The Love of God

The love of God, unutterable and perfect,
          flows into a pure soul the way that light
          rushes into a transparent object.
The more love that it finds, the more it gives
          itself; so that, as we grow clear and open,
          the more complete the joy of heaven is.
And the more souls who resonate together,
          the greater the intensity of their love,
          and, mirror-like, each soul reflects the other.

By Dante Alighieri (1265? - 1321) English version by Stephen Mitchell

Spirituality

Sometimes people get the mistaken notion that spirituality is a separate department of life, the penthouse of existence. But rightly understood, it is a vital awareness that pervades all realms of our being.

Brother David Steindl-Rast

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the Sunset.

Crowfoot, a leader of the Blackfoot nation

“The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.” -Ben Franklin

Darkness

Darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that all growth does not take place in the sunlight.

Joan Chittister Uncommon Gratitude

Giving life through forgiveness

 

"To give life to people is to reveal to them

that they are loved just as they are by God,

with the mixture of good and evil,

light and darkness that is in them:

that the stone in front of their tomb

in which all the dirt of their lives has been hidden,

can be rolled away.

They are forgiven;

they can live in freedom."

Jean Vanier

Religion

Religion isn’t about believing things. It's ethical alchemy. It’s about behaving in a way that changes you, that gives you intimations of holiness and sacredness.

~Karen Armstrong~