life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the month “March, 2013”
most important 11 truths I have learned …so far
1. God is love. All we need is love. Real, unconditional love leads us to our highest selves.
2. The value of the human soul. Every individual human soul is worth more than all the money in this world. Never forget it.
3. We are all beloved. Unique. Loved unconditionally. Here for this very time and place for a specific and special purpose.
4. The power of choice. We CAN do hard things. We can change our lives! We can overcome anything. We hold the power! Attitude is everything! Words are power!
5. Long term thinking is the key to changing our lives and the world. Don’t trade what you want most for what you want now.
6. Timing truly is everything. Patience is one of the most difficult virtues to learn. We can learn it! Practice makes perfect.
7. Life is a gift. Give thanks in everything. Everything! Yes, everything! Look for the miracles. They are everywhere!
8. Listen to the silence. God speaks through silence. If you want to meet God you have to learn about silence and being alone.
9. Find your truth. Speak your truth. It’s inside each of us. The truth sets us free and we will be free indeed.
10. Relationships are all important for creativity and truly becoming our highest selves. Surround yourself with like-minded positive people for success, as well as for discovering and sharing our creativity.
11. Never give/lend anything you want back. Give all you can without expecting anything in return. Give as much as you can anonymously. Share – there is always enough to be shared.
AL 3/29/13
nothing but love
God is love; sin is denial of love:
denial of God’s love for us,
of our love for one another,
of love’s power over all other powers.
We deny the Lord, we say “I do not know you,”
when we substitute deserving or order,
efficiency or security for love.
Our denial of love can only lead us
to violence, to evil, to harm.
Ah, how we wound each other
trying to be Safe.
But in the face of our violence
the Gentle One comes to show us the way,
the way of love, the triumphant way of love.
His friends misunderstand him,
fail him, deny and betray him;
and he loves them,
and gives himself to them.
People accuse him and humiliate him,
assault and arrest him;
and he loves them, and heals them.
They judge him and condemn him,
attack him in a mob, beat him
and torture him to death;
and he loves them and forgives them.
He will not deny them love.
Nothing can overcome his love.
In the end their righteousness fails;
their evil and its power,
even death and its power
are swallowed up in his life-giving love.
This is resurrection.
He has already won the victory
and we are still fighting him.
We wrench ourselves away from God
and one another, but love still holds us anyway;
our rebellion comes to nothing.
Even our deepest evil is overcome,
and we are left helplessly, completely
and purely beloved.
In the end we are left with nothing at all
but love.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net
timing is all about patience
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Ephesians 6:13
Can you wait for the mud to settle?
Challenging words from Lao Tzu
Can you wait?
Having done all you can,
can you simply stand?
Waiting for the timing that is not your own.
Waiting for THE way,
not just A way,
not just my way.
Patience is a virtue.
Virtues are HARD!
All I can do is
keep letting go
over and over
with shaky hands and heart
into the bigger mystery
into the arms of love and intimacy
into the uncertainty of faith
into the rest of sure promise
Having done all I can by grace alone
now I stand,
and ask for the grace
to wait for You.
Not my will,
Thine be done.
AL 3/26/13
the action of letting go
The Road to New Beginnings
Completion
by Madisyn Taylor
Just as new beginnings are important, so is honoring the experience of closure.
Life is a collage of beginnings and endings that run together like still-wet paint. Yet before we can begin any new phase in life, we must sometimes first achieve closure to the current stage we are in. That’s because many of life’s experiences call for closure. Often, we cannot see the significance of an event or importance of a lesson until we have reached closure. Or, we may have completed a certain phase in life or path of learning and want to honor that ending. It is this sense of completion that frees us to open the door to new beginnings. Closure serves to tie up or sever loose ends, quiets the mind even when questions have been left unanswered, signifies the end of an experience, and acknowledges that a change has taken place.
The period of completion, rather than being just an act of finality, is also one of transition. When we seek closure, what we really want is an understanding of what has happened and an opportunity to derive what lessons we can from an experience. Without closure, there is no resolution and we are left to grieve, relive old memories to the point of frustration, or remain forever connected to people from our past. A sense of completion regarding a situation may also result when we accept that we have done our best. If you can’t officially achieve closure with someone, you can create completion by participating in a closure ritual. Write a farewell letter to that person and then burn your note during a ceremony. This ritual allows you to consciously honor and appreciate what has taken place between you and release the experience so you can move forward.
Closure can help you let go of feelings of anger or uncertainty regarding your past even as you honor your experience – whether good or bad – as a necessary step on your life’s path. Closure allows you to emotionally lay to rest issues and feelings that may be weighing down your spirit. When you create closure, you affirm that you have done what was needed, are wiser because of your experience, and are ready for whatever life wants to bring you next.
as You are
May I know You in intimacy
So that I walk only in Your love
May the stone of my heart
Melt like lemon drops
May the jagged edges of my soul
Become soft like the clouds of the spring sky
May the thorny barbs of my speech
Melt into honey as they touch the air
May the harsh judgements of my willful mind
Become mushy like the mud of the spring snow
preparing for the new growth and rebirth of love and hope in this
amazing watercolor world
May I be a part of new and abundant life
Melting and becoming everyday the hands, heart and soul of my savior
May I truly be
light and salt
in this hard, jagged, barren world
As You are
So let me be
AL 3/23/13
trusting yourself
Developing self-esteem requires an act of revolution, or several mini-revolutions, in which we begin to separate from group thought and establish our own sense of authority. We may suddenly; realize we hold an opinion different from our family or our peers, but in either case we will have difficulty freeing ourselves from the group’s energy, whose strength depends upon numbers and opposition to most expressions of individuality The act of finding our own voice, even in mini-revolutions, is spiritually significant. Spiritual maturity is measured not by the sophistication of a person’s opinions, but by their genuineness and the courage necessary to express and maintain them. By courage, I do not mean the intractable stubbornness of two people locking horns, Spiritual maturity in contrast, is the capacity to stand one’s ground as a reflection of a genuine inner belief.
– Caroline Myss
life: acoustic & amplified 