spirituality cafe.

GRACE. "God is spreading grace around in the world like a 5-year-old spreads peanut butter: thickly, sloppily, eagerly, and if we are in the back shed trying to stay clean, we won't even get a taste." (Donna Schaper, quoted in 100 Ways to Keep Your Soul Alive; Harper-SanFrancisco)

IN THIS SEASON You've heard of the Twelve Days of Christmas, but how about the Twelve Signs and Symptoms of Inner Peace ? Practicing one each day of Christmas might be just the ticket for welcoming anew the newborn Prince of Peace. They are: "(1) A tendency to think and act spontaneously, rather than from fears based on past experiences. (2) An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment. (3) Loss of interest in judging other people. (4) Loss of interest in judging self. (5) Loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others. (6) Loss of interest in conflict. (7) Loss of ability to worry. (8) Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation. (9) Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature. (10) Frequent attacks of smiling through the eyes of the heart. (11) Increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen. (12) Increased susceptibility to love extended by others, as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it." (Anonymous, www.lifementoring.com)

QUOTE: "What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace and if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and in my culture? This, then, is the fullness of time: When the Son of God is begotten in us." (Meister Eckhart, 13th-century Rhineland mystic)

SILENCE. "Silence is the lost art in a society made of noise. Radios wake us up, and timers on TVs turn off the day-full of programs long after we have gone to sleep. We have music in cars, elevators, and office waiting rooms. We have surround-sound that follows us from the living room to the kitchen to the upstairs bath. What the contemplative knows that modern society has forgotten, it seems, is that the real material of spiritual development is not in books. It is in the subject matter of the self. It is in the things we think about, in the messages we give ourselves constantly, in the civil war of the human soul that we wage daily. But until we are quiet and listen, we can never know what is really going on-- even in ourselves. Especially in ourselves. Silence frightens us because it is silence that brings us face-to-face with ourselves. It tells us what we're obsessing about. It reminds us of what we have not resolved within ourselves. Silence is, in other words, life's greatest teacher. It shows us what we have yet to become. Silence, the contemplative knows, is that place just before the voice of God." (Condensed from Illuminated Life: Monastic Wisdom for Seekers of Light by Joan Chittister, Orbis Books, 2000)

IN PRACTICE. "Being honest is a statement to the universe that you trust the world around you, and more importantly, that you trust and respect yourself. Being truthful with yourself and others empowers your self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and self-respect. Here are a few ways to increase your honesty: (1) If you say you are going to be somewhere on time, do your best to be there. (2) Don't offer to do something for someone else unless you really intend to do it. (3) Make a point of keeping your word to yourself." (Sharon Janis, Spirituality For Dummies; IDG Books, 2000)