Sacred Home

Wherever you are is home
And the earth is paradise.
Wherever you set your feet is holy land...

You live in the land, and it in you,
Or you don't survive.
And that is the only worship of God there is.

-Unknown


"Just to be is a blessing.
Just to live is holy."

-Unknown

In All Things

Apprehend God in all things,
for God is in all things.

Every single creature is full of God
and is a book about God.

Every creature is a word of God.

If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature--
even a caterpillar--
I would never have to harken to another sermon.
So full of God is every creature.

The Center of the Universe

The center of the universe is in this small room
where our souls touch the infinite,
and grace surpasses all our understanding.

And the center of the universe is in the nest outside the window
where the tiny speckled eggs are about to hatch
under the watch of attentive parents.

And the center of the universe is held
by the young mother in the bus going past
as she cradles her newborn in her arms and wonders where her future lies.

But the center of the universe is also in the heart of the bomb crater
where bits of bone, and chair, and cup are all that remain.

and the center of the universe is also in the jug of water
carried by the small boy walking past the garbage heap
where his brothers search for their day’s sustenance.

And the center of the universe is also in the quivering salmon
just caught and eaten by the grizzly bear in the cold Alaskan stream.

And the true center of the universe is millions of light years distant
from an insignificant solar system
in an average galaxy that some call the Milky Way.
-Jean Olson

How to Love the World: Save it or Savor it?

I rise in the morning torn between the desire
to save the world or to savor it. - to serve life or to enjoy it;
To savor the sweet taste of my own joy
Or to share the bitter cup of my neighbor;
To celebrate life with exuberant step
Or to struggle for the life of the heavy laden.
What am I to do when the guilt at my bounty
Clouds the sky of my vision;
When the glow which lights my every day
Illumines the hurting world around me?
To savor the world or to save it?
-Richard Gilbert


Save the world or savor it? Both.
-Jonalu Johnstone

Let the beauty we love be what we do.

There are a thousand ways

to kneel

and kiss the ground.

Rumi, Sufi mystic

The Covenant

Love is the doctrine of the soul,

The quest of truth is its sacrament,

And service is its prayer.

To dwell together in peace,

To seek knowledge in freedom,

To serve life in fellowship,

To the end that all souls shall grow in harmony:

This is the covenant with each and with all.

Opinions on Happiness

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer

The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. – Allen K. Chalmers

Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient. – Aristotle

Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others. – Buddha

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time. – Edith Wharton

The true way to render ourselves happy is to love our work and find in it our pleasure. – Francoise de Motteville

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion; If you want to be happy, practice compassion. – HH the Dalai Lama

Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves. – Helen Keller

All seasons are beautiful for the person who carries happiness within. – Horace Friess

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet. – James Oppenheim

The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven. – John Milton

It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day to day basis. - Margaret Bonnano

The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, not our circumstances. – Martha Washington

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. – Mohandas K. Gandhi

People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within. – Ramona Anderson

30 Spokes - Tao Te Ching 11

Thirty spokes are joined together in a wheel,

but it is the center hole

that allows the wheel to function.

*

We mold clay into a pot,

but it is the emptiness inside

that makes the vessel useful.

*

We fashion wood for a house,

but it is the emptiness inside

that makes it livable.

*

We work with the substantial,

but the emptiness

is what we use.

Tao Te Ching 11