A man in prison is sent a prayer rug by his friend. What he had wanted, of course, was file or a crowbar or a key. But he began using the rug, doing five-times prayer before dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, after sunset and before sleep. Bowing, sitting up and bowing again, he notices an odd pattern in the weave of the rug, just as the QIBLA, the point where his head touches. He studies and meditates on that pattern, gradually discovering that it is a diagram of the lock that confines him in his cell and how it works. HE IS ABLE TO ESCAPE.

Anything you do everyday can open into the deepest spiritual peace, which is FREEDOM.

Coleman Barks

WISDOM

All wisdom comes the Lord

and with Him it remains forever.

The sand of the seashore, the drops of the rain,

the days of eternity, who number those?

Heaven's height, earth's breadth,

the depths of the abyss, who can explore these?

Before all things else WISDOM was created,

and prudent understanding, from eternity.

To whom has wisdom's root been revealed?

Who knows her subtleties?

There is but One, wise and truly awe-inspiring

seated upon his throne:

IT IS THE LORD; He created her, has seen her

and take note of her.

He has poured her forth upon all his works,

upon every living thing according to his bounty;

he has lavished her upon his friends.

Sirach 1:1-10

ON FRIENDS

A kind mouth multiplies friends

and gracious lips prompt friendly greetings.

Let your acquiances be many,

but one in a thousand your confidant.

When you gain a friend, first test him,

and be not too ready to trust him.

For one sort of friend is a friend

when it suits him,but he will not

be with you in time of distress.

Another is friend who becomes an enemy,

and tells of the quarrel to your shame.

Another is a friend, a boon companion,

who will not be with you when sorrow comes,

when things go well, he is your other self,

and lords it over your servants,

but if you are brought low, he turns against you

and avoids meeting you.

Keep away from your enemies;

be on your guard with your friends.

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter;

he who finds one finds a treasure.

A faithful friend is beyond price,

no sum can balance his worth.

A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy,

such as he who fears God finds;

for he who fears God behave accordingly,

and his friend will be like himself.

(Book of Sirach 6:5-17)

WHAT IS FRIENDSHIP?

Friendship has no biological purpose, no economic status, no evolutionary meaning, but a new friend can reintroduce a woman to herself, allowing her to look at herself with a new pair of eyes and a different mindset. Flaws can be recast as strength, self-doubts lifted by acceptance.

Genuine friendship are a mirror reflecting back to us a flattering image of ourselves.

When a friend makes a mistake, the mistake remains a mistake but the friend is still a friend.

We never outgrow our need for friendship. Friends are an alternative source of the emotional nourishment we get from our families.

Human beings are social creatures. We flourish in the company of other human beings.

One chimpanzee cannot be a chimpanzee. A chimp needs other chimps in order to become what it was meant to be.

We need other people, and we need to be needed by other people, in order to be who we might be, who we yearn to be.

We are who we are. Only by letting people in life could one fulfill one's potential.

We need friendship and affection, as much as we need food and air, and we identify certain people as able to meet that need.

"The glory of friendship is not so much in the outstretched hand or in the kindly smile. It is in the spiritual inspiration that comes when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with her friendship." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Friends are people who know you at your worst and like you anyway, people in whose company you can be yourself.

FRIENDS ARE PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE, NOT FOR WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THEM. They worry about you when you're sick or depressed, and they rejoiced with you when you have something to celebrate.

THE TRUEST FRIEND is the person who can be genuinely happy for you when something good comes your way that may never happen to him. There is a kind of holiness in true friendship, because it does for us what organized religion tries to do to make sure that we are never alone when we desperately need to not be alone.

WHEN YOU AND I ARE TRULY ATTUNED TO EACH OTHER, GOD COMES DOWN AND FILLS THE SPACE BETWEEN US SO THAT WE ARE CONNECTED, NOT SEPARATED.

LOVE DOES NOT DIE

People die, but love does not die. It is recycled from one heart, from one life, to another.

By being good people, by bringing good people together to form moral communities, we have an impact on the world.

A person body absorbs and stores all the love it receives in the course of a lifetime , and when the body dies, it pours out all their love "like a broken slot machine disgorging the coins of all the generations," and all the people nearby, and all the world, are warmed by the love that has been returned to them.

Talmud says, "a good person, even in death is still alive."

If a person has known love, has felt and given love, that person's life has made a difference.

Nothing survives, but the way we live our lives (Jackson Browne).

GESUNDHEIT

In the Bible, a world where people did not get sick or become feeble as they grow older, they lived and lived and lived until one day they sneezed, their souls flew out of their noses and they died.

(To this day, we say GESUNDHEIT or "God bless you," when someone sneezes.

DAILY CUE

The sound of a bell, a church chime of the stroke of a clock is a cue for me to pray.

When I see a candle, I am reminded to focus my devotion to God.

Blessed is the beloved who is worshipped and served through our devotion.

A devotional life is one lived in the presence of the Lord.

BE HAPPY knowing that this garden pleases God.

LIFE IS A TREASURE HUNT

Never give up! You can be certain that all you hope for in your heart of hearts exists and is available in abundant supply.

The higher purpose of tribulation - seek for solution.

Life is designed in a certain way for a specific purpose with a perfect system for us to follow that we may obtain and enjoy supreme happiness - it is possible for us to reach the pinnacle of life's treasure and riches.

Unhappy and difficult times are a wake-up call for us to seek and find a better way.

Don't give up your dream.

Give up what doesn't work

and do what does.

LIFE and YOU are on going forever adventure.

ETERNITY is a long time to be miserable or poor, especially when the Creator desires for us to be prosperous and happy.

Detach yourself from the useless.

Relationships are vital and nourishing when they are forever fresh and new in each instant.

HOPE is eternal.

There is a greater opportunity for us to learn how to live fully in the here and now .

TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR ETERNAL LIFE.

Who and what you are now.

Who and what you desire to become.

These are important to fulfill the way of living.

We must go forward.

Try again and reach our goal.

No one can become great without failures.

Each moment can be a turn around point.

There is HOPE for everyone to satisfy the longings of his or her heart and soul, if he or she is willing to seek out and apply the knowledge of how to make his or her dream come true.

ENTHUSIASM

Looking up at the radiance of the stars, I am reminded to let my enthusiasm for life shine brightly.

Blessed is the energy of life who inspires us to be enthusiastic about all that we do.

ENTHUSIASM derived from the root word EN - in or within - and THEOS - God. It means having God within and being one with God.

People with this gift carry a special kind of energy. They bring warmth and feeling to their relationships with vigor and freshness to their activites.

TO PRACTICE:

Make others aware that you are excited about something. Proclaim youir passion. No holding back. Sing your heart out.

WHERE THERE ARE JEALOUSY AND STRIFE, there also are inconstancy and all kinds of vile behavior. WISDOM FROM ABOVE, by contrast, is first of all, INNOCENT. It is also peaceable, lenient, docile, rich in sympathy and the kindly deeds that are its fruits, impartial and sincere.

You are a vapor that appears briefly and vanishes.