Inner Paradise

But the monks of the Middle Ages, and the clerics too, believed that the inner paradise was the ultimate groud of freedom in man's heart. To find it one had to travel, as Augustine had said, not with steps, but with yearnings. ...Paradise is simply the person, the self, but the radical self in its uninhibited freedom. 
-- Thomas Merton, Love and Living.

True freedom is openness, availability, the capacity for the gift.

True Joy

Life in this world is full of pain. But pain, which is the contrary of pleasure, is not necessarily the contrary of happiness or joy. Because spiritual joy flowers in the full expansion of freedom that reaches out without obstacle to its supreme object, fulfilling itself in the perfect activity of disinterested love for which it was created.

Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

True joy is found...in the intense and supple and free movement of our will rejoicing in what is good not merely for us but in Itself.

Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation


--James
The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail.
You cannot change the direction of the wind but you can adjust your sail.
Have a beautiful day unless you plan otherwise.

Born Again American

BORN AGAIN AMERICAN
By Keith Carradine       

Just a workin’ man without a job
It got shipped off to China via Washington, D.C.
And I know I’m nothin’ special, there are plenty more like me
Just the same
I thought I knew the rules of the game

I stood up for this country that I love
I came back from the desert to a wife and kids to feed
I’m not sayin’ Uncle Sam should give me what I need
My offer stands
I’ll pull my weight you give me half a chance

I went up to a congressman and said to him “you know
Our government is letting people down”
He said he’d need a lot of help to buck the status-quo
I said there was a bunch of us around

I’m a Born Again American, conceived in Liberty
My Bible and the Bill of Rights, my creed’s equality
I’m a Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream from sea to shining sea

My brother’s welding chassis at the plant 
He’s earning what our granddad did in 1948
While CEOs count bonuses behind the castle gates
How can they see
When all they care about’s the do re mi

It’s getting where there’s nowhere left to turn
Not since the crash of twenty-nine have things been so unfair
So many of our citizens are living in despair
The time has come
To reaffirm that hope’s not just for some

The promise of America’s surrendering to greed
The rule is just look out for number one
But brace yourself ‘cause some of us have sown a different seed
A harvest of the spirit has begun

I’m a Born Again American conceived in liberty
My Bible and The Bill Of Rights
My creed’s equality
A Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream from sea to shining sea

It’s clear my country’s soul is on the line
She’s hungering for something that she lost along the way
The principle the framers called upon us to obey
That in this land
The people’s will must have the upper hand

I felt the calling once before and took a sacred vow
And faithful to that vow I have remained
I hear the calling once again, my country needs me now
And to her cause I have been re-ordained

I’m a Born Again American conceived in liberty
My Bible and the Bill Of Rights, all people living free 
A Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream 
From sea to shining sea
And everyone who shares the dream
From sea to shining sea
A M E R I C A

 

Check this out and turn up the volume: 

http://www.bornagainamerican.org/

 

 

The Real Path To Freedom

Although we have been made to believe
that if we let go we will end up with nothing,
life reveals just the opposite:
that letting go is the real path to freedom.

 

Sogyal Rinpoche
Glimpse After Glimpse

How To Catch A Wild Pig

A chemistry professor in a large college had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the Professor noticed one young man (an exchange student) who kept rubbing his back, and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what the trouble was.

The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government.

In the midst of relating his story, he looked at the professor and asked a strange question: "Do you know how to catch wild pigs?"

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line.

The young man said it was no joke.

"You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and come every day to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They will get used to that and start to eat once again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, now used to the free corn, will come through the gate to eat; then you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.

"Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating t he free corn. They are now so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves anyway, so they simply accept their captivity."

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America.

The government keeps pushing us into socialism and keeps spreading the free corn in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops, welfare, medicine, drugs, etc . . . all the while we continue to lose our freedoms . . . just a little at a time.

One should always remember: There is no such thing as a free lunch!

Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want,
is big enough to take away everything you have."
Thomas Jefferson

Forgiveness & Freedom

It is the act of forgiveness that

opens up the only possible way to think

creatively about the future at all.

-- Father Desmond Wilson

 

Today is full of endless possibilities and dreams.

In many cases, I are limited only by my fear and lack of hope, in others and ourselves myself.

Each new day I am given a clean page to live in my book of life.

What freedom I find when I choose to practice the art of forgiveness.

Forgiving others and myself will allow me to step into this new day as free human beings.

Freedom is a gift I give myself every time I choose not to react to a hurtful comment.

Holding on to old resentments keeps my creative energy trapped and stifled.

My choices are these: new freedom or old resentment.

I choose new freedom.

