This really spoke to me today. Such an important reminder…BE KIND. Not just to others, but also to OURSELVES!
Me: Hey God.
God: Hello, My love.
Me: The world is completely out of control!
God: I know. It’s such an adventure, right?Â
Me: No! It’s like being on a runaway train! I need to feel like I am in control of my life.Â
God: You want to be in control? Â
Me: Yes! Â
God: You are living on a spinning wet rock of a planet that resides next to a constantly exploding fireball in the middle of an ever-expanding universe that is filled with mysteries beyond your wildest imagination. Â
Me: Um, okay….
God: And on this planet that you are hurtling through the great expanse in — you are coexisting with billions of other people who have free-will and their own experiences that shape their perspectives and beliefs.
Me: Yeah…?Â
God: And while all this is going on your soul is residing in a physical body that is such a miracle of delicate engineering that at any given moment could produce its last heartbeat.
Me: Right…
God: What is it about your existence that you think you have any control of?
Me: Um…
God: Come on — you know the answer to this. What can you control?
Me: How kind I am to people?
God: Yep and one other thing.
Me: What’s that?
God: How kind you are to yourself. Aside from that — most of everything else is a bit outside of your design. Â
“Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love.” — Claude Monet
This quote reminds of Nayaswami Parvati’s beautiful talk at Sunday service this morning.
She was sharing about Brother Lawrence, telling us that his way of practicing the presence of God was absolutely just love. He simply loved God!
He became a lay member in a monastery, but when he tried to tune into the dogma of the church (being a sinner; heaven and hell; etc.) it made him feel bad. So he just continued loving God instead!
He wasn’t educated and his service was very humble, but he was filled with deep wisdom and his spiritual life was dynamic.
Brother Lawrence died in 1691 but his insights and teachings continue to inspire us more than 300 years later.
Thinking of his life, I don’t think he would mind if I adapt the above quote by Claude Monet in his honor:
“Everyone discusses God and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love.”
A dear friend, who is one of the wisest people I know, sent an email update about some challenges.
The update contained the assurance that she herself was doing fine, as well as a reminder of how — again and again — the spiritual teachings carry us through.
And then she wrote a sentence that I’m going to save because it’s so deeply and helpfully true. She said:
The answer is always the same and it always works: expand our consciousness beyond the body, beyond the present challenge, bring God in, open our heart to God’s grace in all, and in that moment we are carried across oceans of delusion.
Yes, after months of preparation and reflection, today was the day that we took the plunge.
In other words, we took nayaswami vows, which means complete dedication of our lives to the search for God.
Outwardly, we’ll wear blue — the color of the Nayaswami Order — but the main work is inward. We’ll have our same jobs, see our same friends, live our normal life, but all in the ever-increasing awareness that we are living our lives for God.
I was pondering and pondering what to write tonight, but my jetlagged brain simply wouldn’t cooperate.
So I ended up scrolling through Facebook for inspiration and found this absolutely wonderful quote by Swami Kriyananda.
How comforting that the key to overcoming doubt is dwelling on the thought of how much God loves us.
It also reminds me of another deeply inspiring quote, this one by the French saint, Jean Vianney: “If you knew how much God loves you, you would die for joy!”
