The peace that is now

Our true home is in the present moment.

To live in the present moment is a miracle.

The miracle is not to walk on water.

The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment,

to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.

Peace is all around us —

in the world and nature —

and within us —

in our bodies and our spirits.

Once we learn to touch this peace,

we will be healed and transformed.

It is not a matter of faith;

it is a matter of practice.

— Thich Nhat Hanh

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Real time

Kairos. Real time. God’s time. That time which breaks through chronos with a shock of joy, that time we do not recognize while we are experiencing it, but only afterwards, because kairos has nothing to do with chronological time. In kairos we are completely unselfconscious and yet paradoxically far more real than we can ever be when we are constantly checking our watches for chronological time.

— Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water

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My dreams

I know that my dreams

that are still unfulfilled,

and my melodies

still unstruck,

are clinging to Your lute strings,

and they are not

altogether lost.

–Rabindranath Tagore, The Heart of God

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Pleasure

And then my heart

with pleasure fills

and dances with

the daffodils.

— William Wordsworth, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

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Who makes these changes?

Who makes these changes?

I shoot an arrow right,

it lands left.

I ride after a deer and find myself

chased by a hog.

I plot to get what I want

and end up in prison.

I dig pits to trap others

and fall in.

I should be suspicious

of what I want.

— Rumi, Who Makes These Changes?”

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There all along

One day you understand

that the Mystery at the heart of creation

is Love,

and that the Love you have been seeking

has been there all along.

— Anne Hillman, Awakening the Energies of Love, p. 249

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Stories

The world is made up of

stories,

not atoms.

— Muriel Rukeyser, American poet, 1913-1980

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We belong to each other

If I have learned one thing on my journey, it is this: We are both separate and joined. The Consciousness of Love embraces all separation, and in the immensity of that Mystery, everything belongs and we belong to each other.

And the whisper echoes:

“Yes!”

— Anne Hillman, Awakening the Energies of Love, p. 154

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Paths of transformation

If we are to open to a consciousness that embraces differences, it is important to mention once agin that there are countless paths of transformation, and each of us finds our own way. Suzanne found her center by walking a labyrinth. Janice practiced ‘conscious dreaming.’ Joan learned to pray and meditate. Although we do our inner work alone, we may eventually want the balance of companionship. Marcia went to a shamanic drumming group. Bill chose Alanon. John practiced Tai Chi. Al joined a church. Mike went to school and studied philosophy. There may also come a time when some may want the help of a more experienced person to guide them — perhaps in deep therapy or spiritual direction; in an ongoing meditation group that includes a regular ‘check-in’ with an experienced teacher; in individual work with a spiritual advisor; or with a sponsor in a twelve-step program. There are many more possibilities. Sometimes, one path unfolds into another. Sometimes, we choose it — and other times, the path chooses us! When I answered the whispered call, I learned to meditate. But the path that later chose me demanded that I become a beginner.

— Anne Hillman, Awakening the Energies of Love, p. 72

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Deep listening

Who will prefer the jingle of jade pendants

if she once has heard stone

growing in a cliff?

— Lao Tse

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