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September 30
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Thought for the day the Tuesday 30 of September 2008
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"Since time immemorial, humans have seen animals as symbols of their dominant characteristics and qualities. You will find them in all religions and in numerous rites of initiation. Some are well known, like the snake, the fish, the bee, the dove, the cat, the cow, the ass, the ox, the wolf… others less so, like the hedgehog.
In some traditions, the hedgehog is one of the symbols of the initiate, because it is immune to snakebites. It feeds on slugs that destroy the garden, or, put another way, it makes the harmful larvae on the astral plane disappear. Lastly, its spines represent the spikes the initiate can use to break down the condensed fluids of negative thoughts and feelings.
This is why, in certain initiations where a disciple undergoes symbolic trials to overcome poison, when he emerges victorious he is called ‘hedgehog’."
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
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WORD FOR THE DAY
Tuesday, Sep. 30
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Even if I should be locked up in
a narrow cell and a cloud should
drift past my small barred window,
then I shall bring you that cloud,
Oh God, while there is still the
strength in me to do so.
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Etty Hillesum
An Interrupted Life | September 29 So, let’s talk for a moment
about the figurative “extra mile”, and ask
ourselves, “Where did it come from?” (Obviously
not from someone that drove much.)
I was surprised recently to learn that the phrase
“Go the Extra Mile” actually has biblical origins
and really is
quite literal.
This old saying
is from a real
time and place
and it involved
really going
(walking) one
mile. You see,
during Jesus’
time, a Roman
soldier was allowed
by law to
ask any Jewish
citizen to carry
his load for him.
No matter what
the person was doing or whom they were with,
they had to drop everything (maybe some
roots for that phrase here too) and carry the
load for the soldier. The law was very clear, if
you were asked (told) to carry the load, you
had no choice and could give no excuse. You
simply carried the load. But, this is where the
mile came into play. The law stated that he
soldier could only use each person for a maximum
of one mile. No more. Jesus taught that
when a soldier asked someone to carry his
load for the maximum of one mile, that he
should then voluntarily carry the load an extra
mile. In this way the bond of
servitude was broken, and
the person was NOT the
soldier’s slave, but instead a
voluntary servant. The act
also demonstrated the power
of the Jew’s God over the
soldier’s law. Literally going
the extra mile in Jesus’ time
by carrying a soldier’s load
or figuratively going the extra
mile today by exceeding
someone’s expectations or
request is not only a great
way of handling a situation,
but it is a recognition of
God’s sovereignty over our
lives, and demonstrates the
pure genius of Christ’s ways.
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WORD FOR THE DAY
Monday, Sep. 29
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In the continuous flow of
blessing our heart finds
meaning and rest.
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David Steindl-Rast
A Listening Heart | September 28
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Thought for the day 28th of September 2008
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"It’s easy for a few people to be united, to have good relationships and understand one another, for humans generally tend to group together according to their affinities. But when it’s a question of all the countries and all the nations on earth having to live together, what problems there are! For centuries, millennia, they have risen up against each other with their own visions of the world and their different religions, with their different political and economic systems and their different traditions. How can they be brought into harmony? That requires a prodigious science.
You follow the teaching of the Universal White Brotherhood, and you think it’s enough to meet together and maintain good fraternal relations. Well, it’s not enough! Even if there are a few hundred of you or a few thousand, it’s still not enough. The aim of our teaching is not to unite a few people but to unite all people. When you come here, that is what you should be thinking about, what you should be working towards: finding out what you can do to spread this philosophy of universality."
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov |
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WORD FOR THE DAY
Sunday, Sep. 28
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When we begin to believe that
there is greater joy in working
with and for others, rather
than just for ourselves, then
our society will truly become
a place of celebration.
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Jean Vanier
| September 27
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Thought for the day Saturday 27th of September 2008
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"You decide to do a retreat… For a fortnight, three weeks or a month, you’re immersed in a spiritual atmosphere that helps you find yourself: you feel balanced and peaceful, your life’s direction seems clearer to you, and so on. But this period inevitably comes to an end, and there you are back in your mundane reality, and the intensely luminous quality of what you have lived fades. This is inevitable, especially if you don’t already have a spiritual practice. But you must make efforts to preserve the benefits of such a spiritual retreat for a little longer each time. So, say to yourself, ‘I know I’ll never be able to avoid returning to mundane life, but I must keep the luminous experiences I’ve had safe inside; they are what will protect me when difficulties arise and I feel discouraged. Whatever happens, I won’t give up, I will not get downhearted and I will not lose my flame, my enthusiasm and my hope.’"
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov |
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WORD FOR THE DAY
Saturday, Sep. 27
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When we do the best we can,
we never know what miracle
is wrought in our life, or in the
life of another.
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Helen Keller
| September 26
Thought for the day Friday 26th of September 2008
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"To really know people and things, it is not enough just to see them. Do we know the earth because we see it? Not at all. We don’t know all its laboratories or the countless workers who work in them. Do we even know water just because we drink it, air because we breathe it or light because it shines in our eyes? No. That’s only the physical side. The sun itself is known primarily as a source of light and warmth, but that’s very little compared to what we are destined to know about it.
