Thursday, August 26, 2004 Perez: Quotable quotes By Joy G. Perez Sensitivity
THERE are many quotes to live by.
As a woman, I wish to share this quote from Kathleen Norris: "From birth to 18, a girl needs good parents; from 18-35 she needs good looks; from 35 to 55, a woman needs personality; and from 55 on, the old lady needs cash." I got this quote from one of the many leaflets distributed during the "Global Forum on Women" I attended in Beijing, China years back.
From Byrd Baggett: "Many things in life will catch your eyes but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue those."
From Helen Keller: "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable."
From Mortimer Adler: "Power comes from living in the present moment, where you can take action and create the future."
From Ken Keyes, Jr.: "When will you realize that 'today' is the 'tomorrow' you hoped for yesterday."
From Larry king: "I remind myself every morning: nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So, I am going to learn, I must do it by listening."
From Eileen Caddy: "Expect your every need to be met, expect the answer to every problem, expect abundance on every level. Expect to grown spiritually."
From Confucius: "Don't give a man a fish, teach him how to fish." It seems that Confucius would always refer to the male gender, I suggest readers may or can substitute a woman for man, and her to him, to avoid gender bias.
From the prayer of St. Francis: "It is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned."
The late Fr. Gerry Pierse, CSSR wrote a book titled< "People Who Prayed," while he was still in Dumaguete City as a Redemptorist parish priest. In this book, he wrote many spiritual truths before our eyes, staring us in the face, but we just do not see them. We need a different perspective to see the whole of reality. So, came this book with a presentation of various stories-all inspiring and reflective of today's happenings.
Of course, there are many ways of prayers. In this book though, Fr. Pierse noted that all methods can be boiled down to three things: Talking, listening, and being.
"Prayer by talking to God up there" has been the main type of prayer for many centuries. "We still need to praise, worship and thank our heavenly Father."
However, since Vatican II defined the Church as the sign of Christ's presence in the world as people of God, "prayer through listening to God's presence in the community has been gaining importance." Listening-especially in the context of reflection on the words of scripture is becoming more popular. With it also has grown a new appreciation of the Ignatian Exercises. The Ignatian Exercises deal with what is labeled as Christian Meditation.
The other type of prayer, "listening to Being itself," is to be before God without plan or agenda. In this kind of prayer, there is total letting go and opening up to God in silent meditation. Fr. Pierse stressed: "This is mysticism in the sense that there is direct unmediated being in relationship with God."
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