Your Destiny

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... your destiny is not determined by your critics. God has the final say. Quit listening to what the naysayers are telling you and stop living to please people. Shake that off and keep pressing forward in life.
(Joel Osteen, Become A Better You, p. 238)
28 February 2016

Questions of Life

In the most important questions of your life, you are always alone. No one other than you can understand your true history, your life story, as it develops. The essence of true life is your attitude, during the different stages of your life, toward your spiritual self, and your ability to follow that voice living inside you.

(Leo Tolstoy, Wise Thoughts for Every Day, 2 June)

27 February 2016

Books

"A whole world will envelop you, the happiness, the abundance, the inconceivable vastness of a world. Live for a while in these books, learn from them what you feel is worth learning, but most of all love them. This love will be returned to you a thousand upon thousand times, whatever your life may become."
(Rainer Maria Rilke - German poet, in The Art of the Possible by Alexandra Stoddard, p. 218)
26 February 2016

Don't Wait

Don't wait for things to happen; make them happen yourself.
Don't wait for a friend to invite you to spend an afternoon together; invite her first.
Don't wait for your husband to buy you a gift; buy him that sweater you know he'd love.
Don't wait for your community to ask you to help; volunteer.
Don't wait for someone to tell you you'd be a good writer; start a journal. ...

What we feel, think, and do this moment influences both our present and our future in ways we never know.
Begin.
Start right where you are.
Consider your possibilities and find inspiration within yourself to add more meaning and zest to your life.
Perhaps your loving actions will be passed on to a child, grandchild, or young friend.
(Alexandra Stoddard, The Art of the Possible, p. 240-41)
24 February 2016

Signs

Everything that exists and everything that happens bears witness to the will of God. It is one thing to see a sign and another thing to interpret that sign correctly. However, our first duty is to recognize signs for what they are. If we do not even regard them as indications of anything beyond themselves, we will not try to interpret them.

(Thomas Merton, No Man Is An Island, p. 62)

23 February 2016

Finding Fault

We are always wanting to change others, but often forget to look at our own need for inner change. Jesus had a lot to say about the self-righteous hypocrite who condemned others without seeing the “board” in his own eye. We should examine ourselves for a long time before we even consider judging another. The way we act toward others will be determined by our faithfulness to Jesus Christ and our relationship to him. A hurtful act towards another represents the utter poverty we feel in ourselves. When we discover an offensive personality trait in someone else which causes us to over-react, the chances are we have become blinded to it in ourselves. The more arrogance or deceitfulness or cruelty we exhibit, the more we dislike it in others. We will try to hide our weaknesses because in admitting them we fear exposing ourselves to ridicule. So we point to others’ mistakes, inconsistencies and wrongdoings. This, we hope, will make our own inadequacies look better. Of course, this does not work. Instead of finding fault, let us look to find the good in others.

(Esther Carls Dodgen, Flowers Along The Path, p. 322-4)

22 February 2016

Conscience

Nevertheless, most of us work and live in environments that don't nurture the development of the conscience. To hear conscience clearly often requires us to be “still” or “reflective” or “meditative” ─ a condition we rarely choose or find. We’re inundated by activity, noise, social and cultural conditioning, media messages, and flawed paradigms that dull our sensitivity to that quiet inner voice that would teach us of true north principles and our own degree of congruency with them.

But if we stop and search deeply with an honest heart, we can tap into that inner wellspring of wisdom.

(Stephen R. Covey, First Things First, P. 65)

21 February 2016