Monday, March 7, 2011

Balancing the Spirit Within

The Spirit is the essence of who we are. Divine energy within us is potent and "imperialistic" and we are deluded to think we can control it ourselves. [Nobody can see God and live]. The spirit is fire and rain, joy and peace, ecstatic and tranquil. But we dont know how to be still and calm this internal force. We have forgotten how to channel and balance our desire. We have created in our culture a "conspiracy against the interior life" and here are the 3 conspirators: narcissism, which accts for our heartaches; pragmatism, which accts for our headaches; and unbridled restlessness, which accts for our insomnia. We've forgotten that we must reverence and attend to our spiritual energy.

Adapted - Fr Richard Rolheiser in The Holy Longing (thx Benedictine Friends!!) Good Wisdom.

This reminds me of the Marianne Williamson quote:

"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond
measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves,
who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented, and fabulous? Actually,
who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve
the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't
feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within
us. It is not just in some; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated
from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

- Marianne Williamson