“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Marianne Williamson

It is not because things are difficult
that we do not dare.
It is because we do not dare

Seneca

Discover Me in you. Discover Me in your work. Discover Me in your blessings. Discover Me in your trials. Discover Me in the people around you. Discover Me all around you.

Bo Sanchez

“Breathe. You’re going to be okay. Breathe and remember that you’ve been in this place before. You’ve been this uncomfortable and anxious and scared, and you’ve survived. Breathe and know that you can survive this too. These feelings can’t break you. They’re painful and debilitating, but you can sit with them and eventually, they will pass. Maybe not immediately, but sometime soon, they are going to fade and when they do, you’ll look back at this moment and laugh for having doubted your resilience. I know it feels unbearable right now, but keep breathing, again and again. This will pass. I promise it will pass.”

Daniell Koepke

We have places of fear inside of us, but we have other places as well-places with names like trust and hope and faith. We can choose to lead from one of those places, to stand on ground that is not riddled with the fault lines of fear, to move toward others from a place of promise instead of anxiety. As we stand in one of those places, fear may remain close at hand and our spirits may still tremble. But now we stand on ground that will support us, ground from which we can lead others toward a more trustworthy, more hopeful, more faithful way of being in the world.

Parker Palmer

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation

To look forward, to want life, means we have to be willing to look backwards and become more conscious of all those who have hurt us, all that is broken in us and that has brought us inner deaths, hurts that we may have hidden and stifled. It means that we acknowledge the story of our origins, of our own lives, see and accept our brokenness and the times we also have hurt others. When we have accepted who we are and what we need in order to grow in compassion and peacemaking, we can move forward to give life. To forgive is a gift of God that permits us to let go of our past hurts.

Jean Varnier

Moving towards an undivided life can be difficult. But, as Parker says, “the divided life is a wounded life”. Becoming whole means we are able to serve more completely.

Parker Palmer

Authentic abundance does not lie in secured stockpiles of food or cash or influence or affection but in belonging to a community where we can give those goods to others who need them-and receive them from others when we are in need.

Parker Palmer
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation

“Pity is one of the noblest emotions available to human beings; self-pity is possibly the most ignoble . . . . [It] is an incapacity, a crippling emotional disease that severely distorts our perception of reality . . . a narcotic that leaves its addicts wasted and derelict.”

Eugene Peterson

Excuses are lies we tell ourselves to avoid dealing with unpleasant truths. But as long as we buy into those excuses, we can never move past them. Instead of addressing the underlying problem, we merely hide the symptoms. One of the most important steps in personal growth is to uproot excuse-making and confront the real issues behind the excuses with consciousness and courage.

Steve Pavlina

If only you see what I see in you. Then you’ll realize how great I am—and how great you are.

Bo Sanchez

How often do you praise the people you love? Make it frequent. And let them also overhear you say nice things about them to others. You’ll be amazed at how they will change.

Bo Sanchez

“Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family.”

Henri Nowen

Don’t surrender your loneliness
So quickly.
Let it cut more deep.

Let it ferment and season you
As few humans
Or even divine ingredients can.

Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice
So tender,

My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.

– Hafiz –

“Liminal Space” by Lisa Hunt-Wotton

 

No one can build you the bridge on which you, and only you,
must cross the river of life. There may be countless trails
and bridges and demigods who would gladly carry you across;
but only at the price of pawning and forgoing yourself.
There is one path in the world that none can walk but you.
Where does it lead? Don’t ask, walk!

Nietzke

Even when you have made mistakes, God has loved you totally.
Even when you have betrayed yourself, God has loved you totally.
Even when you have transgressed against others, God has loved you totally.
Even when you have hated Him, God has loved you totally.
And that is how He would have us love…
Those who are mistaken about you, love them totally.
Those who judge you, love them totally.
Those who betray you, love them totally.
Those who despise you, love them totally.
That does not mean you should give them your keys, or surrender boundaries
or any of that.
It means only that love —and only total love — lifts us above the darkness of the world.
When we think as God thinks, and love as God loves, we are given wings and a mantle of light
to protect us and bless us all ways, on all days. For such is the power of Love. Amen

Marianne Williamson

Disappointment is coming, for sure! People are going to hurt you in ways you would never have believed even possible. You are going to be let-down and deeply betrayed. And there is only one thing to do when you are tragically let down — let-go. No matter how wrong they were, holding on will not make it right, it will only eat you alive over time. You are worthy of not reacting negatively to negativity. Don’t let them kill you twice. Letting go is the only way.

—Bryant McGill

“The whale’s belly is, of course, a kind of womb. In your withdrawal from life and your uncertainty you are like an infant not yet born. The darkness is natural, one of the life processes. There may be some promise, the mere suggestion that life is going forward, even though you have no sense of where you are headed. It’s a time of waiting and trusting. My attitude as a therapist in these situations is not to be anxious for a conclusion or even understanding. You have to sit with these things and in due time let them be revealed for what they are.”

Thomnas Moore Dark Nights Of The Soul

“A first step in practicing solitude is learning to take advantage of ‘mini retreats’ or ‘little solitudes’ that comprise our days. Ideally, these moments of solitude will also be silent, such as when you first wake up or while you sip your coffee before work. More likely, they’ll include the noise of everyday life as you make your way through traffic or ride in an elevator or wait on hold for someone on the other end of the phone. The point is to make the most out of these moments by quieting the noise within yourself and being present to the here and now rather than becoming impatient or getting lost in to-do lists and worries.

Jeremy Langford’s
Healthy Spiritual Life

Standing at the crossroads of theory, research, and practice He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ships without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast.

Leonaro DaVinci