Jan
08
Do It Anyway-A Poem by Mother Theresa
Image via Wikipedia
This poem was actually written by a Dr Kent Keith, but there’s another version attributed to Mother Theresa of Calcutta. This version was found written on her wall of her Calcutta home for children.
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
-this version is credited to Mother Teresa
Jan
04
Sloth and the Spiritual Life
Image by corey_blanksky via Flickr
Do you ever have times when you just feel like a big, ol’ couch potato? You should meditate more, naw. Pray more, naw. Well, how about some spiritual reading from those books you had to have? Naw, I’ll get to them eventually.
The old fashioned term for couch potatoe-ness is sloth or stupor. An even fancier term is acedia, a term used by the Desert Fathers. Sloth, or acedia, was viewed as a sin, or pure laziness, not wanting to put forth the effort that the spiritual life asks. In Buddhism, sloth is one of the five hindrances to meditation.
Sloth is also a sign that we are going through a period of spiritual dryness. When this happens, and it happens to all of us on the spiritual path, then it’s time to try something different. Try a different meditation, do some walking meditation, attend a Dharma talk, or just plain put some more effort into our spiritual practice.
Like all things, spiritual sloth is impermanent, it will come and go. A good thing to do would be to observe it mindfully, and just let it go. Eventually we’ll get back on the path and find the peace and joy meditation brings.
Related articles
- Spiritual Athlete (khamillion.wordpress.com)
- Dark Night of the Soul (ronyabanks.com)
Jan
01
Jan
01
A New Year and a new direction
Have you ever felt like the holidays are more of a distraction than anything else? That’s what I’ve always felt during the month of December. Once December is over, then life can go on.
It’s the new year, and it’s time to get off to a good start. Time to get this blog unstuck out of first gear and rolling with more content. My goals for this year are to share more of my personal experience, plus I plan to visit spirituality events and give the “trip report” here. I want to be more of me, I want to squeeze myself like a tube of toothpaste and see what comes out. I want to pour more of myself into this blog, and I know my readers will relate.
I’ve often thought, “why don’t I know more about the spiritual life? How can I spend my life seeking and it seems I haven’t found a thing, except more questions? That in essence is what the spiritual life is all about, it’s in the seeking. I believe we will never find, because if we do find something, then the quest is over, and then what? It is always the journey that counts, not the destination.
Image by mikecogh via Flickr
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