Contemplative Mind

"The contemplative mind does not need to prove anything or disprove anything. It’s what the Benedictines called a Lectio Divina, a reading of the Scripture that looks for wisdom instead of quick answers. It first says, “What does this text ask of me? How can I change because of this story?” And not “How can I use this to prove that I am right and others are wrong or sinful?”

The contemplative mind is willing to hear from a beginner’s mind, yet also learn from Scripture, Tradition—and others. It has the humility to move toward Yes/And thinking and not all-or-nothing thinking. It leads to a “Third Way,” which is neither fight nor flight, but standing in between—where I can hold what I do know together with what I don’t know. Holding such a creative tension with humility and patience leads us to wisdom instead of easy answers which largely create opinionated and smug people instead of wise people. We surely need wise people now, who hold their truth humbly and patiently. - Richard Rohr

Only Two

"There are only two movements. One is cruelty and the other is kindness." -Thomas Cahill

Definition of Love

“Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you.” ~ Dr. Wayne Dyer

Make the Ordinary Come Alive

Measure of our Spiritual State

"Our spiritual state will ultimately be reflected in the state of our communities and our world." --Ravi Zacharias

More Bullets

“If your rights depend on your possession of a firearm, then your rights end when you meet somebody with more bullets or who's a better shot or is meaner than you are.” -Richard Slotkin

Enthusiasm

There is nothing wrong with loving the crap out of everything. Negative people find their walls. So never apologize for your enthusiasm. Never. Ever. Never.

Ryan Adams

Fault

Mandela

"The primary significance of Mandela and King was not their willingness to lock arms or hold hands with their enemies. It was their unshakable resolve to do whatever was necessary to bring those enemies to their knees." -- Bob Herbert.

What if---

It would be no less miraculous if God used evolution to create us than if he zapped us in in a day. It's all a matter of our finite perspective of time when God is timeless. If God took 100 million years to whip us up using evolution it might seem like a day to God. Wait, doesn't the Bible say something like that? 1000 years being like a day?

What You Want

The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want
the most for what you want now. -Zig Ziglar 

Prison

Raleigh Clough

When one door closes and another door opens you might just be in prison.

Judge

We can never judge the life of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It’s one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it’s another to think that yours is the only path. ~ Paulo Coelho