What I Learned on Summer Break
What I Learned on Summer Break
by,
Reverend Barbara
Summer break for me, consisted of a 10 day break and a visit to the beach with my family and my grandchildren. There was little time for prayer and contemplation due to all of the family commotion and although it was all good, I found myself longing for some solitude and time for meditation. None could be found.
Then, it occurred to me. I was missing the moment(s) all around me. Solitude and silence offers one entrance to that place of peace that provides solace. However, it is not the only avenue through which to experience the Divine Presence. Spirit was present in each member of my family. I needed only to look into the wide eyes of my grandsons to gain this realization.
I had been experiencing what is referred to as burn-out. A normal day's work for the seminary requires from me approximately 10 or more hours a day. I was feeling tired and loosing my connection to the creativity that is so important to the successful service of the seminary. During my long days at work I was finding myself longing for the same sense of solitude I again experienced at the beach.
Today, I am back to work as usual, but something has changed. I have learned to remember to look for Spirit in everything I do and everyone I see. I have learned to listen for Spirit in every person who calls the office. I have learned another way to connect to the presence of Spirit all around me--simply by staying alert and staying present.
I end today's entry with the following prayer:
Oh Eternal Presence, let me see your magnificence everywhere and in everything that I come across today.
Let me feel your breath in the wind.
Let me hear your voice through those I speak too.
Let me see your manifestation in those I see.
Let me also hear your mighty voice in the silence.
Remind me that what I seek is always there, no matter where I find myself. Remind me that I cannot be separate from your Eternal Presence
even when I fall asleep.
Wake up my heart so that I may embrace both the profound and the mundane thereby staying attuned to the peace that is found in this understanding.
Amen and again I say, Amen.
Be blessed!
Rev. Barbara
Posted by Rev. Barbara S. Eberle at 7/13/2010 8:32 AM 
Categories: Spiritual Contemplations
Tags: get Ordained Online Online Ordinations Spiritual Counseling A Course in Miracles Minister Seminary Spiritual Contemplations Perform a wedding
Categories: Spiritual Contemplations
Tags: get Ordained Online Online Ordinations Spiritual Counseling A Course in Miracles Minister Seminary Spiritual Contemplations Perform a wedding
15 quotations of mystics remarkable in the similarity of their message, although the words differ. The divine Sprit pervades all: on Earth, this Universe and beyond.
“One Nature, perfect and pervading, circulates in all natures. One Reality, all-comprehensive, contains within itself all realities.” Yung-chia Ta-shih B
“To gauge the soul we must gauge it with God, for the Ground of God and the Ground of the soul are one and the same.” Meister Eckhart C
“Wherever you look…see that one unique Presence, indivisible and eternal, is manifested in all the universe. That is because God impregnates all things.” Anandamayi Ma H
“Behold the One in all things; it is the second that leads you astray.” Kabir I
“There exists nothing which is not united to Him and which He does not find in His own essence.” Moses Cordovero J
“One in all, all in One. If only this is realized, there is no worry about not being perfect.” The Third Patriarch of Zen [Seng ts’an] B
“Eternally, all creatures are God in God. So far as they are in God, they are the same life, same essence, same power, same One, and nothing less.” Henry Suso C
“For the Self [soul] is not the ego; it is one with the All and the One and in finding it it is the All and the One that we discover in our Self.” Sri Aurobindo H
“I went from God to God, until they cried from me, ‘O thou I.” Bayazid of Bistun I
“They are then actually united with the Divine Essence and, in all aspects, your soul is included with them.” Israel ben Eliezer [Ba’al Shem Tov] J
“The great path has no gates, thousands of roads enter it. When one passes through this gateless gate he walks freely between heaven and earth.” Zen poem B
“The soul lives by that which it loves rather than in the body which it animates. For it has not its life in the body, but rather gives it to the body and lives in that which it loves.” St. John of the Cross C
“Liberation cannot be achieved except by the perception of the identity of the individual spirit with the universal Spirit.” Shankara [Sankara] H
“I am He whom I love, and He whom I love is I. We are two spirits in one body. If thou seest me, thou seest Him. And if thou seest Him, thou seest us both.” Hallaj I
“A man should actually detach his ego from his body until he has passed through all the worlds and become one with God.” Maggid of Mezerich [Dov Baer of Mezerich] J
Other faiths have mystics, but you do not have to be religious to be a mystic. Your comments are most welcome.
(quoted from my ebook at http://www.suprarational.org )
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It appears to me that those who have meditated or prayed long enough to have a peak experience (Maslow) can only define it in similar terms--unity, oneness, and communion with God. I thank you for sharing these quotes as they promote the hope that all may one day let go of prejudices and hatred and embrace the common bonds which humankind shares, through the divine!
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Amen!
I deeply appreciate your call for all humankind to embrace our common bonds with each other through God. This enlightened Way is the way to peace and tolerance through understanding.
May you keep it as you have found it . . . always.
Jazzmin (Sunday School Teacher)
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Excellent learn, I simply passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on that.
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