We cannot live in a world
that is not our own,
in a world that is interpreted
for us by others.
An interpreted world
is not home.
Part of the terror
is to take back our own listening,
to use our own voice,
to see our own light.
Hildegard Von Bingen
“Vision”
Hildegard Von Bingen
www.youtube.com/watch?v=
We Are The World
“Together we want to celebrate the 11 Days of Global Unity. It’s time for us to realize that we are a part of all the suffering in the world – those who are hungry and starving, all those animals that face extinction. Then we begin to make the change from ‘I’ to ‘WE’. It’s WE, We, The World. It’s us together. Because it’s when we all get together that we will make the changes we must make. We are the world.”Jane Goodall, Primatologist and UN Messenger of Peace
+++
The Sacred Art of Listening
By Kay Lindahl
Published by
Skylight Paths Publishing
Common Values:
Listening for Connection
“In any conversation, what the speakers have in common is more powerful than what divides them. Sometimes, this reality is hard to see, as so much energy and emotion can swirl around what separates us.”
“Imagine a world where everyone lived by these principles from the world’s religious traditions”:
“Baha’i – Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself.
Buddhism – Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.
Christianity – Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
Confucianism – Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you.
Hinduism – Do not to others that which if done to you would cause you pain.
Islam – None of you truly have the faith if you do not desire for your brother that which you desire for yourself.
Jainism – In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self.
Judaism – What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary.
Native American – Respect for life is the foundation.
Sikhism – Don’t create enmity with anyone as God is within every one.
Wicca – If it harm none, do what you will.
Zoroastrianism – Do not do unto others all that which is not well for oneself.”
“Let’s listen to what connects us, while appreciating that which differentiates us. This is practicing the sacred art. Take this attitude of oneness with you into the world. Give blessings, share joy, live in gratitude.” Kay Lindahl
+++++
This is just a small portion of Kay Lindahl’s book. For more information:
The Sacred Art of Listening: Forty Reflections for Cultivating A Spiritual Practice
by Kay Lindahl
Published by Skylight Paths Publishing
Available for your use at the Antioch Center Library or for purchase at your local book store.
+++
Reflection by Randy
+++
Hagia Sophia by Thomas Merton
Dawn. The Hour of Lauds.
There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden wholeness. This mysterious Unity and Integrity is Wisdom, the Mother of all, Natura naturans.
I am awakened, I am born again at the voice of this my Sister, sent to me from the depths of the divine fecundity.
+++
Albert Schweitzer
“We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.”
+++
Albert Einstein
“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
+++
Psalm 85
Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness
Listen, O people, in the silent Chapel
of your heart; and
the Beloved will speak of
peace to you,
to the hidden saints, to all who
turn their hearts to Love.
Surely new life is at hand for those
who reverence Love…
Off