The Neighborhood Shepherds
“Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend… when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present — love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure — the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.” –Sarah Ban Breathnach
With Malice Towards None
Agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of all. And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love others, not because they are likeable, but because God loves them. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We Are Only Human
“Listening creates a holy silence. When you listen generously to people, they can hear truth in themselves, often for the first time. And in the silence of listening, you can know yourself in everyone. Eventually you may hear, in everyone and beyond everyone, the Unseen singing softly to itself and you.”
—Rachel Naomi Remen, Kitchen Table Wisdom, Stories that Heal
Reflections Week One
“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.”
-Albert Schweitzer
Getting out of the Boat
“We seek to remember that blessing comes in meeting the authentic call of the moment with greater compassion. There are always inner voices that focus on what is wrong in ourselves, in others, and in our world. There are always opportunities to act unkindly. But each moment offers us the opportunity to step into our freedom with greater awareness. The Way of One is a Way of deep compassion, healing, and forgiveness. It’s a choice we are challenged to make again and again.”
Rabbi Ted Falco
Looking for the Rainbows
Lord… Let every ray of sunshine on my face, every touch of warmth upon my back, every cooling breeze upon my cheek, every bloom along my path, every splash of green across blue skies: tell me of your beauty, reveal your awesome glory, herald your good news and remind me to raise a joyful prayer of praise for the beauty of the earth… Amen.
Holy Wisdom
“Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh.” ~ Kahlil Gibran
Be Opened
“Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn’t you – all of the expectations, all of the beliefs – and becoming who you are.”
Wisdom: A Way of Knowing – A Way of Being
Now may our wisdom show itself in compassion and understanding;
and may the fruits of the spirit be apparent in our lives. Philip Randall Giles
More Than a Cracker Relay
“Jesus didn’t say, ‘Blessed are those who care for the poor.’ He said, ‘Blessed are we where we are poor, where we are broken.’ It is there that God loves us deeply and pulls us into deeper communion.” Henri Nouwen