Marvelous Truth

Marvelous Truth, confront us

at every turn

in every guise

- DENISE LEVERTOV

This week I have received the treasured gift of time spent with honest spirit-filled

friends ... those people who tell you the real truth!

What a gift!

Thank You!!

cate

May We Know We Are ONE

Wheat and weeds:
     let them grow together.
Arabs and Jews in Palestine:
     let them grow together.
Greeks and Turks in the Balkins:
     let them grow together.
Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland:
     let them grow together.
Pros and Contras of Central America:
     let them grow together.
Documented and undocumented aliens:
     let them grow together.
Immigrants and Native Americans:
     let them grow together.
Blacks and whites  of South Africa:
     let them grow together.
Sikhs and Hindus of India:
     let them grow together.
Revolutionaries and reactionaries:
     let them grow together.
Russians and Americans:
     let them grow together.

Religious leaders who lay and lighten burdens:

     let them grow together.

Disciples prone to boasts and betrayals:

     let them grow together.

People who wound and heal:

     let them grow together.

Rich and Poor, humble and haughty:

     let them grow together.

Those whose feelings are transparent or concealed:

     let them grow together.

Days of spareness and days of plenty:

     let them grow together.

winter, Spring, Summer and Fall:

     let them grow together.

All the seasons of one's life:

     let them grow together.

Joys and sorrow, laughter and tears:

     let them grow together.

Strength and weakness:

     let them grow together.

Doubt and faith:

     let them grow together.

Denial and Commitment:

     let them grow together.

Preoccupation and Freedom:

     let them grow together.

Virtue and Vice:

     let them grow together.

Contemplation and action:

     let them grow together.

Giving and receiving:

     let them grow together.

The helpful and the helpless:

     let them grow together.

Wisdom of the East and West:

     let them grow together.

All contrarieties   of the    Lord:

     let them grow together.

 - MICHAEL MOYNAHAM , SJ

MAY WE ALL KNOW WE ARE ONE

Let there be no more War.

Let there be Peace on Earth.

Cate

Seek That

There is a force within that gives you life -

Seek that.

In your body there lies a precious jewel -

Seek that.

Oh, wandering Sufi.

if you are in search of the greatest treasure,

don't look outside,

Look within, and seek That.

Rumi, translated by Jonathan Star

click link  below to listen

BE STILL The Fray

I have found myself a bit caught up in busy stuff lately ... making this, doing that, fixing those, creating these .... not enough BEing.  I know the call to BEing, I respect it ... I desire it ... yet, I find I am not living it out to the best of my ability.  I know what I really seek ... i need to more and more put my time and my efforts toward simply that.

What is it that you seek?                                                                                                cate

Thank You

It is written that "Everywhere, hands lie open to catch

us when we fall."   Let us give thanks tonight 

for this invisible support.

Thank You!!

Cate

Blessings

Give me everything mangled and bruised, and I will
make a light of it to make you weep, and we will have
rain and we will have begun again.
                                        - DEENA METZGER

Tonight we reflect o paradox;

Water wears away rock

Spirit overcomes force

The weak will undo the mighty.

May we learn to see thing backwards, inside out, and

upside down.

- ADAPTED FROM THE TAO TE CHING

Dewdrop, let me cleanse

in your brief

sweet waters...

These dark hands of life.

      - BASHO

I watched "The Dhamma Brothers" tonight, where two men move into

a maximum security prison to teach Buddhist meditation to the inmates...

and the most feared and dangerous of our citizens melted into softened

humanity, inner awareness and true contrition.

That inner peace, guidance, awareness of oneness ...

it is there for each and everyONE of us!

We truly are more alike than we are different.

please click the link below to listen to Blessings ...

BLESSINGS: By Laura Story


So often, it is from the darkest nights that 
the brightest lights are born.


aLL iS gIFT
aLL iS
aLL

cate

IN THE UNIVERSAL SUN

Radiant Sister of the Day,
Awake! arise! and come away!
To the wild woods and the plains,
And the pools where winter rains
Image all their roof of leaves,
Where the pine its garden weaves
Of sapless green and ivy dun
Round stems that never kiss the sun;
Where the lawns and pastures be,
And the sandhills of the sea -
Where the melting hoar-frost wets
The daisy star that never sets,
And wind-flowers, and violets,
Which yet join not scent to hue,
Crown the pale year weak and new;
When the light is left behind,
And the blue moon is over us,
And the multitudinous
Billows murmur at our feet,
Where the earth and ocean meet,
All things seem only one
In the universal sun.
     -PERCY BYSSHE SHELLY
           "TO JANE;  THE INVITATION"

Dear Sister Friends ... please take moments out of your busy care-taking lives to care for your essence.  Breathe in moments of peace, beauty, nature, the arts ... meet me in those moments of oneness aware ...I will be waiting for you there....cate

Becomes more ...

