MAY

I shall not live in vain

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

emily dickenson

THE RIPPLE EFFECT
(Author Unknown)

The Master was walking through the fields one day when a young man, a troubled look upon his face, approached him. "On such a beautiful day, it must be difficult to stay so serious," the Master said.

"Is it? I hadn't noticed," the young man said, turning to look around and notice his surroundings. His eyes scanned the landscape, but nothing seemed to register; his mind elsewhere.

Watching intently, the Master continued to walk. "Join me if you like." The Master walked to the edge of a still pond, framed by sycamore trees, their leaves golden orange and about to fall. "Please sit down," the Master invited, patting the ground next to him. Looking carefully before sitting, the young man brushed the ground to clear a space for himself.

"Now, find a small stone, please," the Master instructed.

"What?"

" A stone. Please find a small stone and throw it in the pond."

Searching around him, the young man grabbed a pebble and threw it as far as he could.
"Tell me what you see," the Master instructed.

Straining his eyes to not miss a single detail, the man looked at the water's surface. "I see ripples."

"Where did the ripples come from?"

"From the pebble I threw in the pond, Master."

"Please reach your hand into the water and stop the ripples," the Master asked.

Not understanding, the young man stuck his hand in the water as a ripple neared, only to cause more ripples. The young man was now completely baffled. Where was this going? Had he made a mistake in seeking out the Master? After all he was not a student, perhaps he could not be helped?
Puzzled, the young man waited.

"Were you able to stop the ripples with your hands?" the Master asked.

"No, of course not."

"Could you have stopped the ripples, then?"

"No, Master. I told you I only caused more ripples."

"What if you had stopped the pebble from entering the water to begin with?"
The Master smiled such a beautiful smile; the young man could not be upset.
"Next time you are unhappy with your life, catch the stone before it hits the water. Do not spend time trying to undo what you have done. Rather, change what you are going to do before you do it." The Master looked kindly upon the young man.

"But Master, how will I know what I am going to do before I do it?"

"Take the responsibility for living your own life. If you're working with a doctor to treat an illness, then ask the doctor to help you understand what caused the illness. Do not just treat the ripples. Keep asking questions."

The young man stopped, his mind reeling. "But I came to you to ask you for answers. Are you saying that I know the answers?"

"You may not know the answers right now, but if you ask the right questions, then you shall discover the answers."

"But what are the right questions, Master?"

"There are no wrong questions, only unasked ones. We must ask, for without asking, we cannot receive answers. But it is your responsibility to ask. No one else can do that for you."

I LOVE MYSELF THE WAY I AM

I love myself the way I am,
there's nothing I need to change.
I'll always be the perfect me,
there's nothing to rearrange.
I'm beautiful and capable
of being the best me I can.
And I love myself just the way I am.

I love you just the way you are,
there's nothing you need to do.
When I feel the love inside myself,
it's easy to love you.
Behind your fears,
your rage and tears,
I see your shinging star,
And I love you just the way you are.

I love the world the way it is,
'cause I can clearly see
That all the things I judge
are done by people just like me.
So 'till the birth of peace on earth
that only love can bring
I'll help it grow by loving everything.

I love myself the way I am
and still I want to grow.
But change outside can only come
when deep inside I know.
I'm beautiful and capable
of being the best me I can,
And I love myself just the way I am.
I love myself just the way I am.

YET WE PRAY

We have the resources and the channels
to feed every person on the planet,
yet we pray for an end to starvation.

We have the supplies and the means to
house and clothe each citizen on earth,
yet we pray for an end to poverty.

We have the ability to be friends and
companions to the elderly and the infirm,
yet we pray for an end to their loneliness.

We have the qualified competence
to mentor and guide the young,
yet we pray for the lost and misguided among them.

We have within us, the capacity to love one another,
yet we pray for an end to hatred.

We have the power to transform the world,
yet we pray for change.

We have been given so much,
yet we use so little of it.

Let us pray for the things we need,
not for that, which we already have.

Let our legacy be one of action, a generation
of doers, who prayed deeply and in earnest for
the strength, the courage, the determination and
the conviction, to use our God-given gifts - justly.

© 2001 Terri McPherson
Windsor, Ontario, Canada

ACTION

Action springs not from thought, but
from a readiness for responsibility.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer



Action may not always bring happiness; but there
is no happiness without action."

Benjamin Disraeli



Vision without action is merely a dream. Action
without vision just passes the time. Vision with
action can change the world.

Joel Barker

Learning

Most people can hear, but not everyone listens, and
not everyone learns.  An indication of learning is a
change in behavior.  This change may manifest
physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. 

If learning takes place, a change in behavior results.

Learning is not to be confused with awareness
because awareness isn't necessarily a factor of
learning. 

Awareness is more a factor of letting go of
conditioned reactions and permitting the experience
to take place without resistance.  This may or may
not be observable.

