I Just Have to Share This Quote

Though GOD is everywhere present, yet He is only present to thee in the deepest and most central part of thy soul.The natural senses cannot possess God or unite thee to Him; nay, thy inward faculties of understanding, will and memory can only reach after God, but cannot be the place of his habitation in thee. But there is a root or depth of thee from whence all these faculties come forth, as lines from a centre, or as branches from the body of the tree. This depth is called the centre, the fund or bottom of the  soul. This depth is the unity, the eternity—I had almost said the infinity—of thy soul; for it is so infinite that nothing can satisfy it or give it rest but the infinity of God. --- William Law

William Law has been an inspiration to many, including me, and I hope you.  I suggest reading this quote several times, slowly, letting the understanding seep into your soul. Be still with it. Co template it. Write insights. Reread your writing.  

For too long many have relied on those without deep knowing to tell them what to believe. There is the analogy of using our eyes to describe what we see in outer space and convincing others that what is seen is all there us, plus making assumptions based on what is seen with the eyes --- versus looking through a powerful telescope, or better yet traveling into space. What we see hen we look at water gives us no clue it is made up of two gases. We have to farther to know more.

Many who speak about God and spiritual things are repeating what they were taught and join the ranks of those only looking with human eyes.

It seems to me there is a spiritual famine on earth because of this. Open to the More, to experience of the More. Go beyond the surface skim of what the eyes can see. It is a thrilling adventure.  I guarantee it. 

Whose Fault?

remember that nothing else is the cause of our disturbance or loss of tranquility except our own opinion --Epictetus

He goes on to say we have been trained to place blame outside of ourselves from childhood on. A small child trips on a rock, falls, and cries. Epictetus says the nurse (nanny) then blames the rock, Did the naughty rock hurt you? she says, and  on and on it goes. 

Know thyself...  judge not by appearances, but judge righteous judgement... an in examined life is not worth living, --- words of wisdom from across time come to us now. 

It seems to me that part of being in charge of oneself is to examine ourselves, ask ourselves questions. Where did this idea/belief come from? Why do I believe it? What are other views about it?  etc.

I have noticed that it is particularly urgent for us to examine that to which we attach strong emotion lest we join fanatics everywhere and every time who believe in far fetched things or resist new discoveries. Extreme examples often are wrapped up in religious fervor, think Inquisitions, witch hunts, Crusades, etc; or politics, think wars both physical and verbal; or science, think flat earth, Galileo, Copernicus, Darwin. Pick any area and you'll find fanatics.

We don't have to go all the way to those extremes to still be captive to our emotions. Whatever issue gets your blood boiling, pull yourself back from it and explore other ways to see it. Maybe your one-sided view has distorted what is actual and has led you to invest your emotions into a false or partially false position.

So a couple more questions to self: Am I willing to seek Truth? Am I willing to be wrong? Or am I just stubborn and insist everything has to be the way I see it whether or not it is true? Do I have the courage to genuinely ask myself these questions and seek sincere answers? I hope and pray you do!

The Phantom

 I want to share a thought that came to me yesterday. 

It started when I was thinking about a friend whose leg was amputated several years ago. She still feels the phantom leg. 

Then I thought about all if my treasures that Gilbert lost, on purpose it seems - they that keep popping into my mind, and I see them, and my heart grieves they are gone, gone somewhere to some unknown people and places. 

They haunt me. They are my phantom things. I cry less, but my heart still hurts. How long will my phantom things bring me angst?  I keep releasing it all over and over. It occurred to me yesterday that Gilbert wounded me deeply, and talking it through is a sort of peroxide cleansing it so it can heal. I need to find a way to let the wound heal and not reopen it. I hope and pray I'm almost there.

I urge you to heal your wounds too.  Whole, well people are needed. God bless you dear spiritual friend. 