Blessings of a kind heart upon you;
Blessings of the eyes of compassion upon you;
Blessings of giving to the earth upon you;
Blessings of the wisdom of the seasons upon you;
Blessings of breathing freely upon you;
Blessings of this moment upon you.
                          - Jack Kornfield

i know so many people who are struggling right now ...

sometimes the sadness can feel almost overwhelming ...

until I sit quietly with them in prayer ...

remember the truth about them ...

and remember that they are right here they are supposed to be on their 

journey right now  ...

and always closer than hands and feet to the grace of God!

and I breathe peace 

and i become peace

and that is the gift I can give today, no matter what!!

The fruit of silence is prayer,

The fruit of prayer is faith,

The fruit of faith is love,

The fruit of love is silence.

-  Mother Teresa

cate

...that familiar song

Nothing is as beautiful as spring -
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and
     lovely and lush;
Thrush's eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so
     rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightning to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue, that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have
     fair their fling.
                       - gerard manley hopkins

- a phantom view, dew, a bubble,

A dream, a flash if lightening, and a cloud;

Thus we should look upon all that was made.

       -  The Buddah

Life, being as generous as it always is, continues to reach out to grab my attention!!

Today, after a long day of hard work, with a plan to work even more as soon as I got home ...

I jumped into the car with a list of things to do on my mind!

And then ... I heard it ... that familiar song ...

the honking of geese flying overhead!!

A smile sneaked out from my focus ...

a pause in my step ...

and I looked overhead to greet the feathered pair 

as they journeyed through our small town.

I'm so grateful for those small reminders

to pause ...

breathe ...

be here now ...

and give thanks!!

Life is generous, indeed!!!

Cate

...the grace to live it out

Ghandi once said, "What I am concerned with is my readiness to obey the call of Truth, my God, from moment to moment, no matter how inconsistent it may appear.  My commitment is to Truth, not to consistency."  May we, like Ghandi, see our lives as a series of experiments with truth and make every effort to align our choices with the deeper truths of the universe.

May we do what we can each day, as impeccably as possible

and then be at peace,

for the results are out of our hands.

Listen ... listen each moment ..your inner voice will guide you!  

I have found that I absolutely must make a practice of listening,

I must make a daily ritual in which I simply listen ...

until I listening becomes my natural way of living.

When I listen, the answers  arrive ...

the guidance is always there ...

and comes with the grace to live that out!!

I choose to live the path of Spirit,

and pray to travel this journey each and every day.

See you on the road,

lets travel 'shoulder to shoulder'!!

Cate 

Be Joy!!!

Saint Augustine once said, "Men go abroad to wonder

at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the

sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast

compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the

stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering."

Tonight we acknowledge the wonder of our physical

incarnation - that we are here, in these particular

bodies, at this particular time, in these particular

circumstances.  May we never take for granted the gift

of our individuality.

Dear Mother,

Hear and bless

Thy beasts

And singing birds;

And guard with tenderness

Small things

That have no words.

-adapted from a traditional Christian Prayer

Breathing in, I know I am

breathing in.

Breathing out, I now I am

breathing out.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Be Here Now ... all IS well!!!!!

Love,

Cate

TO LIVE TODAY - TODAY!

May your life be like a
     wildflower,
growing freely in the
     beauty
and joy of each day.
     - Native American Proverb   

Live in simple faith ...

Just as this

trusting cheery

flowers, fades and falls.

- ISSA

Tis this one hour that God has given;

His now we must obey;

And it will make our earth a heaven

to live today - today.

- LYDIA AVERY COONLEY WARD

Today was a beautiful day ~ the sun shining and the leaves tossing their faces around 

gently in a soft breeze waltzing upon a bright blue sky. 

It was such a delight to greet a day such as this ...

and yet, once I became buried in work in my office ...

I completely forgot the wonder of this day ...

until, I spent an hour talking heart to heart with a young woman.

There, in that interaction, I also found the beauty.

The beauty of life is certainly in all...

i just have to open my eyes,

and my heart!

Cate

Great Spirit of Surprise

Oh Great Spirit of Surprise,
   dazzle us with a day full of amazing embraces,
      capricious, uncalculated caring,
      great hearts, kind souls and doers of
          good deeds.   
                  - MOLLY FUMIA

It's a beautiful world to see,

or it's dismal in every zone,

The thing it must be in its gloom or its gleam

Depends on yourself alone.

- Anonymous

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening

that is translated through you into action and because

there is only one of you in all time, this expression is

unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through

any other medium and be lost, the world will not have

it."  So said dancer Martha Graham.  Tonight we pray

that each of us find our unique life force and express it

as fully as we possibly can.

This sounds so simple, and while it is simple, it certainly is no easy.

It has taken me years of practice to really begin to 'get it' 

that I can be as happy as I make up my mind to be ...

no matter what my present circumstances.

I did a lot of ziffing (acting as if)

and listening and receiving the wisdom of others

as they pointed out different ways I could

see any particular situation ~

always in faith and gratitude!

What a difference this makes!!!

