7 & 7: Spiritual vs. Material

REFLECTION:

There is a natural communication that goes on between the material and the spiritual worlds. Humans struggle for a means of expression. Nature responds, at moments of openness, to each individual, and to each in its own way. To some, the connection to the spirit is direct, to others through individuals who possess some of the characteristics sought. For all, there is a delicate but discordant balance struck between what we know to be true on any given day, and what we believe, or trust, or hope to be true for an eternity. If there is tension, it is in deciding which world will guide when pathways crisis and cross. There are times when the spirit has the upper hand, as there are times when ignoring the facts places all at risk. Learning when and how to rely on one, the other, or both is a slow and difficult process. So it is best to begin each day anew. For in daily life, each is called to steer a course, to make decisions for better or worse, and live with and learn from the results. This requires enterprise and bravery. And in moments of self doubt and hesitation, there is the spirit to lean on, knowing that, in the end, each has done her best and will be rewarded for the effort.

MUSES:

Art is man’s nature; nature is God’s art.
P. J. Bailey

God enters by a private door into every individual.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

A great man stands on God. A small man stands on a greater man.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
Albert Einstein

The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

To have a curable illness and to leave it untreated except for prayer is like sticking your hand in a fire and asking God to remove the flame.
Sandra L. Douglas

The Lord’s Prayer may be committed to memory quickly, but it is slowly learnt by heart.
Frederick Denison Maurice

Don’t wait for the Last Judgment. It takes place every day.
Albert Camus

The Ancient Mariner said to Neptune during a great storm, ‘O God, you will save me if you wish, but I am going to go on holding my tiller straight.
Montaigne

What recommends commerce to me is its enterprise and bravery. It does not clasp its hands and pray to Jupiter.
Henry David Thoreau

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Matthew 26:41

If there is another world, he lives in bliss
If there is none, he made the best of this.
Robert Burns