….moving forward by looking back

“People who accept themselves accept others. People who hate themselves hate others. Only Divine Light gives us permission, freedom, and courage to go all the way down into our depths and meet our shadow.” -Richard Rohr

La Nada (Holy Emptiness)

(Only Emptiness Is Prepared for Fullness)

Don't be stale.

“Life is a responsible activity. What is true for our bodies is also true for mind and spirit.”

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"Do you know how beautiful you are? I think not, my dear. 

For as you talk of God,
I see great parades with wildly colorful bands Streaming from your mind and heart, Carrying wonderful and secret messages
To every corner of this world. 

I see saints bowing in the mountains Hundreds of miles away
To the wonder of sounds
That break into light 

From your most common words. 

Speak to me of your mother, Your cousins and your friends. 

Tell me of squirrels and birds you know. Awaken your legion of nightingales - Let them soar wild and free in the sky 

And begin to sing to God. Let's all begin to sing to God! 

Do you know how beautiful you are? "

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"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars."
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WELCOME WHAT IS!

"...willingness is saying Yes to the mystery of being alive in each moment. Willfulness is saying no, or perhaps more commonly, 'Yes, but...' "

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"Stay close to any sounds that make you glad you are alive"

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Rainbow Preacher - album here

"We all find ourselves falling tragically short of abundant life, in spite of all our comfort-seeking. We find, much to our disappointment, that theres nothing in it. We all eventually discover that our hearts and souls  will not be fed at the trough of self-seeking."

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"Learning that you are not in control

situates you correctly in the universe."

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"O keep squeezing drops of the Sun
From your prayers and work and music
And from your companions' beautiful laughter"

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"Humans are divided into different clans and tribes,

and belong to countries and towns.

But I find myself a stranger to all communities and belong to no settlement.

The universe is my country and the human family is my tribe..."
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"They deem me mad because I will not sell my days for gold;
And I deem them mad because they think my days have a price."

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Keep
Ringing the bell,
Playing the tamboura, calling for Him.
For you
Have touched something holy inside
With your spirit-body
And now your eyes look broken
Without His sacred presence near.
The heart is like that: blessed and ruined
Once it has known
Divine beauty.
Then,
It becomes a restless sky hunter.
The lover keeps circling in their being
Their sweetest moments
With God
Needing to kiss
His face
Again.

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"Thou art my brother because you are a human, and we both are sons of one Holy Spirit;

we are equal and made of the same earth...."
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In Copenhagen before Christmas, big old oak and hickory wrapped up like cocoons. (Pawed from the earth the flora and fauna stored honey and pollen.) There is almost endless diversity in EVERYTHING that has been said in:
seeding, planting, harvesting--
the science of magnetism and electricity, 
walking for its own sake,
the parable of the vineyard...
At peace in a lettuce patch listening to the elderly mountaineer tell how to make a chair, remain individuals and relax.
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"....Now is the time for the world to know

that every thought and action is sacred.

That this is the time

for you to compute the impossibility

that there is anything

but Grace.

Now is the season to know

that everything you do

is Sacred."

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"Speak to us of Pleasure."  And he answered, saying:

Pleasure is a freedom song, but it is not freedom.

It is the blossoming of your desires, but it is not their fruit.

It is a depth calling unto a height, but it is not the deep nor the high.

It is the caged taking wing, but it is not space encompassed.

Ay, in very truth, pleasure is a freedom-song. "

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"We are closer to God when we are asking questions than when we think we have the answers."

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"...to love life and men as God loves them -- for the sake of their infinite possibilities."

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"At eventide I sing to him the song of Hope, and then print smooth kisses upon His face; I am swift and fearful, but he is quiet, patient, and thoughtful."

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"There is nothing to prove and nothing to protect.

I am who I am and it's enough."

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"And tell me.... what have you in these houses?

And what is it you guard with fastened doors?

Have you peace, the quiet urge that reveals your power?

...Have you beauty, that leads the heart from things fashioned of wood and stone to the holy mountain?

Tell me, have you these in your houses?

Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and becomes a host, and then a master?

Ay, and it becomes a tamer, and with hook and scourge makes puppets of your larger desires. Though its hands are silken, its heart is of iron."
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"Here soar
Not with wings
But with your moving hands and feet
And sweating brows - 
Standing by your Beloved's side
Reaching out to comfort this world
With your cup of solace
Drawn from your vast reservoir of truth."

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"This great Love, swaddled in the robes of my feelings, has turned sorrow to joy, despair to bliss, aloneness to paradise. Love, the great King, has restored life to my dead self; returned light to my tear-blinded eyes; raised me up from the pit of despair to the celestial kingdom of Hope... "
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Everything is clapping today,

Light,
Sound,
Motion,
All movement.

A rabbit I pass pulls a cymbal
>From a hidden pocket
Then winks.

This causes a few planets and I
To go nuts
And start grabbing each other.

Someone sees this,
Calls a
Shrink,

Tries to get me
Committed
For
Being too
Happy.

Listen: this world is the lunatic’s sphere,
Don’t always agree it’s real,

Even with my feet upon it
And the postman knowing my door

My address is somewhere else.

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" ...And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart, "Your seeds shall live in my body, And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart, And your fragrance shall be my breath,

And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons."
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"Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows - then let your heart say in silence, "God rests in reason."

And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky, - then let your heart say in awe, "God moves in passion."

And since you are a breath In God's sphere, and a leaf in God's forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion."
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"...Music is the language of the Spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife."

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Don't be deceived...

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Whatever fears or anxieties you are dealing with, don’t deny them, don’t get lost in them, just allow them to be Grist for the Mill of your awakening. -Ram Dass

“Be patient.

You’ll know when it’s time for you to wake up and move ahead.” - RamDass

➿➿➿ keep going, friends...

➿➿➿ keep growing

➿➿➿ keep moving forward

“...unless the whole has meaning, it is very hard to give the parts much significance. When the whole is good and connected, all the parts rise by cosmic association” -Richard Rohr

Carrying the mystery of paradox ...and falling into the Great Mercy.

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