It is the gift I give myself when I choose not to let the sun rise on yesterday's script.

Today let me forgive everyone and anything - past and present - that might distract me from my spiritual growth.

Freedom

I am free to laugh all of my laughter, free to trust and be trusted, free to both give and receive help.

I am free from shame and regret, free to learn and grow and work.

I have left that lonely, frightening, painful express train through hell.

I have accepted the gift of a safer, happier journey through life.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 543

 

Within our wonderful new world, we have found freedom from our fatal obsession.

 

H J F = Happy, Joyous, Free.

~~ @@ ~~

Let Freedom Ring

With the gift of a land and a nation comes responsibility to the Giver.

As a Christian, I am seriously impelled by the vision of my nation’s founders to seek liberty, peace, and justice for all – a task that is never completed.

Let me cultivate for the final harvest the seed my founders sowed.

 Freedom is not achievement but gift.

Freedom is not license but radical obedience to God’s liberating law of love.

Let me give thanks for the gifts of freedom I have received and, trusting in My Creator as did my nation’s founders, let me seek to share them as gifts with all who are still enslaved by political oppression, social or economic injustice, or personal sin.

 

 

Today we make again our own

The hope which Christ, our life, has sown:

In fertile fields and streets of stone,

Let freedom ring!

 

Where Justice works amid the weed

Of rampant want and choking greed,

To loose the voice of human need,

Let freedom ring!

 

Where Mercy’s fingers, slashed and torn,

Untangle love from twisted thorn

Of anger, disbelief and scorn,

Let freedom ring!

 

In Christ, we tend what God has planned,

With justice, mercy, truth in hand

Till joy sings out through all the land:

Let freedom ring!

 

Let me pray for the gift of fidelity to all that God ask of me.

Free me to follow your ways, O Lord!

Where complacency darkens my vision of your will for me:

Free me to follow your ways, O Lord!

Where greed for personal gain dims my commitment to the welfare of all people:

Free me to follow your ways, O Lord!

Where the failure of faith discourages me from pursuing your goals for me:

Free me to follow your ways, O Lord!

God of all people and nations, you have called those who live in this land to pursue your vision of freedom, justice, and peace for all.

Keep me faithful to your gifts, that I may us them for the world’s good and the good of my own nation.

Amen

 

Let us not grow tired of doing good,
for in due time we shall reap our harvest,
if we do not give up. (Gal 6: 9)

 

Freedom

I am free to laugh all of my laughter, 

free to trust and be trusted,

free to both give and receive help.

I am free from shame and regret, 

free to learn and grow and work.

I have left that lonely, frightening, 

painful express train through hell.

I have accepted the gift of a safer, 

happier journey through life.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 543

 

Within our wonderful new world, 

we have found freedom 

from our fatal obsession.

 

H J F = Happy, Joyous, Free.

 

Nothingness Into Love

Prayer is freedom and affirmation 

growing out of nothingness into love. 

Prayer is the flowering of our inmost freedom 

in response to the Word of God.

Thomas Merton. 

Contemplation in A World of Action 

No Longer Lamed

Sin and death lamed me so that I could not walk in God's ways.

My sobriety and spiritual fitness free me to walk and indeed to run and leap in the way of the Gospel.

You give sight to the blind of heart:
-- in your light, I see light.

You raised up those paralyzed by sin:
-- in your love, I leap for joy.

You give life to those who were dead:
-- in your resurrection, I place all my hope.

Act Of Self-Kindness

The old law of "an eye for an eye"

leaves everybody blind.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Forgiving can also help me take back my power.
As long as I believe that someone else's actions are the cause of my present difficulties, I am powerless to change.
Letting go of blame allows me to take responsibility for my life.
All this adds up to a single point.
Forgiveness is an act of self-kindness.
It liberates my life force.
It completes the past.
I can choose now to heal my old unfinished business.
It is time to let go of the pain.
I can place my hurt on an altar and surrender it to God.
Set myself and others free.

Natural Highs

1. Falling in love.
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3. A hot shower.
4 . No lines at the supermarket.
5. A special glance.
6. Getting mail.
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.
11. Chocolate milkshake (vanilla or strawberry).
12. A bubble bath.
13. Giggling.
14. A good conversation.
15 The beach.
16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.
17. Laughing at yourself.
18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you.
19 Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
20. Running through sprinklers.
21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
23. Laughing at an inside joke with friends.
25. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
26. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
27. Your first kiss (either the very first or wit h a ne w partner).
28. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
29. Playing with a new puppy.
30. Having someone play with your hair.
31. Sweet dreams.
32. Hot chocolate.
33. Road trips with friends.
34. Swinging on swings.
35. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.
36. Making chocolate chip cookies.
37. Having your friends send you homema de cookies.
38 Holding hands with someone you care about.
39 Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.
40. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.
41. Watching the sunrise.
42. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.
43. Knowing that somebody misses you.
44. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.
45. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think.

