Words of Spiritual Inspiration

[leyh]

'The other day in Atlanta,the wife of a man had an automobile accident.He received a call that the accident had taken place on the expressway.The first question he asked when he received the call:"How much damage did it do to my Cadillac?" He never asked how his wife was doing.Now,that man was a fool,because he had allowed an automobile to become more significant than a person.He wasn't a fool because he had a Cadillac,he was a fool because he worshipped his Cadillac.He allowed his automobile to become more important than God.

Somehow in life we must know that we must seek first the kingdom of God,and then all of those other things --- clothes,houses,cars --- will be added unto us.But the problem is,all too many people fail to put first things first.They don't keep a sharp line of demarcation between the things of life and the ends of life.'(Martin Luther King,Jr. Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool)

 

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 05-12-2002).]

[leyh]

A Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make an instrument of your peace.

When there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

 

O Divine Master; Grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

 

 

[leyh]

"But just remember this.One Eva Smith has gone --- but there are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us,with their lives,their hopes and fears,their suffering and chance of happiness,all interwined with our lives,with what we think and say and do.We don't live alone.We are members of one body.We are responsible for each other.And I tell you that the time will soon come when,if men will not learn that lesson,then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.Good night."(An Inspector Calls by J.B.Priestley, Act Three)

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 05-14-2002).]

[leyh]

"I have always wanted to become a saint. Unfortunately when I have compared myself with the saints, I have always found that there is the same difference between the saints and me as there is between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and a humble grain of sand trodden underfoot by passers-by. Instead of being discouraged, I told myself: God would not make me wish for something impossible and so, in spite of my littleness, I can aim at being a saint. It is impossible for me to grow bigger, so I put up with myself as I am, with all my countless faults. But I will look for some means of going to heaven by a little way which is very short and very straight, a little way that is quite new."(Saint Therese of Lisieux)

 

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 05-14-2002).]

[leyh]

"Then we discover what the spiritual life really is. It is not a matter of doing one good work rather than another, of living in one place rather than in another, of praying in one way rather than in another.

 

It is not a matter of any special psychological effect in our own soul. It is the silence of our whole being in compunction and adoration before God, in the habitual realization that He is everything and we are nothing, that He is the Center to which all things tend, and to whom all our actions must be directed. That our life and strength proceed from Him, that both in life and in death we depend entirely on Him, that the whole course of our life is foreknown by Him and falls into the plan of His wise and merciful providence; that it is absurd to live as though without Him, for ourselves, by ourselves; that all our plans and spiritual ambitions are useless unless they come from Him and end in Him and that, in the end, the only thing that matters is His glory." (Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude)

 

 

[leyh]

"The spiritual path is one of falling on your face, getting up, brushing yourself off,turning and looking sheepishly at God and then taking the next step."(Sri Aurobindo)

 

[leyh]

"I expect to pass through this world but once.Any good therefore that I can do,or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature,let me do it now.Let me not defer or neglect it,for I shall not pass this way again."(William Penn)

[leyh]

"Captain,my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed.God has fixed the time for my death.I do not concern myself about that,but to be always ready,no matter when it may overtake me...that is the way all men should live,and then all would be equally brave." (Lieutenant General Thomas J."Stonewall" Jackson)

[leyh]

"I pray daily to do my duty,retain my self-confidence,and accomplish my destiny.No one can live under the awful responsibility I have without Divine help.Frequently I feel that I don't rate it." (General George S. Patton)

[leyh]

¡°Maybe you haven¡¯t thought about it, but you can¡¯t leave home in the morning without being dependent on most of the world. You get up in the morning, and you go the bathroom and you reach over for a sponge, and that¡¯s even given to you by a Pacific Islander. You reach over for a towel, and that¡¯s given to you by a Turk. You reach down to pick your soap, and that¡¯s given to you by a Frenchman. Then after dressing, you rush to the kitchen and you decide this morning that you want to drink a little coffee; that¡¯s poured in your cup by a South American. Or maybe this morning you prefer tea; that¡¯s poured in your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you want cocoa this morning; that¡¯s poured in your cup by a West African. Then you reach over to get your toast, and that¡¯s given to you at the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. Before you finish eating breakfast in the morning you are already dependent on more than half of the world.¡± (Martin Luther King, Jr. Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool)

[leyh]

When respect is not given where it is due, Mahaprabhu cannot tolerate that. He says in Sri Chaitanya charihimita, maryada-langhan ami na paro sahite- "I cannot tolerate transgressions of the standard etiquette of giving appropriate, respect." just to teach us, this example is given in Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. When Mahaprabhu was angry at Jagadananda Pandit for giving instruction to Sri Sanatan Goswami, He told Sri Sanatan Goswami, "Jaga who was born yesterday has the audacity to give you instruction!" Of course this is their pastime only to teach us. If we give everyone their due respect, the Supreme Lord will be pleased with us.(Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Goswami Maharaja, A Life Of Devotion)

 

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 05-27-2002).]

[leyh]

"Thank You ... well ... alright ... yeah, well, my daddy he didn't leave me too much ... you know he was a very simple man and he didn't leave me a lot but what he told me was this ... what he did say was ... son ... he said uh .... he said so many things ya know ..... he said you know it's possible to become so defiled in this world that your own mother and father will abandon you, and if that happens God will always believe in your own ability to mend your ways." (Bob Dylan, Grammy Award Ceremony, New York, February 20, 1991)

 

[leyh]

"Satan fears and trembles before humble souls." (Padre Pio)

 

 

[leyh]

"To believe in God for me is to feel that there is a God, not a dead one, or a stuffed one, but a living one, who with irresistible force urges me towards more loving." (Vincent Van Gogh)

 

[leyh]

"And therefore take good heed unto time, how thou spendest it; for nothing is more precious than time. In one little time, as little as it is, may heaven be won and lost." (The Cloud of Unknowing by An English mystic of the Fourteenth Century, The Fourth Chapter)

 

[leyh]

The Evil Urge is like a prankster running through a crowd showing his tightly closed hand. No one knows what he is holding. He goes up to each one and asks, "What do you suppose I have in my hand?"

 

Each one imagines that the closed hand contains just what he desires most. They all hurry and run after the prankster. Then, when he has tricked them all into following him, he opens his hand. It is complete­ly empty.

 

The same is true of the Evil One. He fools the world, tricking it into following him. All men think that his hand contains what they desire. But in the end, he opens his hand. There is nothing in it, and no desire is ever fulfilled.

 

Worldly pleasures are like sunbeams in a dark room. They may actually seem solid, but one who tries to grasp a sunbeam finds nothing in his hand. The same is true of all worldly desires. (Translated by Aryeh Kaplan from Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom, Sichos HaRan, 8)

 

 

[madhav]

<<"Satan fears and trembles before humble souls." (Padre Pio) >>

 

The Islamist satans delight when they find humble ones

because it is so easy to kill them so that they (Islamists) can go to haven to enjoy their 72 hauris (virgins) or to convert them by force of a weapon.

 

Other than the above comment, I am pleased with your inspiration posts here. Spirituality or God is not any one's monopoly. You have found many of these quotes from Christian world, and you will find a lot in the Vedic world too.

 

Jai Sri Krishna!