- John-Roger
(From: Relationships -- Love, Marriage and Spirit)

NOAH'S LESSONS
(Author Unknown)

Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark:

One: Don't miss the boat.

Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.

Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.

Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

Six: Build your future on high ground.

Seven: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.

Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

Nine: When you're stressed, float a while.

Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

Eleven: No matter the storm, there's always a rainbow waiting.

Living

"All of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today."

--Dale Carnegie

OPTIMISM

Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Talk
health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. Make all your friends feel there is something special in them. Look at the sunny side of everything. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give everyone a smile. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.

Christian D. Larsen

Nine Magic Words

I have taught children what I call the "nine magic
words" that are available to them -- and to everyone.
The first three are "I love you;" the second three are
"God bless you," and the third three are "Peace, be still."
These words are powerful.

- John-Roger (From: The Spiritual Family)

DREAMS

Nothing happens unless first a dream.

Carl Sandburg



Dream big dreams!  Imagine that you have no limitations
and then decide what's right before you decide what's
possible.

Brian Tracy

The Value of Friendship
Lasting friendships can enrich life:

"The glory of friendship is not in the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is in the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, American philosopher, poet, and essayist



"The greatest sweetener of human life is friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover."

--Joseph Addison, English poet, essayist, and playwright



"I keep my friends as misers do their treasure, because, of all the things granted us by wisdom, none is greater or better than friendship."

-- Pietro Aretino, Italian poet, writer, and dramatist



"Friendship makes prosperity brighter, while it lightens adversity by sharing its grieves and anxieties."

-- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman, scholar, and orator



"True friendship brings sunshine to the shade, and shade to the sunshine."

-- Thomas Burke, English statesman and poet

The Answer

Many times you will be placed in a "predicament"
which must be solved.

If you reach outside of yourself for an answer, you
can sometimes get one that assists you temporarily,
but in a while you find yourself right back in the
same predicament because you did not go through it
as a process of learning.  You sought a way out of it
through someone or something else. 

So many times the way out of something is to go
through it and gain the greatest awareness available
to you.

- John-Roger
[From: Divine Essence (Baraka)]

FRIENDSHIP

It is one of the severest tests of friendship to
tell your friend his faults.  So to love a man
that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him,
and to speak painful truth through loving words,
that is friendship.

Henry Ward Beecher    



A friend that you have to buy won't be worth what
you pay for him, no matter what that may be.

G. D. Prentice



Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store
nor under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends.

Cindy Lew

Religious and Spiritual

There is a difference between religious and
spiritual. 

Spiritual people are rarely caught up in dogma or
creed, but religious people have almost inevitably
formed dogmatic processes in which they work. 
And that's okay.  That's their expression; they have
a right to express that way.  They can do as they
please; everybody can.

- John-Roger
(From: The Way Out Book)

THE LESSON OF THE ECHO
(Author Unknown)

A son and his father were walking on the mountains. Suddenly, his son falls,
hurts himself and screams, "AAAhhhhhhhhhhhIII!!!"

To his surprise, hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain, 
"AAAhhhhhhhhhhhIII!!!"

Curious, he yells, "Who are you?"

He receives the answer, "Who are you?"

Angered at the response, he screams, "Coward!"

He receives the answer, "Coward!"

He looks to his father and asks, "What's going on?"

The father smiles and says, "My son, pay attention." And than he screams to the mountain, "I admire you!"

The voice answers, "I admire you!"

Again the man screams, "You are a champion!"

The voice answers, "You are a champion!"

The boy is surprised, but does not understand. Then the father explains,
"People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence. This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life; life will give you back everything you have given to it."

Peace

"Peace is not won by those who fiercely guard their differences, but by those who with open minds and hearts seek out connections."

-- Katherine Paterson

Inner Goodness

"Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage... to listen to his own goodness."

-- Pablo Casals, Spanish cellist and conductor



"There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long; even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one."

-- Louisa May Alcott, American novelist



"Goodness is the only investment which never fails."

-- Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and naturalist

CHILDREN

What's done to children, they will do to society.

Orlando A. Battista



You can learn many things from children. How much
patience you have, for instance.

Franklin P. Adams



There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to
give our children. One is roots; the other, wings.

Hodding Carter

LEARNING

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or
eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The
greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.

Henry Ford




Learning is finding out what you already know, Doing is
demonstrating that you know it, Teaching is reminding
others that they know it as well as you do. We are all
learners, doers, and teachers.

Richard Bach

WITHOUT A WORD, WITHOUT A SIGN

I love you not only for what you are,
but for what I am when I am with you.

I love you not only for what you have made of yourself,
but for what you are making of me.

I love you because you have done more than any creed could have done to make me good,
and more than any fate could have done to make me happy.

You have done it without a touch,
Without a word, without a sign.

You have done it by being yourself.
Perhaps that is what being a friend means, after all.

