Shining Light into the Darkness
Perception Is Realtiy In a very real sense, our perception creates our reality. However, what we know and understand about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING is dwarfed by what is unknown to us. So… Despite our collective ignorance, so many of us proclaim that we know THE truth and anyone who disagrees is either deluded or ignorant. …
Suffering is often a barrier to peace. Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest, teacher, author, and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, teaches that if we don’t transform our suffering, we will transmit it. We can see the truth of this all around us every day. Twin Roots of Suffering: Separation & Fear What …
In his book Being Peace, Zen master and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn explains the power of a smile. The act of smiling relaxes hundreds of muscles in the face and in the nervous system. “A smile makes you master of yourself,” says Hahn. Buddhist teachings acknowledge the reality of suffering in this world and …
The World Mirrors Me Great spiritual teachers have used metaphors of mirrors to describe how we encounter reality. One such metaphor is that the world reflects back to us what we project out to it. If we project love, compassion, and mercy we will see love, compassion, and mercy mirrored back to us. If we …
Death. Love. Peace. Today is the last day of a difficult yet graced filled year bookended on both sides by death. It is a good day to prepare again for a novena of peace. As 2018 began, my husband’s father fell ill with what seemed to be a terrible cold. By mid-January he had pneumonia …
Novena for Peace Prayers & Reflection Questions The ritual for any prayer discipline can be as elaborate or as simple as is comfortable for you. Below are suggestions for the Novena for Peace. STEP 1: In preparation for your time of meditation and prayer, find a quiet place where you can sit or recline comfortably. …
2017 Peace Novena Day 9 Let us pray for our nation, ourselves, and for our new leaders taking office today. May we practice compassionate listening, merciful justice, and a true embrace of unity of purpose. Divided We Fall Today we inaugurate the 45th President of the United States. And so let us pray for him …
Choose What Matters I pray that as we enter day 7 of the 2017 Peace Novena, we are able to concentrate on what matters most, focusing our attention on what is within our power to choose and letting go of that which matters least (and is often beyond our control anyway). (If you don’t have …
Echoes of Dr. King at Standing Rock I pray that we can recognize the power of collective peaceful persistent prayer to achieve what appear to be impossible ends. (If you don’t have time for prayer AND reading this post, please choose prayer. Novena rituals and prayer) Non-Violent Icons Show Us the Way Dr. Martin Luther King, …
Perception Is Reality I pray that we are able to recognize that our belief or truth is only part of the whole truth and that those who ascribe to a different belief or truth also have part of that whole. In this recognition, may we be gentle with those who disagree with us, embracing their …