capable of taking on many forms: a pasture for gazelles, a convent for Christians, a temple for idols, a Kaaba* for the pilgrim, a table for the Torah, a book of the Koran. My religion is love - whichever the route love's caravan shall take, that path shall be the path of my faith."

*The most sacred Muslim shrine, to be found in Mecca Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240)

picture via

disruptive beauty-001

 

So often we ignore the importance of little things at our peril….

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Honest polarity

"….often contradiction is the clearest way to truth"

Patti Smith

"we are most clearly defined not by what we will do, but by what we will not do".

gg

"…for we do not really know who we are are until we meet the opposite of who we perceive ourselves to be. We are as candles who need the darkness in order that we may see our own shining.In this sense all trauma that visits our life has within it the potential to be a magnificently radiant triumph of the human spirit"

gg

Healthy Hearted Christmas

Ok. So now it's almost Christmas, you know that time of the year when we are all pleasant and kind to each other.(even Scrooge learnt the lesson!)

SO NOW IT'S official, not simply a meaningful statement from some spiritual 'leader'. Being kind to each other is in our own best interests! What is more, 'kindness gives birth to kindness' as Sophocles said – so an act of kindness actually improves the health, physical health, of the doer – and of the receiver if that receiver also does likewise.

You are right to be sceptical. You are right to want something more than spiritual, loving theory.

So here you go – proven, verifiable, scientific FACT:

read the full scientific article here

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness". Dalai Lama

I hope, whatever your religion or non-religion, that your heart will be healthy during this Christmas period and throughout the coming years.

introverted conspiracy

"….minds resort to conspiracy theory because it is the ultimate refuge of the powerless. If you cannot change your own life, it must be that some greater force controls the world."

Roger Cohen

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