“Religion is meant to teach us true spiritual human character. It is meant for self-transformation. It is meant to transform anxiety into peace, arrogance into humility, envy into compassion, to awaken the pure soul in man and his love for the Source, which is God.”
—- Radhanath Swami
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/spiritual.html
“Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all”. — George Washington
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_faith.html
“The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust.” —Isaiah 32:17 The Bible
I walk the middle path. It can be a lonely place to be. It can be a dangerous and frightening place to be, caught between two extremes at war with each other with verbal, spiritual and even sometimes physical shots being fired by both sides. But as a Christian who tries to follow the teachings and example of the Master Teacher it is where I am called to be, shining the light of God’s love.
So, what does walking the middle path mean for me? Well, it means being a Christian. It means not being an “Evangelical” or a “Progressive.” It means not being a Democrat or a Republican. It means not being “conservative” or “liberal.” It means believing that being “pro-life” does not end with the birth of a child. It means believing in protecting and caring for children once they are here. Protecting and respecting the lives of individuals with disabilities. Allowing and encouraging everyone to grace us with their gifts. And, finally, not playing God with end of life issues, either by extending life by artificial means or prematurely ending it.
Walking the middle path for me means believing that peace is not best achieved by war. It means believing that frightened citizens arming themselves too often ends in tragedy. It means seeing the Christ in everyone, no matter what they look like on the outside or where they came from.
The middle path demonstrates loving our neighbor, even when they seem unlovable (I struggle with this). It means recognizing that we are all in this life to help and care for each other and that life is not meant to be a huge competition with winners and losers and no middle. It means seeing justice not as vengeance or retribution, but rather doing what is right.
Do I always stay on the path Spirit has set out for me? No. I veer off course, first once direction, then another — right, left, forward, back and sometimes even up and down. If you could trace my spiritual footsteps it would be a mess. I allow myself to get pulled off course by fear, loneliness, old beliefs and anger. But no matter how far off path I may get I always have to come back to my true center. To that place where love, light, peace and justice exist.
And that friends is our calling. To live in the world but not of it. To rise above the hatred and confusion of our times. To rest in God and to shine our light. There is no brighter candle in the world than the one who, through it all, is able to live a life of peace through faith. That candle is found in the middle path where Christ still walks.
“Nature finds its peace in silence, forgiveness, and universal love.”
― Debasish Mridha
I just reblogged Co-creating Love from Mel’s Love Land.
When I see people online writing excellent, passionate articles about the power of love and peace and the importance of shining our light into the darkness I get excited. I have said before, this is not a battle we can fight with guns. Love, inner peace and living in the light are our weapons. Love can win over hate and fear, we can create peace and not wage war and this is how we fight the battle, by living as the light and encouraging others to do so as well.
I like to think of these bloggers as “street preachers.” In terms of the reach of their blogs some are preaching in “Times Square” while others are preaching on” Tom Cat corner” (a busy intersection where I live) and some are preaching at a stop sign on a dirt road, but they all deserve and desperately need to be heard We have to help them get the word out.
So here is what I am going to do. When I find a blog post about living love, resisting fear and practical loving actions we can take to bring change to the world I will share it in all the ways available to me. I will share on my social networking sites, I will email a link to my friends and finally I will re-blog when appropriate. This isn’t about self-promotion, or how will that help me, this is about spreading the word.
The internet is a wonderful tool but we should all know by now that it is not merely a matter of “build it and they will come.” We have to share with and for others.
So please, do your part in being the change you want to see in the world. Write about ways we can shine our light in the world and when you see someone else doing a good job get out there and share, share, share, share, share. Let’s help love, peace and light “go viral.”
“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” — The Dalai Lama
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_peace.html
