Words For The Day

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
John Quincy Adams

May those whose hell it is to hate and hurt be turned into lovers bringing flowers.
Shantideva, 8th century Buddhist teacher

In the end we will conserve only what we love.
We will love only what we understand.
We will understand only what we are taught.
Baba Dioum, Senegalese conservationist (b. 1937)

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
Audrey Hepburn

All good things are wild, and free.
Henry David Thoreau

Every breath we draw is a gift of God's love; every moment of existence is a grace.
Thomas Merton
Thoughts in Solitude

Life is an opportunity given to satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul.
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Bowl of Saki

Although all men share a common destiny, each individual also has to work out his personal salvation for himself.
We can help each other find the meaning of life, but in the last analysis, each is responsible for finding himself.
Thomas Merton

Dare to be empty.
Dare to let go.
Dare to believe.
Elisabeth L.

Walking Life's Tightrope

Being on the tightrope is living;
everything else is waiting.

--Karl Wallenda

Life itself is a risk.
When I hold on too tight, remain too guarded, and anxiously try to control every factor, I become stiff and reactive rather than calm, focused, and responsive.
The guidance of my spiritual path teaches me to let go of my anxieties and leads me to peace of mind.
When I learn to do this, I can deftly walk my path and more effectively maintain my balance in dealing with whatever comes up.
Today I will calm myself while walking on my path.

Must Suffer Greatly

O my God, you who do not refuse me suffering.
For some time you have accustomed me to love you in the deprivation of all sensible joys, in a suffering heart, and often enough in an exhausted body.
I accept all from your hand and unite myself to your will.
It is not just having received al from you I should give you something in return, and that I should offer you the trials, prayers, sacrifices, and humble activity that is your daily design for me?
Through it all I want to try, by your grace, to maintain joy of spirit.
O God, for some time you have given me the grace of suffering: spiritual trials, the renunciation of my desires and tastes, deeply felt spiritual isolation.
How well you know how to choose the most appropriate suffering, the one that crucifies us and allows the least possibility of selfishness.
In my illness there were still subtle temptations for me, and satisfactions that were legitimate and yet too worldly.
In leaving me this physical misery, with its inconveniences and helplessness, you have given again hidden this from others and sent me other trials that are very painful and known only to you.
From the bottom of my heart, I say to you, “Thank you.”
Blessed are you, O God, for all this pain, through which you allow me to atone for my faults, draw near your heart, and also to obtain, I hope, many spiritual graces for many people, as well as for those I love.
My God, help me to carry the cross you have offered me, and let none of this precious grace of suffering be lost.

-- Elisabeth Leseur

The Right Attitude

If I am to know the will of God, I must have the right attitude toward life.
I must first of all know what life is, and to know the purpose of my existence.

It is all very well to declare that I exist in order to save my soul and give glory to God by doing so.
And it is all very well to say that, in order to do this, I obey certain commandments and keep certain counsels.
Yet knowing this much, and indeed knowing all moral theology and ethics and canon law, I might still go through life conforming myself to certain indications of God's will without ever fully giving myself to God.
For that, in the last analysis, is the real meaning of His will.
He does not need our sacrifices, He asks for our selves.
And if He prescribes certain acts of obedience, it is not because obedience is the beginning and the end of end of everything. It is only the beginning.
Charity, divine union, transformation in Christ: these are the end.

--Thomas Merton

No Man Is An Island: 63

What God wants of me is myself.

That means to say that His will for me points to one thing:
the realization, the discovery, and the fulfillment
of my self, my true self, in Christ.

No Man Is An Island: 63-64.

Elder's Meditation -- Finding The Red Road

There are certain times in our lives when a voice whispers to us.
The voice doesn't always talk. Usually we hear it best when we are sick an tired of being sick and tired.
Inside of every person is the knowledge that a Supreme Being exists.
Sometimes a restlessness occurs and it makes me feel I need to be doing something or I need to be going somewhere or maybe I start wondering who am I?
Often when this happens, I feel lost.
Inside of everyone is the natural, built-in desire to be walking the Red Road, or to be seeking a relationship with the Creator.
No one can force us to make this journey.
We must make this journey because we want to.
This journey is not on the outside. The path is inside of ourselves.
It is inside that we must begin our search.

Oh Great Spirit, help me this day to look within myself.

If trouble arises, let me realize that it's not what is going on
but how I am looking at what's going on.

Give me Your power this day to conduct
myself according to Your way of life.