Comer, Orar, Amor #4

I am getting a lot of tasty tidbits from this book that I want to recall in the future.

"I tried to stay as quiet as possible, trapped in that meditation hall and ensnared in my own shame and inadequacy, watching the devotees around me as they sat in their perfect postures, their perfect eyes closed, their smug faces emanating calmness as they surely transported themselves into some perfect heaven. I was full of a hot, powerful sadness and would have loved to burst into the comfort of tears, but tried hard not to, remembering something my Guru once said- that you should never give yourself the chance to fall apart because, when you do, it becomes a tendency and it happens over and over again. You must practice staying strong, instead." page 137

I completely agree with this statement of her Guru and simultaneously am fully opposed to such nonsense. Falling apart can become cyclical and a beastly pattern that must happen to feel relief, but, sometimes, we just need to melt into a drippy heap of tears that are so hot maybe they burn away some of the pain or frustration. Hmm.


"'Listen to me. Someday you're gonna look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. You'll see that you were in mourning and your heart was broken, but your life was changing and you were in the best place possible in the world for it. Don't you see what happened? This guy touched a place in your heart deeper than you thought you were capable of reaching, I mean you got zapped, kiddo. But that love you felt, that's just the beginning. You just got a taste of love. That's just limited little rinky-dink mortal love. Wait till you see how much more deeply you can love than that. Heck- you have the capacity to someday love the whole world. It's your destiny...People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. David's purpose was to shake you up, drive you out of that marriage that you needed to leave, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master and beat it." page 149

I think what most fascinates me about this is that God uses a vast multitude of experiences, situations, people, and, really, anything as a catalyst for our growth and transformation to challenge us and push us out of our typical, comfortable selves so we can become stronger, better versions of ourselves. And, He enables us to love so much greater as a result. How exciting is that?


"But then I wonder- with all my restless yearning, with all my hyped-up fervor and with this stupidly hungry nature of mine- what should I do with my energy, instead? That answer arrives, too: Look for God, suggests my Guru. Look for God like a man with his head on fire looks for water." page 156

I love that. Isn't that our soul's sole purpose in life?...seek, hunt, strive after, pursue intently that whom we can find...Jesus.


"But even to believe all of this is an act of faith, because nobody amongst us is shown the endgame. Devotion is diligence without assurance. Faith is a way of saying, "Yes, I pre-accept the terms of the universe and I embrace in advance what I am presently incapable of understanding." There's a reason we refer to "leaps of faith"--because the decision to consent to any notion of divinity is a mighty jump from the rational over to the unknowable, and I don't care how diligently scholars of every religion will try to sit you down with their stacks of books and prove to you through scripture that their faith is indeed rational; it isn't. If faith were rational, it wouldn't be- by definition- faith. Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humility; it would just be...a prudent insurance policy." page 175

I like leaps of faith. :) For people, for God, for passion, for happiness, for purpose, for love, for truth, for adventure, for knowing yourself in Christ for real.