As it is

RIC_1854-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

We cannot change the world as it is,

but by opening ourselves to the world as it is,

we may find that gentleness, decency and bravery are available – 

not only to us but to all human beings.

Chögyam Trungpa, Shambhala: The Sacred path of the Warrior

Cry of my heart

RIC_1837-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     My Lord,
     You have heard the cry of my heart
     because it was
     You Who cried out within my heart.

        Thomas Merton, Dialogue with Silence

Hope

RIC_1847-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well,
     but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of
     how it turns out. 

        Václav Havel

A Parable

RIC_1939-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     A parable, that is, a metaphorical story, always points

     externally beyond itself, points to some different and

     much wider referent. Whatever its actual content is, a

     parable is never about that content. Whatever is internal

     subject, a parable always points you toward and wants

     you to do to some external referent.

       John Dominic Crossan,

       The Power of Parable: How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus

Belief

RIC_1930-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

People are not interested in what to believe;

they're interested in how to believe. 

 Diana Butler Bass,
The United Church Observer (March 2012)