~Anonymous

COURAGE

The courageous don't live forever, but the timid don't live at all.



Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.
Raymond Linquist



I do not ask to walk smooth paths nor bear an easy load.
I pray for strength and fortitude to climb the rock strewn
road. Give me such courage and I can scale the hardest peaks
alone, And transform every stumbling block into a stepping
stone.
Gale Brook Burket

AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE CHAPTERS
By Portia Nelson

1) I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost...I am hopeless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.

2) I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I'm in the same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.

3) I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I see it is there. I still fall in . . . it's a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.

4) I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I walk around it.

5) I walk down another street.

How Do You Handle A Bad Day?
(c) 2001 Robert Taylor

Actually there is no such thing as a bad or a good day. Nothing is either good or bad unless your thinking makes it so.

Let's say you are in a bad traffic jam and on your way to a very important meeting. Your thoughts immediately turn to
the dire consequences of being late for or missing the meeting entirely. You then think this is a terrible thing to be happening to you.

Then the traffic jam clears up and a couple of miles down the road you encounter a terrible accident. Upon investigation you find the accident occurred at precisely the moment you would have been there had you not been stuck in the traffic jam. The traffic jam becomes at that point a good thing instead of the bad thing you thought it to be.You say this may be true as far
as minor incidents, but what if someone near and dear to you passed away.
Surely that would be bad. Not true. Perhaps this was meant to get you started in a new phase of your life which would be extremely rewarding for you.

It seems to be a fact of life that any time something near and dear to you departs, there is always something new on the horizon to replace it. And your life evolves in such a manner there turns out to be a good reason for this change in your life.

Think back over your life and see how often this has proven to be true. Have you ever lost a job you desperately needed and then found a job which suited you and your financial needs much better than the one you had just lost?

Have you ever had a romance turn sour, only to later find the person that really matched everything you had ever wanted in a relationship? At the time we were undergoing the breakup of the romance we thought it a horrible time in our lives. However the new relationship relegated that time in our lives to an obscure memory.

The pain we inflict on ourselves is caused by our tendency to label things as good or bad. When we do not label things as either good or bad we tend to accept them as simply events occurring in the normal process of our lives. This provides a smooth flow in our lives.

Finding and Keeping Friends
Some advice on finding and keeping friends:

"A faithful friend is a strong defense; And he that hath found him hath found a treasure."
-- Louisa May Alcott, American novelist


"A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure."
-- Buddha, Indian religious leader


"If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don't accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend."
-- Saint Augustine, Roman religious figure and philosopher


"The best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake."
-- Aristotle, Greek writer and philosopher

"A problem is a chance for you to do your best."
-- Duke Ellington



HOW TO BE HAPPY
(c) Robert Louis Stevenson

1. Make up your mind to be happy. Learn to find pleasure in simple things.

2. Make the best of your circumstances. No one has everything, and everyone has something of sorrow intermingled with gladness of life. The trick is to make
the laughter outweigh the tears.

3. Don't take yourself too seriously. Don't think that somehow you should be protected from misfortune that befalls other people.

4. You can't please everybody. Don't let criticism worry you.

5. Don't let your neighbor set your standards. Be yourself.

6. Do the things you enjoy doing but stay out of debt.

7. Never borrow trouble. Imaginary things are harder to bear than real ones.

8. Since hate poisons the soul, do not cherish jealousy, enmity, grudges. Avoid people who make you unhappy.

9. Have many interests. If you can't travel, read about new places.

10. Don't hold postmortems. Don't spend your time brooding over sorrows or mistakes. Don't be one who never gets over things.

11. Do what you can for those less fortunate than yourself.

12. Keep busy at something. A busy person never has time to be unhappy.

THE COLD WITHIN

Six humans trapped by happenstance
In the black and bitter cold
Each one possessed a piece of wood
Or so the story's told.

The dying fire in need of logs
The first woman held hers back
For among the faces around the fire
She noticed one was black.

The second man across the way
Saw one not of his church
And could not bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.

The third man sat in tattered clothes
He gave his coat a hitch
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?

The rich man sat back
And thought of the wealth he had in store
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy shiftless poor.

The black man's face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from sight
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.

The last one of this forlorn group
Did not accept for gain
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played his game.

The logs held tight in death's still hand
Were proof of human sin.
They didn't die from the cold without,
They died from the cold within.

Unknown

RESENTMENT

Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of
resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will
disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment
are forgotten.

Buddha
       


An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

Gandhi



Put love first. Entertain thoughts that give life. And
when a thought or resentment, or hurt, or fear comes your
way, have another thought that is more powerful -- a thought
that is love.

Mary Morrissey

AGING

You are never too old to set another goal or
to dream a new dream.

Les Brown
       


You can't help getting older,
but you don't have to get old.

George Burns 



Age does not depend upon years, but upon temperament
and health. Some men are born old, and some never
grow up.

Tryon Edwards