But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
Luke 2: 18-19. NASB.
Some see things as they are and ask “Why?”
I dream things that never were and ask: “Why not?”
George Bernard Shaw.
You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
Mark Twain.
That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character.
Therefore, it behoves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshiping we are becoming.
Ralph Walder Emerson.
A word is dead when it is said,
Some say.
I say it just begins to live,
that day.
Emily Dickinson.
….[Emily] Dickinson was fascinated with the seductive interiority of the imagination: “Within is so wild a place,” Dickinson declares.
Joyce Carol Oates.
I wish I knew the beauty of leaves falling.
To whom are we beautiful as we go?
David Ignatow.
If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always gotten.
Jessie Potter
Rumi said to treat the body as a guesthouse. Each morning, rather than lament the anticipated weights of the day, plan to entertain everything that comes like an honoured guest in the house of the heart.
A Prayer to Own Your Beauty.
Oh God
help me
to believe
the truth about myself
no matter
how beautiful it is!
-Marina Wiederkehr
Contemplation To Attain Love.
From: The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius
Translated by George E. Ganss, SJ.
The First Prelude. A composition. Here it is to see myself as standing before God our Lord, and also before the angels and saints, who are interceding for me.
The First Point. I will call back into my memory the gifts I have received – my creation, redemption, and other gifts particular to myself. I will ponder with deep affection how much God our Lord has done for me, and how much he has given me of what he possesses, and consequently how he, the same Lord, desires to give me even his very self, in accordance with his divine design.
Then I will reflect on myself, and consider what I on my part ought in all reason and justice to offer and give to the Divine Majesty, namely all my possessions, and myself along with them. I will speak as one making an offering with deep affection, and say:
“Take, Lord, and receive all my will — all that I have and possess. You, Lord, have given all that to me, I now give it back to you, O Lord. All of it is yours. Dispose of it according to your will. Give me love of yourself along with your grace, for that is enough for me.”
The Second Point. I will consider how God dwells in creatures; in the elements, giving them existence; in the plants, giving them life; in the animals, giving them sensation; in human beings, giving them intelligence; and finally, how in this way he dwells also in myself, giving me existence, life, sensation and intelligence; and even further, making me his temple, since I am created as a likeness and image of the Divine Majesty. Then once again I will reflect on myself, in the manner described in the first point, or in any other way I feel to be better.
The Bush
by R.S. Thomas.
I know that bush,
Moses; there are many of them
in Wales in the autumn, braziers,
were the imagination
warms itself. I have put off
pride and, knowing the ground
holy, lingered to wonder
how it is that I do not burn
and yet am consumed.
Nooma. “Breathe.”
Rob Bell.
Is our physical breath actually a picture of a deeper spiritual reality? With everything that we’ve got going on every day, how many of us ever think about our breathing, about the meaning of breathing? Yet, for thousands of years, people have understood that our physical breath is a picture of a deeper spiritual reality. In the Bible, the word for “breath” is the same as the word for “spirit.” There’s an inherent dilemma at the core of what makes us human. We’ve all been created in the image of God and possess immense power and strength. And at the same time, our lives are incredibly vulnerable and fragile. Maybe if we had more insight into the meaning of breathing, we would better understand how God created us as human beings.