If we have developed the necessary mental discipline and are
sufficiently aware of what is happening inside us, there is no
reason why we cannot choose to express only those thoughts
that will bring happiness to ourselves and others.  The whole
world might rise against us, but if the ability to control our mind
were well developed, we could still view everyone as our friend
rather than cower with fear and hatred.

You Came For Me

Since you came into the world for all people, O Saviour, therefore you came for me, for I am one of the people.  Since you came into the world to save sinners, therefore you came to save me, for I am one of the sinners.  Since you came to find those who are lost, therefore you came to find me, for I am one of the lost.  O Lord my God, I should have come to you, I should have cast myself before you as a miserable sinner, I should have tried to find you.  But I was so proud and so stubborn that you had to come to me.  You had to come down to earth as a tiny baby, enduring poverty, discomfort and danger, in order to reach me.  You had to walk dusty lanes, enduring insults and persecution, in order to reach me.  You had to suffer and die on a cross, in order to reach me.  Forgive me my stubborn pride that I have put you to such trouble and such pain on my behalf.

                        Tychon of Zadonsk, 18^th c. Russian monk

Your journey has blessed ours, Mary.
Your Yes dares us
to believe in the impossible,
to embrace the unknown,
and to expect the breaking through of mystery
onto our bleak and level horizons. 
The words you heard, Mary,
We will forever remember.
We will not be afraid,
for the life that you birthed
will not be extinguished in our souls.
And the journey you took in faithfulness,
we also take.
We the women, the midwives,
and the healers will also, like you Mary, soul sister,
Give birth to God
for our world.

                        Edwina Gately  from Soul Sisters

You are a victim only once—after that, you are a volunteer.

So many of our problems arise because we always feel cut off from something we need.  We do not feel whole and therefore turn expectantly toward other people for the qualities we imagine missing in ourselves.  All of the problems of the world, from one person’s anxiety to warfare between nations, can be traced to this feeling of not being whole.

                        Lama Thubten Yeshe from Introduction to Tantra         

You are the love of each living creature O God
You are the warmth of the rising sun
You are the whiteness of the moon at night
You are the life of the growing earth
You are the strength of the waves of the sea.
Speak to me this night O God
Speak to me your truth.
Dwell with me this night O God
Dwell with me in love.

Share your love, your wisdom, and your wealth and serve each other as much as possible. Live in harmony with one another and be an example of peace, love, compassion and wisdom. Try to be happy in your practice, to be satisfied with your life. Be reasonable in the way you grow, and don’t ever think that it is too late. And don’t be afraid of death. Even if you are going to die tomorrow, at least for today keep yourself straight and clean-clear, and be a happy human being.

Lama Thubten Yeshe,  from The Bliss of Inner Fire

I THANK YOU FOR THOSE THINGS THAT ARE YET POSSIBLE

Thank You

for work
which engages me in an internal  debate
between right and reward
and stretches me toward responsibility
to those who pay for my work,
and whose who cannot pay
because they have no work;

for justice
which repairs the devastation of poverty;

for liberty
which extends to the captives of violence;

for healing
which binds up the broken-bodied
and the broken-hearted;

for bread broken
for all the hungry earth;

for good news
of love which is stronger than death;

and for peace
for all to sit under fig trees
and not be afraid;

for my calling…my life.

            Ted Yoder

As long as our peace is dependent on any kind of external reality, it is not Peace; as long as our love for others and for the world is dependent on attitudes and feelings toward us, it is not Love. To the extent that our life depends on the material circumstances and conditions that constitute us, it is not yet Life. It is still within the domain of the outer person, who is destined to fall in ruins. It is still within a universe that is subject to the laws of entropy and daily decay.

Jean Yves-LeLoup

You Have Faith with our Bodies

Father, thank you for your revelation
about death
and illness
and sorrow.

Thank you for speaking so plainly to us,
for calling us all friends
and hovering over us;
for extending your arms out to us.

We cannot stand on our own;
we fall into death without you. 
We fall from faith, left to our own. 
We really are friendless without you.

Your extended arms fill us with joy,
expressing love,
love caring and carrying,
asking and receiving our trust.

You have our trust, Father,
and our faith
with our bodies
and all that we are and possess.

We fear nothing when with you,
safe to stretch out and help others,
those troubled in faith,
those troubled in body.

Father, help us to do with our bodies what we proclaim,
that our faith be known to you
and to others,
and be effective in all the world.

            Masai, Tanzania from “An African Prayer Book”