let love discover you

“We do not need to go out and find love; rather, we need to be still and let love discover us.”

― John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

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Looking for love, is something most of us do

We urgently seek to find

Acceptance

Passion

Connection

We try so hard to find Mr. Right

The Perfect Woman

We act witty

We brag

We preen

We try to impress

But sadly it is all a matter of us sending our energy out

Flooding the space around us

Our efforts become a spiritual moat,

A barrier to what we seek

Instead of trying so hard

We should, fundamentally, quit trying

We should stop

Breathe

And Just be

Open,

Quiet

Listening

Ready to receive

Oh yes, there is giving to be done

But our biggest need to embrace the love, as it comes

Welcoming it into our heart

Our Soul

Welcoming the other

Welcoming the Other, who is love

a work in progress

I am often a mess

often needy and grasping for acceptance and affection

often a "fixer"

often too busy to notice

I can be cold

I can be closed

I can be grasping

I can make myself a pest

I can end up in

Paradox hell

Trapped by conflicting priorities

Desires

Loves

All I really want to be connected with something bigger than myself

All I want is to be connected to others

To help others

And yes, to be helped by them

I want peace

I want joy

I want to wake up wanting to dance

I want to feel valued,

I want to feel loved

Forget big houses

Nice cars

And all the rest

I want to sit on a deck, watching the sunset

Holding hands with someone who is as passionate about me

As I am about them

How do I get there

Letting go would help, of expectations, rules, fears, hates

Being present would help too…. Being there for others

Offering not sympathy, which is often shallow and cheap

But empathy

Embracing their joy, embracing their pain

And yet I am often a mess

Often lonely

Often a pain

I guess all I can say is that I am a work in progress

And so my prayer for this day

On these late summer, early fall evening is….

A little love

A little wisdom

A little patience

A lot of openness

With a side of hope

please

inside out

 “Try saying this silently to everyone and everything you see for thirty days: “I wish you happiness now and whatever will bring happiness to you in the future.” If we said it to the sky, we would have to stop polluting; if we said it when we see ponds and lakes and streams, we would have to stop using them as garbage dumps and sewers; if we said it to small children, we would have to stop abusing them;…if we said it to people, we would have to stop stoking the fires of enmity around us. Beauty and human warmth would take root in us like a clear, hot June day. We would change.”        Joan Chittister:

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We are transformed

By Sacred work at the center of our being

There is re-construction going on

Deep down, in that place where the Sacred dwells

Change happens at the level of the heart

It moves to that place where we form our values and attitudes

And then oozes it way to the surface,

Being made evident by what we say, and how we act

There is a journey inward,

And then a journey outward

We can aid that process

We can seek to open our soul to Sacred Presence

Through mediation, prayer, and so much more

I highly recommend walks with one’s dog

Then we work on changing out attitudes

And so as an act of will, we wish the earth well

The animals well

Friends and neighbors well

Loved ones well,

And yes, I suspect, our enemies well (although that is advanced practice)

May you be safe

May you be well

May you be happy

May you be at peace

Lovingkindness

If we can let it take root

Like a beautiful fall day

Then we will change

We will change

(and perhaps our world will too)