25 "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."
"You have everything you need to make it through."
And to hear those words, to take them to heart, and to truly believe them to be true is to enter into the mystery of serenity only God and trust in God can give. It is to no longer be troubled in spirit or afraid of what is to come, but to fall into the arms of God's everlasting peace. To know we have everything we need is to know we have God, who is everything we need.
From 2nd Thoughts, Ryon Price
Consciously Connected
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
A mature believer, of course, knows that it is impossible not to be connected to the Source, or to be "on the Vine," as Jesus says (see John 15:1-10). But most people are not consciously there yet. They are not "saved" from themselves, which is the only thing we really need to be saved from. They do not live out of their objective, totally given, and unearned identity, "hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). This is what saints like Francis and Clare allowed, enjoyed, and "fell into." It is always a falling! For most of us, our own deepest identity is still well hidden from us. Religion's primary and irreplaceable job is to bring this foundational truth of our shared identity in God to full and grateful consciousness. This is the only true meaning of holiness.
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Father Richard Rohr
Undercurrent
Beneath
the surface of our days
There
flows a stream of peace,
A pool of
love, a sea of grace,
A river of
release.
Yet I
within my stubborn shell
Refuse to
bend my pride,
Reject the
rolling waves of grace,
Resist the
tender tide.
Shall I
remain upon the shore
And never
chance to prove
The
all-consuming comfort found
By falling
into love?
The choice
was made, the bend was there
Before my mind could speak.
My heart, my
guide, compelled me
To relax
into the deep.
This
leaning in, this letting go,
This
plunging into love,
Where
unconditional currents keep me
Buoyantly
above
The fear I
feared, the pain I claimed,
The
unattended grief.
I float
there now, supported by
A cradle
of relief.
Have I
survived the battle
Without my
sword and shield,
In depths
I’d never traveled,
My
weaknesses revealed?
And can I yet
reenter
This place
where love is found,
Forgive,
forget, for it is done…
Fall into love again?
Of course,
it’s here, it’s always here,
It’s
waiting for us all.
It only
takes the slightest bow
To go
ahead and fall.
The names
will change, the patterns shift,
But one
thing will remain –
The
unrelenting power of love
To heal us,
once again.
So may I
seek to be revealed,
To break
with foolish pride,
Engage the
rolling waves of grace,
Embrace
the tender tide.
That in
the living of my days
My life will
simply be
A
tributary of this source of love,
Eternally.
Sarah
Mulkey
June 2007
It Acts Like Love
It acts like love--music,
it reaches toward the face, touches it, and tries to let you know
His promise: that all will be okay.
It acts like love--music, and
tells the feet, "You do not have to be so burdened."
My body is covered with wounds
this world made,
but I still longed to kiss Him, even when God said,
"Could you also kiss the hand that caused
each scar,
for you will not find me until
you do."
It does that--music--helps us
to forgive.
Rabia of Basra (c. 717-801)
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