I have been given a new view,

and it is the greatest gift!!!

be peace, cate

May We Nourish Life

Earth Water Air and Fire combined to
     make this food.
Numberless beings gave their lives and labor that
     we may eat.
May we be nourished that we may nourish life.
                           - Joan Halifax

Once the guest had eaten and drunk at your table, the

guest becomes kin ... beggar or enemy, friend or chief,

if they knock on your door, it will open; if they seek

your shelter, it will be given, and if they ask for

hospitality, give them your bread and wine.

... for who  knows when you may need the help of a

fellow human?               -Keri Hume     

click link below for song 

THE SERVANT SONG

This Saturday our local postal workers will be collecting food items from our mailboxes to donate to local food pantries.  While none of can invite all of the hungry people who live in our communities to join us at out tables ... this is one simple thing we can do! 

I realize as I sit with these readings today that my prayer before a meal does not extend far enough,

I  have forgotten to include prayer for the many people who are so hungry.

I can't change this awful situation .... but I can remember!!!  

I can pray,

I can donate,

I can live in awareness!

cate

May I become ...

May I become a medicine for the sick and their physician,
their support until sickness
     come not again.
May I become a unfailing store for  the wretched, and
be first to supply them with their needs.
My own self and my pleasures, my righteousness past,
present and future, may I sacrifice without regard, in
order to achieve the welfare of beings.
                                     -Santidiva

Oh God

help me

to believe

the truth about myself

no matter

how beautiful it is!

-Macrina Wiederkehr

 I believe we are all called to be healers to each other ... in our presence we can become the arms of God ... God with skin for each other.  None of of have a higher  calling that that!!


It is life on life's terms that has given me my deepest lessons, my greatest growth, my most profound  surrenders.  I heard it said yesterday that we can choose to look at life as what life does to us or what life does for us!  When we look at life being FOR us, we look  with the realization that everything is a gift, and  in each gift offers us the opportunity to grow spiritually and to become more and more our authentic selves, our particular gift to this world!  Wow ... what a difference that one little word makes!


May I grow each day towards becoming an authentic healer ...
May I live life with the knowledge that all is a gift FOR me ...
and may you too receive these gifts!                                                    cate

LET US GIVE THANKS

Let us give thanks

for the food we are about to eat.

May there be food for all,

abundant and healthful.

Let us have the wisdom to choose to eat only that

which enhances precious energy

and sustains us through our labors an rest.

- adapted from AN HAGGADAH OF LIBERATION

It is my experience that I give thanks and use moderation

best regarding my body when I am fully focused on nurturing 

and caring for my soul!!  It took me many years to realize that

i can not feed my soul through my body ... and that my soul 

is the most important part of my Being and call for care.

When I take good care of my soul first, I can take good care of

all of me, and I can be there for others.

Like the lovely AA slogan ...

First Things First!

So simple

So true

Thank You!!

Cate

Nature ~ the ART of GOD

Remain faithful to the earth, my brothers and sisters,
with the power of your virtue.  Let your gift-giving love
and your knowledge serve the meaning of the earth.
Thus I beg and beseech you.  Do not let them fly away
from earthly things and beat their wings against
eternal walls.  Alas, there has always been so much 
virtue that has flown away ... back to the body, back to life,
that it may give the earth a meaning...
     Verily, the earth shall yet become a site of recovery.
And even now a new fragrance surrounds it, bringing
salvation - and a new hope.
                                      - FREDRICH NIETZSCHE

It's a beautiful world to see,

Or it's dismal in every zone,

The thing it must be in its gloom or its gleam

Depends on yourself alone.

- ANONYMOUS

This is the night of the super full moon! 

Whether it be as super as a moon, or as simple as a lady bug,
nature brings me so close to the creator!!

I won't waste any of our time on words tonight ...

lets go out and drink on the spiritual wonder of

that super moon!!!!!

Enjoy ~

cate

hOLY IN aLL

Holy be the white head of a negro,
Sacred be the black flax of a black child.
Holy be the golden down
That will stream in the waves of the wind
and will thin like a dispersing cloud.
Holy be the heads of Chinese hair,
Sea calm, sea impersonal
Deep flowering of the mellow and traditional.
Heads of people fair
Bright shimmering from the riches of their species;
Heads of Indians
with feeling of distance and space and dusk;
Heads of wheaten gold,
Heads of peoples dark
So strong, so original,
All of the earth and the sun.
                   - GEORGE CAMPBELL, CONTEMPORARY JAMAICAN POET

There is holiness in all ... no more no less in one or the other ...
this is the Oneness .. we are not separate and apart except in our
comparing and judging minds.
           That is easy to remember in moments of meditative clarity or when                   
           experiencing the world of a far away family through the shelter of
          flat screen tv.
                    I am challenged to remember this as I walk through the moments
                    of my days when the moments invite categorization or labeling.
                              Lord, may my meditation take skin and live action during all
                              moments of my days.                        cate