Jesus said: ‘And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’ You may ask how one can know the Lord. It’s not really a matter of objective knowing, for we’re not separate from him. But, in order to know him, we must heighten the intensity of our vibrations, until we find the wavelength that corresponds to his and are able to identify with him in this way. For knowledge is none other than an alignment and fusion with the being that one wishes to know, in other words a harmony of vibrations."
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov |
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WORD FOR THE DAY
Friday, Sep. 26
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Let us accept the invitation,
ever-open, from the Stillness,
taste its exquisite sweetness,
and heed its silent instruction.
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Paul Brunton
Perspectives | September 25
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Thought for the day Thursday 25th of September 2008
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"Because of the enormous advances made by science, many scientists, thinkers and philosophers believe it could replace religion, which, as far as they are concerned, only stupefies human beings. Why not replace religion with science? That’s fair enough, provided they can take science to another dimension and broaden the field of inquiry.
What was to stop science and religion from being two ways of looking at the same reality, with science focusing on the physical world and religion on the spiritual world, since man was made to live in both worlds simultaneously? All it would have taken was for people to be aware of the dual aspects of reality and not to want to favour one at the expense of the other. And yet, what the West has done over the course of the last few centuries is either reject science in the name of religion or else reject religion in the name of science. They haven’t understood that the truth lay in the harmonious balance of the two. For the universe is a unity."
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov |
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WORD FOR THE DAY
Thursday, Sep. 25
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Give thanks for a little
and you will find a lot.
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Hausa proverb from Nigeria
| September 24
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Thought for the day Wednesday 24th of September 2008
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"Evolution is the law of life. Everything must evolve, even minerals; they evolve very slowly, but they do evolve. There is a force in minerals which works to bring to light all the qualities and virtues they contain. Precious stones and precious metals are more highly evolved minerals, possessing beneficial virtues. Plants also evolve, and the more they do the more they provide nutritious, healing flowers and fruits. It’s the same with animals and people, and it’s even true for our planet and the whole solar system.
Everything must progress and improve; where this law is impeded, destruction occurs. Entire human cultures, worlds and constellations have disappeared, because they have opposed the law of evolution. So, try to take this law seriously: your whole life will be transformed by it, and you will create a magnificent future for yourself."
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov |
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WORD FOR THE DAY
Wednesday, Sep. 24
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Keep alive within you and bring
under wise control that courage
which makes you long to undertake
great works, which others might
consider it folly to attempt.
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St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
Embrace the World | September 23
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Thought for the day Tuesday 23rd of September 2008
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"Try to acquire the taste for working with the light: not just with sunlight but also with this invisible light that imbues all of creation, for only the light can re-establish order in you, can make all your cells vibrate in harmony and restore your health. It is light that possesses the greatest powers on the physical plane, just as on the psychic plane. It’s not perhaps the fastest method, but its effects are permanent.
Think of the light more than you think of anything else in your life, for the extreme subtlety of its vibrations takes us closer to the world of the spirit. For at least a few minutes each day, think only of light and nothing else. It will be like a beam of pure particles passing through you. This beam will become so powerful it will touch all creatures on earth and awaken their divine nature."
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
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WORD FOR THE DAY
Tuesday, Sep. 23
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The most beautiful people are
those who have known defeat,
known suffering, known struggle,
known loss, and have found their
way out of the depths. These
persons have an appreciation, a
sensitivity, and an understanding
of life that fills them with
compassion, gentleness, and a
deep loving concern. Beautiful
people do not just happen.
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Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
| September 22
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Thought for the day Monday 22nd of September 2008
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"For creation to become eloquent, alive and meaningful for you, you have to learn its language. Your whole life must be directed to this goal: to enter into communication with nature and its inhabitants. The inhabitants are everywhere: in the water, in the air, on the earth, in fire, in the mountains and trees, in the sun and the stars… everywhere! And they greet us and give us signs. But who sees them?
And who, also, sees nature as a luminous substance traversed by rays, whose colours and beauty no language can describe? If you wish these inhabitants to accept, help and support you, prepare yourself for entry into this immense world by giving it your attention, understanding and love. You already live in this world, you walk in it, but you must open your awareness still more to it and lift the veil that prevents you from seeing it."
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov |
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WORD FOR THE DAY
Monday, Sep. 22
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Finish each day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities have
crept in; forget them as soon as you
can. Tomorrow is a new day.
You shall begin it serenely and with
too high a spirit to be encumbered
with your old nonsense.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
| September 21
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WORD FOR THE DAY
Sunday, Sep. 21
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If we begin to get in touch with
whatever we feel with some
kind of kindness, our protective
shells will melt, and we'll find
that more areas of our lives
are workable.
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Pema Chodron
When Things Fall Apart |
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Thought for the day 21st of September 2008
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"Listen to a violinist tuning their violin: they have to do it with absolute precision, not any higher or any lower than the fundamental note all instruments are tuned to. If they don’t do this, they won’t be accepted in the orchestra.
Human beings can be compared to a many-stringed instrument, or else to a building with many storeys, in which tenants of all kinds live side by side. These tenants, who are rarely in agreement with each other, come one after the other to say their piece. So, our first task is to see ourselves clearly and then to seek the fundamental note with which we can harmonize the strings of our instrument or the tenants of our building. We will find this note only if we persistently aim for the summit, the divine world."
Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov |
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