A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you've forgotten the words.
-Donna Roberts

Don't walk in front of me - I may not follow.  Don't walk behind me - I may not lead.  Just walk beside me & be my friend.
-Anonymous

Give Light & the darkness will disappear of itself.
-Desiderius Erasmus

You always teach others what you most need to learn.
-R. Price

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 &
beauty that are available now... 
It is not a matter of faith; it is a matter of practice.
-Thich Nhat Hanh

There are no unnatural or supernatural phenomena, only very large gaps in our knowledge of what is natural.  We should strive to fill those gaps of ignorance.
-Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut

Forgive...Let go...Call back your spirit or strengthen your spirit.  The world changes once we do.  Give up the past - reclaim your power...  Everything lies in the present - the future will take care of itself.
-Caroline Myss, author

There are three kinds of people in the world:  those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, those who don't know what's happening.
-Nicholas Murray Butler

If you understand, things are just as they are.
If you do not understand, things are just as they are.
-Zen verse

Listening to your heart is not simple.  Finding out who you are is not simple.  It takes a lot of courage to get to know who you are & what you want.
-Sue Bender, from The Feminine Face of God

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An ancient legend states that all the great spiritual masters
were pondering what to do with the
very great power that existed in the world. 
They were concerned that unless a person was
very spiritually developed
& aware of the importance of this power,
it could be used for negative purposes. 
One master said, "Why don't we put it at the
top of the tallest mountain peak,
so it will be difficult to reach?" 
Another master stated, "No, in the future, humans will
learn  to build big birds and
fly to the highest peak...
let's place it at the bottom of the deepest ocean." 
Someone else said, "No, in the future,
they will learn to build big fish and
travel down to the ocean depths." 
After much discussion, the masters decided that
"the one place that most people will NEVER
think to look will be
within themselves...
only the very dedicated who are willing
to go in a different direction
than the masses will be able to
discover this powerful energy". 
And so it is...this beautiful, powerful energy is
within the core of each Human Being.
-Anonymous-

A Native Prayer

Oh Great Spirit,
whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world,
hear me!
I am small and weak,
I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
the things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every rock and leaf.
I seek strength not to be greater than others
but to fight my greatest enemy: myself.
Make me always ready to come to you,
with clean hands and straight eyes
so when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.
- Tekakwitha Conference National Centre  

The Symptoms of INNER PEACE

Be on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.

Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:

• A tendency to think & act spontaneously rather  than on fears based on past experiences.

• An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

• A loss of interest in judging other people.

• A loss of interest in judging self.

• A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.

• A loss of interest in conflict.

• A loss of the ability to worry.  (This is a very serious symptom).

• Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

• Contented feelings of connectedness with others & nature.

• Frequent attacks of smiling.

• An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.

• An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

  WARNING:  If you have some or all of the above symptoms, please be advised that your condition of inner peace may be so far advanced as to not be curable. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting any of these symptoms, remain exposed only at your own risk.

  -  by Saskia Davis (©1984, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)
  (contact Saskia: Sweetamazinggrace@earthlink.net)

LEARN TO LISTEN

Learn to listen, like a teddy bear,
With ears open & mouth closed tight.

Learn to forgive, like a teddy bear,
With an open heart, not caring who is right.

Learn to love, like a teddy bear,
With arms open & imperfect eyesight.

Do not ask for your life's load lightened,
But for courage to endure.

Do not ask for fulfillment in your life,
Do not ask for perfection in all you do,
But for wisdom not to repeat mistakes.

And finally, do not ask for more,
Before saying "Thank You",
For what you've already received.
-Anonymous child

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.
-Rumi, "A Great Wagon"
 

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FOR CHILDREN WHO WERE BROKEN
By Elia Wisa  (copyright 1989)

For children who were broken
it is very hard to mend...
Our pain was rarely spoken
and we hid the truth from friends.

Our parents said they loved us,
but they didn't act that way.
They broke our hearts
and stole our worth,
with the things that they would say.

We wanted them to love us.
We didn't know what we did
to make them yell at us
and hit us,
and wish we weren't their kid.

They'd beat us up and scream at us
And blame us for their lives.
Then they'd hold us close inside their arms
and tell us confusing lies
of how they really loved us ---
Even though we were BAD,
And how it was OUR fault they hit us,
OUR fault they were mad.

When days were just beginning
We sometimes prayed for them to end,
And when the pain kept coming,
We learned to just pretend
That we were good
And so were they
And this was just
One of those days...
Tomorrow we'd be friends.

We had to believe it so.
We had nowhere else to go.

Each day that we pretended,
We replaced reality
With lies, or dreams,
Or angry schemes,
In search of dignity...
Until our lies
Got bigger than the truth,
And we had no one real to be. 

Our bodies were forsaken.
With no safe place to hide,
We learned to  stop
Hearing and feeling
What they did to our outsides.

We tried to make them love us,
Till we hated ourselves instead,
And couldn't see a way out,
and wished that they were dead.
We scared ourselves to know,
That we were acting just like them ---
And might evermore be so.

To be half the size of a grown-up
And trapped inside their pain...
To every day lose everything
With no savior or refrain...
To wonder how it's possible
That God could so forget
The worthy child you knew you were,
When you'd not been damaged yet...
To figure on your fingers
That the years till you'd be grown
Enough to leave the torment
And survive away from home,
Were more than you could count to,
Or more than you could bear,
Was the reality we lived in
And we knew it wasn't fair.

We who grew up broken
Are somewhat out of time,
Struggling to mend our childhood,
When our peers are in their prime.
Where others find love
and contentment,
we still often have to strive
to remember we are worthy,
and heroes just to be alive

Some of us are healing.
Some of us are stealing.
Most are passing the anger on.
Some give their lives away to drugs,
or the promise of life beyond.
Some still hide from society.
Some struggle to belong.
But all of us are wishing
The past would not hold on
So long.

There's a lot of digging down to do
To find the child within,
To love away the ugly pain
And feel innocence again.
There's forgiveness
Worthy of angel's wings
For remembering those at all,
Who abused our sacred childhood
And programmed us to fall.
To seek to understand them,
And how their pain became our own,
Is to risk the ground we stand on
to climb the mountain home.

The journey is not so lonely
As is the past it's been...
More of us are strong enough
to let the growth begin.
But while we're trekking
Up the mountain
We need everything we've got,
To face the adults we have become,
And all that we are not.

So when you see us weary
From the day's internal climb...
When we find fault
With your best efforts,
Or treat imperfection
As purposeful crime...
When you see our quick defenses,
Our efforts to control,
Our readiness to form a plan
Of unrealistic goals...
When we run into a conflict
and fight to the bitter end,
Remember...
We think that winning means
We won't be hurt again.

When we abandon OUR thoughts
And feelings,
To be what we believe YOU
Want us to,
Or look at trouble we're having,
And want to blame it all on you...
When life calls for new beginnings,
And we fear they're doomed to end,
Remember...
Wounded trust is like a wounded knee ---
It's very hard to bend.

Please remember this
When we're out of sorts.
Tell us the truth, and be our friend.
For children  who were broken...
It is very hard to mend. 

...  END  ...
 

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