Letting Go

 

And what is this divine law? To keep a man's will, not to claim anything which belongs to others, but to use what is given, and anything that’s not given, not to desire it; and when a thing is taken away, to be ready to let it go immediately, and to be thankful for the time that God gave you use of it.  --- Epictetus

 As I wrestle with letting go of my things, I keep finding thoughts that help me, such as the above quote. I am making strides, and yet this thing or that pops into my mind, and my heart glitches, and a tear rolls down my cheek. Am I to go through the whole inventory, releasing each item? I don't dwell on it, something presents itself, and my mind goes to something related that t treasure still; its not just big and financially valuable things. For example, last week at physical therapy, the therapist had a bracelet of white round beads that he said his father gave him. Up came the little beads with my name on them they put on my ankle in the hospital when I was born. I saw it in its little box, and I teared up. A tiny piece of the betrayal. 

If Gilbert had listened to such wisdom as above, as what Jesus also taught, he would have been a different person. But he didn't listen and he was who he was. 

I do give thanks that for a time I had lovely things, sentimental things, valuable things. I pray to release then, for they are no longer mine. I pray to be free of this pain. 

Yesterday, this little prayer came to me  - Lord, restore me not to how I was, but to how You would have me be. 

Freedom From the Past

 someone who has worry, fear and is inwardly broken in heart, he should use his time better on something else.--- Epictetus

 My oh my, did I ever need to hear this right now. I awoke in a cloud of sadness over the mountain of loss and betrayal left to me by my recently deceased "soulmate." Pictures of what I had collected ran through my mind.  Questions to him, now unanswerable, arose with deep angst. 

I prayed. Help me release all of this to You.  a bible verse came on wings to me, then the little homeless booklet I wrote appeared in my mind. Jesus told us not to store up treasures that moth or rust could take, but treasure spiritual understanding.  My little booklet reminds us that Jesus was homeless too.

Then I gave praise and thanks. I am not technically homeless due to the bountiful love from Anne Unmacht and all of the dear people of Project Touch. My treasures are in my memory, where I can visit them whenever I wish. And I do not have to house them and dust them and take care of them. And the original Peace Pilgrim just came to mind and the first time I got to hear her. She said she was sitting in her house in Pasadena, and she thought, I am working so hard to support my drapes in the manner to which they have become accustomed. She sold everything and began walking across the country for peace. 

No, I'm not walking the country. But if I can finally release it all, I will be free to do what God's got up his sleeve for me for the rest of my life. Maybe finishing my book will put a seal on it.  It's called, "I Wouldn't Believe It Either, If I Hadn't Lived It." I have friends helping me edit it, then I think I need an agent, unless I just decide to upload it to Amazon. Its close to done. I'd like to get it published though. 

Let's all release the baggage of our pasts, and let's move forward to what good awaits us. God bless us all. 

Praise

 Shouldn’t we, when we are digging, ploughing and eating sing this hymn to God? "God is great, he has given us implements with which we will cultivate the earth: God is great, he has given us hands, the power of swallowing, a stomach, imperceptible growth and the power of breathing while we sleep."...If I was an eagle, I would act the part of an eagle: if I were a swan, I would act like a swan. But I’m a rational creature, and I should praise God: this is my work; I do it, I will not desert this post, as long as I’m allowed to keep it; and I encourage you to sign the same song.                   ---Epictetus

I'm rereading Epictetus, and the above quote spoke to me this morning. His concept of  praising God for everything is powerful. Sing a song of praise for everything. Please contemplate the above quote and try to implement it by spending the day praising God God for all things. 

Idea for Today

I'm rereading Epictetus, and this struck me this morning,: "I’m not trying to hinder myself."

For many, if not all of us, we would do well to repeat this to ourselves until we believe it. As far as I can see, most people in fact do hinder themselves in many ways. 

People pull back from being their full magnificence. They say hindering things to themselves in the privacy of their heads. They say demeaning things to others in an attempt to make themselves appear better rather than striving to be their best selves and encouraging others to also be their best selves. 

It us important to become generous hearted. As Paul understood, All have fallen short of the glory of the Lord. Let's strive to be lifters of ourselves cane others.  Let us cease hindering. 

Jesus told us, Love one another as I have loved you.