The Key To Freedom

Holding resentments against others hurts me.

Forgiveness can make me glad I'm alive today.

Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.
--Hannah Arendt

Resentments keep me in the past, a past that can never be relived.
Resentments keep a stranglehold on my mind.
Resentments keep me from appreciating the beauty of a moment.
Resentments stop me from hearing the loving voices of friends.
I forget that I have a mission to fulfill God's divine plan for my life.
Clearly the choice to resent no one is my opportunity to free my mind and heart for the real activities God hopes I will attend to.
Our purpose in this life goes unfulfilled when we're consumed by resentments.
Fortunately, my freedom comes when I decide to forgive whatever transgressions are made against me.

# @ # @ # @ #

Forgiveness, The Way To Freedom

To forgive another person from the heart is an act of liberation.
We set that person free from the negative bonds that exist between us.
We say, "I no longer hold your offense against you."
But there is more.
We also free ourselves from the burden of being the "offended one."
As long as we do not forgive those who have wounded us, we carry them with us or, worse, pull them as a heavy load.
The great temptation is to cling in anger to our enemies and then define ourselves as being offended and wounded by them.
Forgiveness, therefore, liberates not only the other but also ourselves.
It is the way to the freedom of the children of God.

Henri Nouwen

#@#@#@#

A Franciscan Christmas Blessing for Justice and Peace

From a secular Franciscan and a friend:

May God bless you with discomfort…at easy answers, hard hearts,half-truths ,and superficial relationships.

May God bless you so that you may live from deep within your heart where God's Spirit dwells.

May God bless you with anger…at injustice, oppression,and exploitation of people.

May God bless you so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears…to shed for those who suffer from pain,rejection, starvation and war.

May God bless you so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, in your neighborhood,so that you will courageously try what you don't think you can do, but, in Jesus Christ you'll have all the strength necessary.

May God bless you to fearlessly speak out about injustice,unjust laws, corrupt politicians,unjust and cruel treatment of prisoners, and senseless wars, genocides, starvations, and poverty that is so pervasive.

May God bless you that you remember we are all called to continue God's redemptive work of love and healing in God's place, in and through God's name, in God's Spirit, continually creating and breathing new life and grace into everything and everyone we touch.

"Troubadour: A Missionary Magazine," published by the Franciscan Missionary Society, Liverpool, UK: Spring 2005.

The Freedom to Refuse Love

Often hell is portrayed as a place of punishment and heaven as a place of reward.
But this concept easily leads us to think about God as either a policeman, who tries to catch us when we make a mistake and send us to prison when our mistakes become too big, or a Santa Claus, who counts up all our good deeds and puts a reward in our stocking at the end of the year.
God, however, is neither a policeman nor a Santa Claus.
God does not send us to heaven or hell depending on how often we obey or disobey.
God is love and only love.
In God there is no hatred, desire for revenge, or pleasure in seeing us punished.
God wants to forgive, heal, restore, show us endless mercy, and see us come home.
But just as the father of the prodigal son let his son make his own decision God gives us the freedom to move away from God's love even at the risk of destroying ourselves.

Hell is not God's choice.

It is ours.

-- Henri Nouwen

Fear Is Only An Illusion

Fear is only an illusion.

It is the illusion that creates
the feeling of separateness -

the false sense of isolation
that exists only in your imagination.

--Jeraldine Sounders

I am only alone in my mind.
Freedom from fear is a decision I can choose to make at any time.
I can simply give it up and replace it with my understanding of equality with all persons.
Taking responsibility for my fear, or my freedom from it, is the first step to a perspective promising healthier emotional development.
If I am fearful today, it's because I have forgotten the reality of my existence.
I am equal to all the people in my world, and we are necessary to one another.

Key Problem Of Humanism

The key problem of humanism is the problem of that authentic love which united man to man not simply in a symbiotic and semiconscious relationship but as person to person in the authentic freedom of a mutual gift.

Thomas Merton

Love and Living

Traditional Irish Blessing

May the blessing of light be with you --

light outside and light within.

May sunlight shine upon you

and warm your heart

'til it glows like a great peat fire.

May the blessing of rain --

the sweet, soft rain --
fall upon your spirit

and wash it clean.

May it leave a shining pool

where the blue of heaven shines,

and sometines a star.

-- an old Irish Blessing