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Greetings!
Welcome to this week's explorefaith.org Reflections Newsletter.
| Reflections for Your Journey |
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Praying the Hours
People have prayed at fixed hours during the day for
centuries.
Quietly easing away from the obligations of home or work,
they take a few moments to spend time with God.
These moments connect them to the Divine, and to
the countless others who are also pausing to pray the prayers
designated for that hour, on that day.
Prayers whispered and chanted, spoken loud and clear or
murmured silently within, all join together in a continuous flow,
a river of words from our soul to God's.
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| Daily Thoughts on Loving |
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DAY 46, MAY 31
"Love's fragrance fills my mouth, and fans through all things
with each outbreath."
--Kabir, a Sufi mystic
DAY 47, JUNE 1
"Let us beg and implore of
God's mercy that we may be found faultless in love."
-- St. Clement
DAY 48, JUNE 2
"Keep the joy of loving one
another in
your
hearts, and
share this joy with all you meet."
--Mother Teresa of Calcutta
DAY 49, JUNE 3
"As for your own affairs, believe
with
faith in
God, for God
is able to work miracles in you also."
--Abba Euprepios, a desert Father
DAY 50, JUNE 4
"Value your soul as priceless,
for a cage
without a bird has
no value. Do not waste your time in grief and regret."
--Sadi, a Sufi Mystic
from "Loving: Days 43-50 of Easter"
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| What We Really Need |
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Lots of things recede in importance as you grow older.
Sitting in the front seat. Being first. Being popular. Being like
other people. Having the latest thing in clothing.
Such things are huge for young people. We grow out of them.
Adults who don't grow out of them seem immature, like old
teenagers.
"One thing is needful," Jesus told Martha, who was very
concerned that everything be just so.
It turns out that all the hardware we struggle to obtain and
maintain isn't what is needful, that what we really need is
within us, and has been all the time.
Focus on that, and you will have what you need. The rest will
take care of itself.
Does that mean you'll quit your job and pray all day
instead?
That you won't do housework or cook? That you will no longer
miss having a special someone in your life? ...
by Barbara Crafton
from "What We Really Need"
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Thich Nhat Hanh: Thoughts on Peace & Mindfulness |
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Excerpts from a talk delivered by Thich Nhat Hanh- poet, Zen
Master, and peacemaker - at Peace Walk 2002 in
Memphis, Tennessee.
Walking with
Peace and Presence
Peace is something we can contemplate every day.
Walking meditation is one of the ways to contemplate
peace.
... when you go back to the present moment, you have a
chance to touch life, to encounter life, to become fully alive
and fully present.
Walking meditation helps us do that easily.
... every step brings us back to the present moment,
so that we can touch the wonders of life that are available. ...
Mindfulness of Ourselves,
Mindfulness of Others
Mindfulness is another kind of energy that is in us in the
form of a seed also.
If we know how to practice mindful breathing, mindful walking,
mindful smiling, then we should be able to touch the seed
of mindfulness in us and transform it into a zone of energy.
And with that energy of mindfulness, we can recognize our
anger, our fear, our despair. We practice recognizing and
embracing. ...
Thich Nhat Hanh:
Thoughts on Peace & Mindfulness
Thich Nhat Hanh is the author of more than thirty-five
books, including
Being Peace, Peace is Every Step and Living Buddha,
Living Christ, in which he explores the parallels and
connections between Buddhism and Christianity.
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