Scripture

John 12:24 (NIV)

"Very truly I tell you,

unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,

it remains only a single seed.

But if it dies,

it produces many seeds."

Refrain

In letting go, I find what truly lives.

Quote

C.S. Lewis, from Mere Christianity

"The more we let God take us over,

the more truly ourselves we become —

because He made us. He invented us.

He invented all the different people

that you and I were intended to be.

It is when I turn to Christ,

when I give up myself to His personality,

that I first begin to have a real personality of my own."

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Scripture

Philippians 1:21 (NIV)

For to me, to live is Christ

and to die is gain.

Refrain

Jesus is the path. I choose to follow.

Quote

Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ

"If Christ represents the resurrected state,

then Jesus represents the crucified/resurrecting path

of getting there.

If Christ is the source and goal,

then Jesus is the path

from that source

toward the goal of divine unity

with all things."

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Scripture

Matthew 5:3 (NIV)

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Refrain

The way down is the way in.

Quote

Francis of Assisi, from The Peace Prayer

"O divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying

that we are born to eternal life.

Amen."

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Scripture

James 2:17 (NIV)

In the same way,

faith by itself,

if it is not accompanied by action,

is dead.

Refrain

My faith is alive when it is lived.

Quote

Howard Thurman, from Jesus and the Disinherited

"The religion of Jesus says to the disinherited:

'Love your enemy.

Take the initiative in seeking ways by which you can have the experience

of a common sharing of mutual worth and value.

It may be hazardous,

but you must do it.'"

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Scripture

Colossians 1:17 (NIV)

He is before all things,

and in him all things hold together.

Refrain

I am awake to God in all things.

Quote

Mechtild of Magdeburg, from The Flowing Light of the Godhead

"The day of my spiritual awakening

was the day I saw —

and knew I saw —

all things in God

and God in all things."

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Scripture

Exodus 3:5 (NIV)

"Do not come any closer," God said.

"Take off your sandals,

for the place where you are standing

is holy ground."

Refrain

God comes to me disguised as my life.

Quote

Thich Nhat Hanh, from The Miracle of Mindfulness

"Wash the dishes relaxingly,

as though each bowl is an object of contemplation.

Consider each bowl as sacred.

Follow your breath to prevent your mind from straying.

Do not try to hurry to get the job over with.

Consider washing the dishes the most important thing in life.

Washing the dishes is meditation.

If you cannot wash the dishes in mindfulness,

neither can you meditate while sitting in silence."

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Scripture

Romans 5:3–5 (NIV)

We also glory in our sufferings,

because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

perseverance, character;

and character, hope.

And hope does not put us to shame,

because God's love has been poured out into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Refrain

Love and suffering are teaching me.

Quote

Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ

"In the practical order of life,

if we have never loved deeply or suffered deeply,

we are unable to understand spiritual things at any depth.

Any healthy and true religion is teaching you

how to deal with suffering and how to deal with love.

And if you allow this process with sincerity,

you will soon recognize

that it is actually love and suffering

that are dealing with you."

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)

The person without the Spirit

does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God,

but considers them foolishness,

and cannot understand them

because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

Refrain

I am learning to see with new eyes.

Quote

Thomas Merton, from New Seeds of Contemplation

"Contemplation is the highest expression

of man's intellectual and spiritual life.

It is that life itself,

fully awake, fully active,

fully aware that it is alive.

It is spiritual wonder.

It is spontaneous awe

at the sacredness of life, of being."

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